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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
44O
THE
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ITS DEVELOPMENT UP TO DATE.
ARTICLE II.
SOME FEATURES OF THE PIPE ORGAN—REED AND
PIPE ORGAN MAKERS—INTERCHANGE OF
IDEAS—THE MASON & HAMLIN—FEA-
TURES OF CONSTRUCTION—IMPROVE-
MENTS IN REED STRUCTURE—
THE CHOUGH & WARREN
QUALIFYING TUBES—
THE "PACKARD."
CHAMBERED REED CELLS—A PIPE ORGAN TONE
THE AIM—THE STORY & CLARK.
of bent wire (e) with stop-lever (X) by the link its tone character, although otherwise con-
y) ; brass incline (g) on stop-lever (X); also structed on the most improved lines. The pipe
connection of stop with valve (P) at the back of quality of tone has meantime been what all
tube-board (J?). Figs. 21 and 22 represent rela- voicers and acousticians have been striving to
tive parts according to exemplification.
copy as closely as possible.
Not only in the interior principles of construc-
The Fort Wayne Organ Co. also employ a
tion do the instruments of the leading firms patent " Chambered Reed Call " in the " Pack-
vary from one another but in exterior features. ard, " another valuable and noteworthy special
In that respect, though on an average much feature of that class treated on. Independent
cheaper than the piano, organ makers have of their method of adjusting the reed the Foit
beaten out makers of the piano in the application Wayne have, need it be remarked, introduc-
of decorative art to case-work. Meanwhile, the ed various other original features in their
form of the organ, the method of case building, instruments. The '' Packard Grand Orchestral
and the wood and plant employed, have per- Organ," in particular, is replete with novelty in
mitted of greater progress in exterior embellish- all its departments.
ments, at an expense commensurate with its
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price relationship to the piano.
The Story & Clark furthermore contains in-
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genious and intelligent acoustic contrivances
A gradual improvement has taken place in the for the production of superior tone in the nature
structure of the reed since the discovery of the of those referred to. Mr. Melville Clark of that
present method of voicing. In that direction firm has introduced a great many patents from
alone a large number of patents have been taken time to time in his efforts to give the " Story &
out since 1862, especially in relation to methods Clark " a musical character equal to the best of
for adjusting and fastening the heel of the reed. its competitors, but it would be quite a task to
The outcome has been the slot-cutting machine describe all of them or even those of especial
and several patent heel fastening systems. These value in detail. The best illustration of the
led up to the establishment of a distinct auxiliary mechanical and scientific genius of this firm is
branch of the organ industry, namely, reed man- evident in the Mozart organ, an instrument
ufacturing. I think it will be admitted that, capable of very beautiful and manifold combin-
although this assisted the production of cheap ations of tones, some of them exceedingly semi-
organs it helped the evolution of the instrument orchestral in character.
very materially. The Munroe reed was among
A study of some modern organs of the class
the first notable achievements in this direction. treated on has convinced the writer that piano
Metals and compositions were meantime experi- tone regulators and experts could get many
mented with to improve tone, and a general all wrinkles from organ tuners and voicers in the
round development resulted. The reed once nature of tone and its various phases of quality.
brought to an appreciable point of perfection, Indeed in the matter of quality, and it is with
this the piano tone regulator has to do, the
organ voicer is called upon to display incompar-
ably greater capacity and finer musical instincts
than his piano relative. Nowhere is this more
Fio. 19.
evident than in an instrument such as the
" Mozart " organ, or any other leading style of
those produced by Story & Clark. These opin-
ions, it is scarcely necessary to say, are appli-
cable to first-class instruments of every make.
-cfN the larger pipe organs the disposition of
^ the huge body of pipes, which enter into
their composition so as to get them under con-
trol of the keyboard pedals and general stop-
action, is a revelation of ingenuity and mechani-
cal skill. Many .of these instruments contain
over six thousand pipes. Reed organ improvers
doubtless owe much to their brethren of '' the
fraternity of Pan, " as some one styled the pipe
organ builders, for the idea of a multiplication
of manuels, pedals, and the general arrange-
ment of the stop-action originated with the
latter. But it may be also asserted that the pipe
organ men have in turn appropriated many valu-
able ideas from their kinsmen in craft. The
first instruments of the parlor organ family con-
sisted simply of a set of reeds somewhat similar
to those in use in an
ordinary German concer-
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tina or accordion of the
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familiar species, while
the action was very sim-
FIG. 17.
ple. The multiplication
of reeds and the introduc-
tion of stop effects and
other auxiliaries within
the limited compass of
case, taxed the ingenuity
of organ makers and
inventors to no inconsid"
FIG. 23
erable degree, and con-
Fio. 18.
sequently their achieve-
ments represent remark-
able labor and experi-
ment. In that sense the
organ shown here will
serve to give another il-
-e-
. lustration of the wonder-
ful development which
Fiii. w.
has taken place in the
CONSTRUCTIVE PRINCIPLES OF A MASON & HAMLIN ORGAN.
structure of the instru-
ment within the past forty years, and of the in- inventors and practical acousticians—of which
tricate mechanical principles which have been the reed organ business has produced many of
introduced in line with the general extension of remarkable genius—soon found that there was
tone and artistic facilities. Annexed is an still room for further tone development through
exemplification of the Mason & Hamlin system the adjustment of this medium. Accordingly
of construction and will repay study.
"qualifying tubes," "chambered reed cells"
To explain the above : Fig. 17 shows position and various other valuable principles appeared.
of reed ; Fig. 18 represents in sectional elevation In fact each of the leading firms employ a, to
part of one end with reed-valves and stop-action ; an extent, special method of placing the reed to
Fig. 19 shows auxiliary mutes; Fig. 20exhibits augment tone.
method by which the stop-valve is mounted :
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wind-chest (U), reed-valves (/), stop-valves (7"),
The records of the Patent Office recruited a
swell-cap (V) with the swell-lids attached (W), goodly part of their number from inventors of
stop-lever (X), transverse roller-lever (<$'), roller- ideas of that character, but like piano patents
board (c'), name-board (a'), draw-stops (a and b), and patents for various other improvements in
and the tube-board {R). Some connections of the organ only a very small proportion have
the parts are indicated thus : The inner end of survived.
stop-valve (T) attached to tube-board (R) by
In the Clough & Warren, for instance, the
butt-hinge (c) ; similar hinge (d) fastened to Scribner system of "Patent Qualifying Tubes "
outer end of tube-board ; stop-valve (7) joined to is in adoption. The makers of that excellent
half hinge (d) by the bent wire (e); connection organ find that to that system it owes much of
DANIEL SPILLANE.
Tail piece for banjos or violins, No. 487,879,
H. C. Middlebrooke.
Apparatus for turning over the leaves of
music, No. 487,769, C. Pittrich.
Music rack attachment for guitars, etc., No.
487,820, P. Benson.
Impervious case for containing musical instru-
ment strings, No. 488,005, F. H. Griffith.
Organ, No. 487,716, J. Chilleen.
Pneumatic action for organs, No. 487,767, J.
Peloubet.
Musical instrument, No. 488,482, R. W. Pain.
Electrically-operated stringed musical instru
ment, No. 488,520, W. H. Gilman.
Piano case, No. 22,079, Strich & Zeidler.
A tenor, whose name was McB,
Tried to reach up one day to high C.
His voice gave a crack
And it never came back,
Now his neighbors are filled^with high glee.