  the pipe organ is a musical instrument commonly used in churches or cathedrals that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called wind) through pipes selected via a keyboard. because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass. most organs have multiple ranks of pipes of differing timbre, pitch and loudness that the player can employ singly or in combination through the use of controls called stops. a pipe organ has one or more keyboards (called manuals) played by the hands, and a pedalboard played by the feet, each of which has its own group of stops. the keyboard(s), pedalboard, and stops are housed in the organ's console. the organ's continuous supply of wind allows it to sustain notes for as long as the corresponding keys are depressed, unlike the piano and harpsichord whose sound begins to decay immediately after attack. the smallest portable pipe organs may have only one or two dozen pipes and one manual; the largest may have over 20,000 pipes and seven manuals.willey, david (2001). "the world's largest organs". retrieved on 2008-03-03. a list of the some of the most notable and largest pipe organs in the world can be viewed at list of pipe organs. the origins of the pipe organ can be traced back to the hydraulis in ancient greece in the 3rd century bc,randel "organ", 583. in which the wind supply was created with water pressure. by the 6th or 7th century ad, bellows were used to supply organs with wind. beginning in the 12th century, the organ began to evolve into a complex instrument capable of producing different timbres. the first pipe organ with "great leaden pipes" was sent to the west by the byzantine emperor constantine v as a gift to pepin the short king of the franks in 757. pepin's son charlemagne requested a similar organ for his chapel in aachen in 812, beginning its establishment in western church music.douglas bush and richard kassel eds., "the organ, an encyclopedia." routledge. 2006. p. 327. http://books.google.com/books?id=cgdjaeffupoc&lpg=pa327&ots=npl05keo3o&pg=pa327#v=onepage&q&
Keyboard_instruments Pipe_organ