The Opelousas courier., 1901-03-23
TUNING A PIPE ORGAN
It Takes Two OF Three Days and II .
Nerve Trying Job.

It Takes Two OF Three Days and Is
Nerve Trying Job.
"The misuse which many pipe or.
gans suffer is a wonder to me-" SAID
a veteran organ tuner and builder
Church organs cost from $1,000 tC
$4,000. They are very sensitive tc
changes of temperature and yet many
are heated and chilled once a week all
winter and allowed to get damp soaked
in summer. The same people who neg
1ect an organ will take good care OF
a piano costing a tenth Of twentieth as
much.
can organ is a good deal like a
human being when it comes to changes
of temperature. Sudden drops put a
man out Of tune and it's the same with
the instrument. 1t needs an even, mod
crate temperature during the winter
instead of a roasting on Sunday and
a freezing the rest Of the week. In
summer a stone or brick church gets
damp. A slight fire once a week will
keep the organ dry.
"a pipe organ requires tuning at
least once a year and the best instru-
ments are looked over two or three
times In that period. 1t is a two or three
days job and needs two men. Besides
the tuner up in the organ an assis-
tant must be at the keyboard to hold
down the keys. Temperature has to
be considered even in tuning. All the
pipes must be brought to pitch at
about the same degree and this de-
gree, should be that which the Or
gan usually has when in use.
Il believe that pipe organ tuning Is
the most nervous work one can tackle
In fact, after long experience | have
come to believe that l tune with my
nerves. No, l don't refer to the nerves
of hearing. l get my impressions that
way, but l tune with my nervous
system. My assistant strikes a chord.
If it is not true l feel a nervous stress
and strain. AS soon as the chord is
true my nerves become harmonious
too. 1t sounds funny, but it's so.
1.-TWO or three days may seem like
q long time to take to tune an organ,
but when you stop to think of the
100 pipes in a large modern instru-
ment it isn't so long. A large organ
will have a compass of five &C.
taVes Of 81 keys. These instruments
% registers and a pipe
to each key and register brings
the number to 1708. Not every key
and register has a pipe, but as some
have two it amounts to that. The
pipes are of all sorts and sizes, most
of them wood but many of metal.
. small number of the large and long
They are too long. For many years the
fancy pipes at the front Of an organ
were only ornamental, but nowadays
these sound as we'll.
Il find that pipe tuning is a mystery
to most people. They can understand
how the piano strings are frightened
and loosened. But changes in the pitch
Of pipes queer them. 1t isn't strange
either, for the average organ has five
kinds of tuning. OF course, the pitch
depends on the length of the pipe.
The pitch may be raised by shortening
The pipe Or by stopping the open end.
. number Of wooden pipes are stopped
wooden slides. Handles are at
.ached and the pipe is tuned by NOV
ng the slide up or down. Other woods
have set in the top a piece of metal
which is rolled or bent over partially
stop tie pipe.
Ribbon strips are cut in the sides
If the tall metal pipes and rolled down.
These break the column of air and
act the same as cutting off the top Of
he pipe. Another kind of pipes, the
'eeds, are on a different principal.
The length of the reed controls the
bitch. A wire presses tightly against
he reed and is moved to lengthen or
the vibrating length"