"throat ""

"block" BB (Fig. 60), which takes the place of, or rather is, a modified languid. This block is cut deeply to form the T (Fig. 60). Both the throat and block are covered by the " cap" c (Fig. 60). The wind-way is formed by the upper end of the cap being bevelled away. The "foot" is a short tube which acts as a support to the pipe, and conducts the wind thereto.

The mouth of a wooden flue pipe is made by discontinuing the front of the body, above the block, and bevelling off the front of the surface E (Fig. 60). The upper edge of the cap forms the lower lip, the space between it and the edge of the front is the mouth.

Pipes of wood are sometimes made with a languid instead of a block, especially if they are of great size.

Occasionally wooden pipes are constructed with inverted mouths (Fig. 61), in which case the front of the block must project as far as the outer surface of the pipe-front, and the inner surface of the front of the pipe is bevelled instead of the outer. Double-mouthed pipes are sometimes to

be found in German organs. They are said to give a greater body of tone, but they have not often been used in this country. A kind of Vox Coelestis has been constructed on this principle. The mouths are precisely similar to those of the ordinary pipes, but each pipe has two, one in front and the other behind.

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Reeds.

Ir has been seen in a previous chapter that pipes were classed into two great divisions, viz., the "flue pipes" and "reeds." Having in the last chapter described the parts of the former, we would now premise of the reeds that it is to them we owe the great richness in the full organ. They have a sonorous and full body of tone that is very useful in almost every combination or kind of music, especially accompaniment. It is the delicate reed that produces the Vox Humana effect with such fidelity. Except by means of reeds we could not imitate to a nicety all the old wind instruments, not even omitting the Sackbut itself. The Bassoon, the Oboe, the Clarionet, the Clarion, the Horn, the Trombone, the Trumpet, and the Cornopean are all not merely names of stops, but, if the pipes are properly voiced, almost identical with the instru ments they represent.

It is difficult to determine the exact period at which reeds were first introduced into the organ, but some idea of the antiquity of this form of pipe may be gathered from the fact that they are found in the Chinese mouth-organ or Cheng, the origin of which is lost in antiquity. In Europe, Regals, consisting of very short pipes with metallic reeds, are as old as Charlemagne at least. The German builders were very coarse and rough in their reed work, indeed, it may be confidently stated that however the old builders of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries excelled in the production of flue-work, they by no means came up to the present condition of things with regard to the reeds. Perhaps the old specimens that we find in the organs of the last century have suffered more than their neighbours of the flue class under the influence of repeated and rough tuning; but the beginning of the present century saw the introduction of a refinement in the making and the voicing of reeds that was new to the builders of that date.

Green did a great deal to further the advancement of reed voicing, and was perhaps the best workman up to his own date in this department.

There are three kinds of reeds in use, two of which are found generally in organs, the third not being often used in this country. The "open reed" gives a greater body of tone to the tube, and is louder than the other varieties. "Closed reeds "admit far less wind, but are more broad in the tongue. This is looked upon as a drawback, inasmuch as dust is frequently lodged under the tongue and prevents the proper speech of the pipe.

The "free reed" differs essentially in the manner in which the sound is produced. It is found very useful for the larger stops on the pedals or great manual. A reed pipe does not depend entirely upon the length of body, or tube, for the tone it produces, but upon the length of the vibrating tongue, which oscillates against the reed and admits a certain amount of wind to the tube. To produce the best quality of tone the vibrations of the tongue on the reed and those of the air within the tube should be equal. The shape of the tube, its width, &c., has something to do with the character and quality of tone produced, but the pitch is entirely determined by the length of the vibrating portion of the tongue.

Reeds are made up of two distinct portions, "the body," or tube, and "the block." The block is made up of "the boot," "the reed," "the tongue,' ," "the wedge," and "the tuning wire."

B

B

R

B

The boot, B B, Fig. 62, encloses and supports the block, and has also to bear the entire weight of the tube y, which in the smaller pipes is soldered in, and in the larger ones is supported in a socket fixed to the block. The boot also conveys the wind to the speaking part or reed, and is therefore analogous to the foot of the flue pipes. The block, L L, supports the reed, B R, the latter being firmly fixed into position by a small wooden wedge, W. The reed itself is a hollow tube, slightly conical, the larger end below, and closed. There is a portion of the reed tube cut away, so that its section throughout would appear C shaped, and it is over this cut and against the edges thereof that the tongue T, which is a thin plate of brass, curved slightly outwards, vibrates. The length of the vibrating portion of the tongue is of the utmost importance, and this is regulated to a nicety by the tuning wire, x, which holds the upper portion not required in action firmly to

FIG. 62. THE REED.

the reed. This wire passes out of the block upwards, and the end is hooked, so that it may be more easily regulated by the reed knife. Originally the blocks were made of box-wood, turned, but now they are all manufactured of metal, cast, and worked to the required shape.

