The console of the Wanamaker Organ in the Macy's (formerly Lord and Taylor) department store in Philadelphia, featuring six manuals and color-coded stop tabs.

The pipe organ is played from an area called the console (if it is separate from the rest of the case) or keydesk (if it is integrated into the case), which holds the manuals, pedals, and stop controls. In electric-action organs, the console is often movable. This allows for greater flexibility in placement of the console for various activities. Some very large organs, such as the Van Den Heuvel organ at the Church of St. Eustache in Paris, have more than one console, enabling the organ to be played from several locations depending on the nature of the performance. Image File history File links ConsoleOrgueWanamaker. ... Image File history File links ConsoleOrgueWanamaker. ... A view of the Grand Court in Macys department store in Philadelphia. ... Nickname: Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love continue Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Government  - Mayor John F. Street (D) Area  - City 369. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany // The pipe organ (Greek ὄργανον, órganon) is a musical instrument that produces sound by admitting pressurized air through a series of pipes. ... View from south west View from south east View of the choir Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Église Saint-Eustache Léglise Saint-Eustache is a church in the Ier arrondissement of Paris, built between 1532 and 1632. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ...

Controls at the console called stops select which ranks and pipes are used. These controls are generally either draw knobs (or stop knobs), which engage the stops when pulled out from the console, or stop tabs (or rocker-tabs), which rock up and down. Different combinations of stops change the timbre of the instrument considerably. The selection of stops is called the registration. On modern organs, the registration can be changed instantaneously with the aid of a combination action, usually featuring pistons. Pistons are buttons that can be pressed by the organist to change registrations; they are generally found between the manuals or above the pedalboard. In the latter case they are called toe studs or toe pistons (as opposed to thumb pistons). Most large organs have both preset and programmable pistons, with some of the couplers repeated for convenience as pistons and toe studs. Programmable pistons allow comprehensive control over changes in registration. Newer organs may have multiple levels of solid-state memory, allowing each piston to be programmed more than once. This allows more than one organist to store their own registrations. Many newer consoles also feature MIDI, which allows the organist to record performances. It also allows an external keyboard to be plugged in, which assists in tuning and maintenance. The choir division of the organ at St. ... A combination action is a system designed to capture specific organ registrations to be recalled instantaneously by the player while he is playing. ... Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or MIDI, is a system designed to transmit information between electronic musical instruments. ...

Organization of console controls

The United States Naval Academy chapel's new five-manual console, crafted by R. A. Colby, Inc. of Johnson City, TN. It boasts 522 draw knobs, and, in addition to the other controls available to the organist, yields 796 total controls.

In modern organ building, an accepted standardized scheme is used for the layout of the stops and pistons on the console. The stops controlling each division (see Keyboards) are grouped together. Within these, the standard arrangement is for the lowest sounding stops (32′ or 16′) to be placed at the bottom of the columns, with the higher pitched stops are placed above this, (8′, 4′, 2 2/3′, 2′ etc.); the 'mixtures' are placed above this (II, III, V etc). The stops controlling the reed ranks are placed collectively above these in the same order as above, often with the stop engraving in red. Image File history File links Usnaconsole. ... Image File history File links Usnaconsole. ... Naval Academy Chapel The United States Naval Academy Chapel is one of two houses of worship on the grounds of the Navys service academy. ...

Thus, an example stop configuration for a Great division may look like this:

The standard position for these columns of stops (assuming drawknobs are used) is for the Choir or Positiv division to be on the outside of the players' right, with the Great nearer the center of the console and the music rest. On the left hand side, the Pedal division is on the outside, with the Swell to the inside. Other divisions can be placed on either side, depending on the amount of space available. Manual couplers and octave extensions are placed either within the stop knobs of the divisions that they control, or grouped together above the uppermost manual. The pistons, if present, are placed directly under the manual they control.

In order to be more historically accurate, organs built along historical models will often use older schemes for organizing the keydesk controls.

Keyboards

The four-manual organ console at St. Mary Redcliffe church, Bristol, England. The organ was built by Harrison and Harrison in 1912 and restored in 1990.

The organ is played with at least one keyboard, with configurations featuring from two to five keyboards being the most common. A keyboard to be played by the hands is called a manual (from the Latin manus, "hand"); an organ with four keyboards is said to have four manuals. Most organs also have a pedalboard, a large keyboard to be played by the feet. Download high resolution version (1500x1081, 293 KB) The organ console in St. ... Download high resolution version (1500x1081, 293 KB) The organ console in St. ... St Mary Redcliffe is a great Anglican parish church in the City of Bristol, England. ... View from Cumberland Basin of the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Avon Gorge Bristol (IPA: ) is a city, unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, 115 miles (185 km) west of London. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... The layout of a typical musical keyboard A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers on a musical instrument which cause the instrument to produce sounds. ... A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... The 30-note pedalboard of a Rieger organ with expression pedal and coupler switches. ...

