Pipe Dream
So I’ve been reading up on what makes organ pipes tick (ok, so they don’t tick). It’s very fascinating and yet very simple. It has surprised even me that it has made me think about making my own.
Now, I’m not crazy enough to build a large organ, at least not without gobs of time and money and the proper tools. I’m still nurturing the dream of building just a MIDI pedalboard, remember.
Still, there is a project that I can see myself taking on someday. I could build a positive organ. (”Positive” rhymes with “beef.”) It’s a little one-manual organ that has just a couple of stops. It’s portable like a dresser with wheels is.
But not just any positive organ. A crazy simple positive organ. I’m thinking PVC pipe, because working with metal and wood intimidates me (and I don’t have the tools). That may change before I actually build it. Who needs a case? If I’m going to build a pipe organ it’s going to be naked so that people can see how an organ works. So build it onto/into a simple push cart or something. As for wind, what good is a portable organ if you have a loud motor that needs electricity? If I had cash for a nice quiet blower that would be one thing, but since I don’t maybe I’ll go with a simple bellows like they did in the olde days. Keyboard? Tracker’s the only way to go on something like this, which means I’ll have to break my anti-woodworking pact. But on a positive organ where the pipes are right there, the action should be simple.
This is very early stages of the dream, but I’m imagining 8′, 4′, 2′, and 2 2/3′. 8′ and 4′ for sure. Probably 49 notes (4 octaves) on the manual. So that’s 100–200 pipes. I hope my attention span is that large. Of course I can always start with one stop and go from there.
You may wonder how I’m going to fit an 8′ stop in an organ I pretend will be portable. You can take a 4′ pipe and cover the end and it will resonate like an 8′ pipe (and though it’s not made of wood will hopefully sound not entirely unlike a Gedackt).
If none of that made any sense, just click on this link and say “that’d be cool!”