In the case of the "free reed" the tongue does not vibrate against the edges or on the reed itself, but is allowed to pass between the slit and vibrate by reason of its own elasticity. These reeds are softer and less harsh than the beating reeds, and do away with all the rattling that is frequently so apparent, especially in the lower notes. It has been erroneously stated that a reed vibrates only half as many times to produce a given note as would the air within a flue pipe. The error is due to the fact that the tongue only hits against the reed as it finishes each vibration; in other words, it can only make one audible hit on whichever side the reed may be.

The tubes or bodies of the reeds are formed as are those of the metal flue pipes, any additional bells, &c., being added after the tube itself has been cast and put into shape. It is always advisable to make the narrow and lower end of a reed tube much thicker in proportion to the upper part, for these pipes are liable to bend over by their own weight, and in some cases they have been known to snap off; this latter, perhaps, was owing to the bad composition of the material, probably a too great proportion of antimony, or type-metal.

In practice it has been found that the tone of a reed is made much more smooth if the tongue is allowed to vibrate on leather. Many organ builders prefer to use this in the lower portions of almost all the reed stops, excepting, perhaps, the loudest. The practice is frequently adopted in relation to the lower octave of the Bassoon, or even the Clarionet, and there is no doubt whatever that there is a great amount of richness added to the quality of the tone. There is a considerable objection, however, to the universal adoption of this practice; the slightest change of temperature, or damp, is apt to pucker the leather under the tongue, and then the pipe has to be attended to by an experienced voicer, to remedy the inevitable mischief that would accrue. In the provinces, therefore, or, in fact, at any distance from the builder, it is advisable to do as much as possible without the addition of leather.

Messrs. Bryceson Bros. and Ellis have lately been constructing some remarkably fine specimens of reeds, which they have placed in the new organ in St. James's Hall. In these the tongues are broad, thick, and play upon wood. The lower notes of this arrangement are of a depth and richness that is quite unusual, and they seem to have got rid of all the rattle and roar usual in very large reeds.

CHAPTER XIX.

Pitch-Nomenclature of the Keys.

THE pitch of the flue pipes is determined by their length, as was explained in a previous chapter; but the pitch of reeds depends entirely on the length of tongue. The longer the tongue the lower the note, and vice versa. At first it might appear that the tube of a reed stop could be entirely dispensed with, but the character of the tone is determined by the size, calibre, and length of the tube used. To produce a thoroughly perfect tone, it is necessary that the vibrations of the tongue, and those within the tube, should exactly correspond; it therefore is a matter of extreme delicacy so to tune reeds that this result be brought about. The shape of the tube also has considerable influence on the character of the stop; thus for a loud commanding tone we have a wide tube, as in the Pasaune, whereas the Trumpet, Horn, and Oboe decrease in width. The peculiar nasal speech of the Vox Humana is produced by having the tube half the speaking length of the tongue, but of the full breadth. Thus C-C would have a full length reed, but a tube of only 4ft. in length, of cylindrical shape, like the Clarionet. There are many reeds of delicate tone, as for instance the Cor Anglais, that depend on the shape of the tube for the peculiarities of their speech, the thin tone of the Clarionet is produced by a small scale cylindrical tube. The size and shape of the tongue has of course a good deal to do with the character of tone produced. A thick tongue of brass, and broad in proportion, produces a sonorous tone. A long thin tongue of an alloy of brass and copper gives the delicate tone peculiar to the Oboe, and such soft stops. To sum up the government of reed effect, therefore, pitch is determined by size, calibre, and length of reed; character, by size, shape, and length of tube. In speaking of the standard length of organ pipes, it is well to remember that the foot is not taken into consideration, as that portion merely acts as a support and windway, and in no wise affects the pitch.

Pipes assume a variety of sizes, more especially in the flue class, the longest is 32ft., the shortest three-quarters of an inch.