The collection of ranks controlled by a particular manual is called a division. The names of the divisions of the organ vary geographically and stylistically. Common names for divisions are:

• Great, Swell, Choir, Solo, Orchestral, Echo, Antiphonal (America)
• Hauptwerk, Rückpositiv, Oberwerk, Brustwerk, Schwellwerk (Germany)
• Grand Choeur, Grand Orgue, Récit, Positif, Bombarde (France)
• Hoofdwerk, Rugwerk, Bovenwerk, Borstwerk, Zwelwerk (Holland)

Like the arrangement of stops, the keyboard divisions are also arranged in a common order. Taking the English names as an example, the main manual (the bottom manual on two-manual instruments or the middle manual on three-manual instruments) is traditionally called the Great, and the upper manual is called the Swell. If there is a third manual, it is usually the Choir and is placed below the Great. If it is included, the Solo manual is usually placed above the Swell. Some larger organs contain an Echo or Antiphonal division, usually controlled by a manual placed above the Solo. German and English organs generally use the same configuration of manuals as American organs. On French instruments, the main manual (the Grand Orgue) is at the bottom, with the Positif and the Récit above it. If there are more manuals, the Bombarde is usually above the Récit and the Grand Choeur is below the Grand Orgue.

In addition to names, the manuals may be numbered with Roman numerals, starting from the bottom. Organists will frequently mark a part in their music with the number of the manual they intend to play it on, and this is sometimes seen in the original composition, typically in pieces written when organs were smaller and only had two or three manuals. It is also common to see super- and sub-couplers labeled as "II to I" (see Couplers below)

In some cases, an organ contains more divisions than it does manuals. In these cases, the extra divisions are called floating divisions and are played by coupling them to another manual. Usually this is the case with Echo/Antiphonal and Orchestral divisions, and sometimes it is seen with Solo and Bombarde divisions.

Although manuals are almost always horizontal, organs with five or more manuals may incline the uppermost manuals towards the organist to make them easier to reach.

Many new chamber organs and harpsichords today feature transposing keyboards, which can slide up or down one or more semitones. This allows these instruments to be played with Baroque instruments at a′=415 Hz, modern instruments at a′=440 Hz, or Renaissance instruments at a′=466 Hz. Modern organs are typically tuned in equal temperament, in which every semitone is 100 cents wide. Many organs that are built today following historical models are still tuned to historically-appropriate temperaments. Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ... An equal temperament is a musical temperament -- that is, a system of tuning intended to approximate some form of just intonation -- in which an interval, usually the octave, is divided into a series of equal steps (equal frequency ratios). ... The cent is a logarithmic unit of measure used for musical intervals. ...

Enclosure and expression pedals

On most organs, at least one division will be enclosed. On a two-manual (Great and Swell) organ, this will be the Swell division (from whence the name comes); on larger organs often part, or all of, the choir and solo divisions will be enclosed as well.

Enclosure is the term for the device that allows volume control (crescendo and diminuendo) for a manual without the addition or subtraction of stops. All the pipes for the division are surrounded by a box-like structure (often simply called the Swell box). One side of the box, usually that facing the console or the listener, will be constructed from horizontal palettes (wooden flaps) which can be opened or closed from the console. This works in a similar fashion to a Venetian blind. When the box is 'open' it allows more sound to be heard than if it were 'closed'. In music, dynamics refers to the volume or loudness of the sound or note, in particular to the range from soft (quiet) to loud. ... In music, dynamics refers to the volume or loudness of the sound or note, in particular to the range from soft (quiet) to loud. ... Venetian blind detail, showing how slats are connected. ...

Image of a console and pedalboard, clearly showing the balanced swell pedal

The most common form of controlling the level of sound released from the enclosed box is by the use of a Balanced expression pedal. This is usually placed above the centre of the pedalboard, rotating away from the organist from a near horizontal ("open") to a near vertical position ("shut"). Image File history File links Salemer_Münster_Orgel_Spieltisch_und_Pedal. ... Image File history File links Salemer_Münster_Orgel_Spieltisch_und_Pedal. ... Expression pedal is a control pedal found on electronic and pipe organs and many digital synthesizers. ... The 30-note pedalboard of a Rieger organ with expression pedal and coupler switches. ...

