PNEUMATIC AND ELECTRO-PNEUMATIC ACTIONS.
Undoubtedly the first improvements to be named must be the pneumatic
and electro-pneumatic actions.
Without the use of these actions most of the advances we are about to
chronicle would not have been effected.
As before stated, Cavaillé-Coll and Willis worked as pioneers in
perfecting and in introducing the pneumatic action.
The pneumatic action used by Willis, Cavaillé-Coll and a score of other
builders leaves little to be desired. It is thoroughly reliable and,
where the keys are located close by the organ, is fairly prompt both in
attack and repetition. Many of the pneumatic actions made to-day,
however, are disappointing in these particulars.
TUBULAR PNEUMATICS.[1]
In the year 1872 Henry Willis built an organ for St. Paul's Cathedral,
London, which was divided in two portions, one on each side of the
junction of the Choir with the Dome at an elevation of about thirty
feet from the floor. The keyboards were placed inside one portion of
the instrument, and instead of carrying trackers down and under the
floor and up to the other side, as had hitherto been the custom in such
cases, he made the connection by means of tubes like gaspipes, and made
a pulse of _wind_ travel down and across and up and into the pneumatic
levers controlling the pipes and stops. Sir John Stainer describes it
as "a triumph of mechanical skill." He was organist of St. Paul's for
many years and ought to know. This was all very well for a cathedral,
where
". . . . the long-drawn aisles
The melodious strains prolong"
but here is what the eminent English organist, W. T. Best, said about
tubular pneumatic action as applied to another organ used for concert
purposes: "It is a complete failure; you cannot play a triplet on the
Trumpet, and I consider it the most d----nable invention ever placed
inside an organ." Notwithstanding these drawbacks this action became
very fashionable after its demonstration at St. Paul's, and was used
even in small organs in preference to the Barker lever. One builder
confessed to the writer that he had suffered severe financial loss
through installing this action. After expending considerable time (and
time is money) in getting it to work right, the whole thing would be
upset when the sexton started up the heating apparatus. The writer is
acquainted with organs in New York City where these same conditions
prevail.
The writer, however, will admit having seen some tubular actions which
were fairly satisfactory, one in particular in the factory of Alfred
Monk, London, England, where for demonstration purposes the tubes were
fifty feet long. Dr. Bédart informs us that Puget, the famous organ
builder of Toulouse, France, sets fifty feet as the limit of usefulness
of this action.
Henry Willis & Sons in their description of the organ in the Lady
Chapel of Liverpool Cathedral state that their action has been tested
to a repetition of 1,000 per minute, quicker than any human finger can
move. This is a square organ in one case, but we note they have
adopted the electric action for the great cathedral organ where the
distance of the pipes from the keys is too great for satisfactory
response.
In view of the wide use at present of this action we give a drawing and
description of its operation as patented and made by Mr. J. J. Binns,
of Bramley, Leeds, England. J. Matthews, in his "Handbook of the
Organ," says that this action is very good and free from drawbacks.
[Illustration: Fig. 5. Tubular Pneumatic Action]
The tubes, N, from each key are fixed to the hole connected to the
small puffs P in the puff-board E. Air under pressure is admitted by
the key action and conveyed by the tubes N which raises the
corresponding button valves S|1|, lifting their spindles S and closing
the apertures T|2| in the bottom of the wind-chest A, and opening a
similar aperture T in the bottom of the cover-board F, causing the
compressed air to escape from the exhaust bellows M, which closes,
raising the solid valve H in the cover-board F and closing the aperture
J|1| in the wind-chest A, shuts off the air from the bellows, which
immediately closes, drawing down the pallet B, which admits air (or
wind) to the pipes.
No tubular-pneumatic action is entirely satisfactory when the distance
between the keys and the organ is great. This is often due to a law of
nature rather than to imperfection of design or workmanship.
Pneumatic pulses travel slowly--at a speed which does not reach 1,100
feet per second. In large organs where necessarily some of the tubes
are short and some have to be long, it is impossible to secure
simultaneous speech from all departments of the instrument, and in
addition to this the crisp feeling of direct connection with his pipes,
which the old tracker action secured for the organist, is lost.
It is generally thought amongst the more advanced of the builders and
organists qualified to judge, that the tubular-pneumatic action will
sooner or later be entirely abandoned in favor of the electro-pneumatic
action. Certain it is that the aid of electricity is now called in in
practically every large instrument that is built in this country, and
in an increasing proportion of those constructed abroad.
THE CRYING NEED FOR ELECTRIC ACTION.
The instance of St. Paul's Cathedral cited above shows the demand that
existed at that time for means whereby the organ could be played with
the keyboards situated at some distance from the main body of the
instrument. In the Cathedrals the organ was usually placed on a screen
dividing the Choir from the Nave, completely obstructing the view down
the church. There was a demand for its removal from this position
(which was eventually done at St. Paul's, Chester, Durham, and other
Cathedrals). Then in the large parish churches the quartet of singers
in the west gallery where the organ was placed had been abolished. Boy
choirs had been installed in the chancel, leaving the organ and
organist in the west gallery, to keep time together as best they could.
In the Cathedrals, too, the organist was a long way off from the choir.
How glorious it would be if he could sit and play in their midst!
Henry Willis & Sons stated in a letter to the London _Musical News_, in
1890, that they had been repeatedly asked to make such arrangements but
had refused, "because Dame Nature stood in the way,"--which she
certainly did if tubular pneumatics had been used. The fact was that
up to this time all the electric actions invented had proved more or
less unreliable, and Willis, who had an artistic reputation to lose,
refused to employ them. As an instance of their clumsiness we may
mention that the best contact they could get was made by dipping a
platinum point in a cell containing mercury! Other forms of contact
rapidly oxidized and went out of business.
