Pipe Organ History

When a flare of the dramatic or ominous is needed for a film or event, there is no need to look further for an instrument the voluminous and resonating voice of a pipe organ. Famous for its room trembling tone capable of filling every chair and corner of a church or theater, the pipe organ has become synonymous with power. Sometimes constructed from thousands of pipes, levers, and mechanisms, they have been used over the millennia as technological wonders of the prestigious and wealthy. While the pipe organ in its modern form has only been in existence for the last few hundred years, all of its predecessors still continue to share in the pipe organ’s noble and rich standing. From its innovative invention in ancient Greece to its proud prominence …show more content…
Things were about to transform to much larger proportions. In 1361, the first permanent installation of a pipe organ was commissioned in Halberstadt, Germany. The organ sits in St. Stephen Cathedral and is still in use today. This organ was certainly a magnificent introduction to the modern pipe organ as both a piece of musical excellence and architectural brilliance. While the pipe organ did not possess any kind of stops, as they had not been invented yet, it vested an impressive three manuals and pedalboard. Ten men operate a series of twenty bellows to create the necessary air pressure to power the echoing melody of its array of pipes. The keys are wider than modern organs to allow the organ player to play with their full weight. In order to overcome the air pressure of the airbox, the musician must essentially hammer down their fists on the broad keys. To this day the pipe organ is used, a testament to its construction quality and also to the maintenance and care the cathedral has provided it over the years. Today, it is currently in the middle of a seventeen month rest note as it continues its six-hundred and forty year rendition of “As Slow as …show more content…
I do however, feel that as feedback control systems mature over the next hundred years, the pipe organ will be manipulated to produce more precise tones once effected by humidity and other environmental conditions. The giant leaps once seen by pipe organs in centuries before will be refined to tonal perfections barely recognizable to the ear. Pipes will be modified to warp and shape to produce melodies closer to the theoretical than ever possible before. Also, with the continued development of the electric motor and compressor systems, I believe the white noise generated by background operations will soon cease to exist.