Klarinet Archive - Posting 000314.txt from 2000/08

From: Bilwright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: [kl] Organs
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2000 19:43:14 -0400

<><> Lelia wrote:
Builders rate their pipes to play at a certain pitch at 70 degrees
Fahrenheit, but the idea of maintaining a constant 70-degree temperature
throughout the pipe chambers is a pipe dream.
People out in the audience generally have no idea of what's behind the
facade pipes and the decorative grillwork. There's a whole forest of
thousands of pipes back there, and depending on the compass of the
organ, the pipes can range from 1/16" long to 64' long. >snip< Y'all
think we've got problems -- try playing 7,000 temperamental wind
instruments at once. I don't think anybody's ever got all 33,000+ pipes
working at the same time on that Midmer-Losch monstrosity in Atlantic
City

Thank you, Lelia, for that explanation... it's fascinating. When
I was on the east coast a couple of years ago, I toured a stone castle
that had been built by a millionaire-inventor, and it was a replica of
European castles -- complete with organ. The docent mentioned that the
organ had started out small, and then the inventor couldn't resist
adding pipes, and pretty soon he had to tear down much of his castle and
rebuild it in order to house his organ. Apparently this organ has
attained historical status now and is played only by organ virtuosos,
etc.
But what the docent missed completely, and with your explanation I
think that I understand now, is that the inventor put steam pipes every
few feet inside all of the castle's stone walls. At the time, I
wondered why such overkill. But now I assume that it was for the sake
of the organ -- snowy winters, baking hot summers, etc. The inventor
went so far as to 'order the interior weather' for his castle a week in
advance. He could ask his staff to make it tropical inside while there
were snowdrifts outside.
Now it seems likely to me that a significant part of what was
really driving this fellow was.... music!

Cheers,
Bill

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