In addition, an organ may have a similar-looking crescendo pedal, which would be found to the right of any expression pedals. Applying the crescendo pedal will incrementally activate all the stops in the organ, starting with the softest stops and ending with the loudest. As the order the stops are activated is usually set by the organ builder, this is a quick way for the organist to get to a registration that will sound attractive at a given volume without choosing a particular registration, or to simply get to full organ. (Some organs also have a piston that activates full organ.) A crescendo pedal is a large pedal commonly found on medium-sized and larger pipe organs (as well as digital organs), either partially or fully recessed within the organ console. ...

Historically, the enclosure was operated by the use of the Ratchet Swell lever, a lever that locks into two or three positions controlling the opening of the shutters. Many Ratchet Swell devices were replaced by the more advanced Balanced pedal because it allows the enclosure to be set at any point. Expression pedal is a control pedal found on electronic and pipe organs and many digital synthesizers. ...

Couplers

A device called a coupler allows the pipes of one division to be played by a manual. For example, a coupler labelled "Swell to Great" allows the stops of the Swell division to be played by the Great manual. It is unnecessary to couple the pipes of a division to the manual of the same name (for example, coupling the Great division to the Great manual), because those stops play by default on that manual (though this is done with super- and sub-couplers, see below). By using the couplers, the entire resources of an organ can be played simultaneously from one manual. On a mechanical-action organ, a coupler may connect one division's manual directly to the other, actually moving the keys of the first manual when the second is played.

Some organs feature a device to add the octave above or below what is being played by the fingers. The "super-octave" adds the octave above, the "sub-octave" the octave below. These may be attached to one division only, for example "Swell octave" (the super is often assumed), or they may act as a coupler, for example "Swell octave to Great" which gives the effect whilst playing on the Great division of adding the Swell division an octave above what is being played. These can be used in conjunction with the standard eight foot coupler. The super-octave may be labelled, for example, Swell to Great 4′; in the same manner, the sub-octave may be labelled Choir to Great 16′. Eight-foot pitch is a term common to the organ and the harpsichord. ...

The inclusion of these couplers allows for greater registrational flexibility and color. Some literature (particularly romantic literature from France) calls explicitly for octaves aigues (super-couplers) to add brightness, or octaves graves (sub-couplers) to add gravity. Some organs feature extended ranks to accommodate the top and bottom octaves when the super- and sub-couplers are engaged (see the discussion under "Unification and extension").

In a similar vein are unison off couplers, which act to "turn off" the stops of a division on its own keyboard. For example, a coupler labelled "Great unison off" would keep the stops of the Great division from sounding, even if they were pulled. Unison off couplers can be used in combination with super- and sub-couplers to create complex registrations that would otherwise not be possible. In addition, the unison off couplers can be used with the standard couplers to change the order of the manuals at the console: engaging the Great to Choir and Choir to Great couplers along with the Great unison off and Choir unison off couplers would have the effect of moving the Great to the bottom manual and the Choir to the middle manual.

Divided pedal

Another form of coupler found on some large organs is the divided pedal. This is a device that allows the sounds played on the pedals to be split, so the lower half (principally that of the left foot) plays stops from the pedal division simultaneously with the right foot, which plays stops from one of the manual divisions. The choice of manual is at the discretion of the performer, as is the split point of the system.

The system can be found on the organs of Gloucester Cathedral and Truro Cathedral, having been added by David Briggs, as well as on the new nave console of Ripon Cathedral. The system as found in Truro Cathedral operates like this: Gloucester Cathedral from the north east in 1828. ... Truro Cathedral is a cathedral in the city of Truro in Cornwall in south-west England. ... David J. Briggs (born 1962) is an English organist and composer. ... The west front of Ripon minster The interior of the cathedral The East end Ripon Cathedral in Ripon was founded in 672, when it is believed to have been the second stone building erected in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria. ... Truro Cathedral is a cathedral in the city of Truro in Cornwall in south-west England. ...

• Divided Pedal (adjustable dividing point): A# B c c# d d#

under the 'divide': Pedal stops and couplers

above the 'divide': four illuminated controls: Choir/Swell/Great/Solo to Pedal^[1]

This allows four different sounds to be played at once, for example:

Right hand: Great principals 8′ and 4′

Left hand: Swell strings

Left foot: Pedal 16′ and 8′ flutes and Swell to Pedal coupler

Right foot: Solo Clarinet via divided pedal coupler