Dr. Gauntlet, about the year 1852, took out a patent covering an
electric connection between the keys and the pallets of an organ,[2]
but the invention of the electro-pneumatic lever must be ascribed to
Barker and Dr. Péschard. The latter seems to have suggested the
contrivance and the former to have done the practical work.
Bryceson Bros. were the first to introduce this action into English
organs. They commenced work along these lines in 1868, under the
Barker patents, their first organ being built behind the scenes at Her
Majesty's Opera House, Drury Lane, London, the keys being in the
orchestra. This organ was used successfully for over a year, after
which it was removed and shown as a curiosity in the London Polytechnic
Institute, recitals being given twice daily.
Schmole and Molls, Conti, Trice and others took a leading part in the
work on the European continent, and Roosevelt was perhaps its greatest
pioneer in the United States.
Various builders in many countries have more recently made scores of
improvements or variations in form and have taken out patents to cover
the points of difference, but none of these has done any work of
special importance.
Not one of the early electric actions proved either quick or reliable,
and all were costly to install and maintain.[3]
[Illustration: The First Electric Organ Ever Built. In the Collegiate
Church at Salon, Near Marseilles, France (1866).]
This form of mechanism, therefore, earned a bad name and was making
little advance, if not actually being abandoned, when a skilled
electrician, Robert Hope-Jones, entered the field about 1886. Knowing
little of organs and nothing of previous attempts to utilize
electricity for this service, he made with his own hands and some
unskilled assistance furnished by members of his voluntary choir, the
first movable console,[4] stop-keys, double touch, suitable bass, etc.,
and an electric action that created a sensation throughout the organ
world. In this action the "pneumatic blow" was for the first time
attained and an attack and repetition secured in advance of anything
thought possible at that time, in connection with the organ or the
pianoforte.
Hope-Jones introduced the round wire contact which secures the ideally
perfect "nibbing points," and he makes these wires of dissimilar
non-corrosive metals (gold and platinum).
He replaced previous rule-of-thumb methods by scientific calculation,
recognized the value of low voltage, good insulation and the avoidance
of self-induction, with the result that the electro-pneumatic action
has become (when properly made) as reliable as the tracker or pneumatic
lever mechanism.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ELECTRIC ACTION.
The electric action consists substantially of a small bellows like the
pneumatic lever, but instead of the valve admitting the wind to operate
it being moved by a tracker leading from the key, it is opened by an
electro-magnet, energized by a contact in the keyboard and connected
therewith by a wire which, of course, may be of any desired length. We
illustrate one form of action invented and used by Hope-Jones.[5]
Within the organ, the wires from the other end of the cable are
attached to small magnets specially wound so that no spark results when
the electric contact at the key is broken. This magnet attracts a thin
disc of iron about 1/4 inch in diameter, (held up by a high wind
pressure from underneath) and draws it downward through a space of less
than 1/100 of an inch.
The working is as follows: The box A is connected with the organ
bellows and so (immediately the wind is put into the organ) is filled
with air under pressure, which passes upwards between the poles of the
magnet N. Lifting the small iron disc L it finds its way through the
passage L into the small motor M, thus allowing the movable portion of
the motor M to remain in its lower position, the pallet C|1| being
closed and the pallet C|2| being open. Under these conditions, the
large motor B collapses and the pull-down P (which is connected with
the organ pallet) rises.
[Illustration: Fig. 6. The Electro-Pneumatic Lever]
When a weak current of electricity is caused to circulate round the
coils of the electro-magnet N, the small armature disc J is drawn off
the valve-seat H on to the zinc plate K.
The compressed air from within the small motor M escapes by way of the
passage L, through the openings in the valve seat H into the
atmosphere. The compressed air in the box A then acts upon the movable
portion of the small motor M in such a manner that it is forced upwards
and caused (through the medium of the pull-wire E) to lift the supply
pallet C|1| and close the exhaust pallet C|2|, thus allowing compressed
air to rush from the box A into the motor B and so cause this latter
motor to open and (through the medium of the pull down P) to pull the
soundboard pallet from its seat and allow wind to pass into the pipes.
[Illustration: Fig. 7. Valve and Valve Seat, Hope-Jones Electric
Action]
The valve-seat H has formed on its lower surface two crescent shaped
long and narrow slits. A very slight movement of the armature disc J,
therefore, suffices to open to the full extent two long exhaust
passages. The movement of this disc is reduced to something less than
the 1/100 part of an inch. It is, therefore, always very close to the
poles of the magnet, consequently a very faint impulse of electricity
will suffice (aided by gravity) to draw the disc off the valve-seat H.
The zinc plate K being in intimate contact with the iron poles of the
magnet N, protects the latter from rust by well-known electrical laws.
All the parts are made of metal, so that no change in the weather can
affect their relative positions. R is the point at which the large
motor B is hinged. G is a spring retaining cap in position; O the
wires leading from the keys and conveying the current to the magnet N;
Q the removable side of the box A.
Fig. 7 represents a larger view of the plate K in which the magnet
poles N are rigidly fixed--of a piece of very fine chiffon M (indicated
by a slightly thicker line) which prevents particles of dust passing
through so as to interfere with the proper seating of the soft Swedish
charcoal iron armature disc J--of the distance piece L and of the valve
seat H.
On the upper surface of this valve seat H another piece of fine chiffon
is attached to prevent possible passage of dust to the armature valve
J, from outside.
As all parts of this apparatus are of metal changes in humidity or
temperature do not affect its regulation.
The use of this action renders it possible for the console (or
keyboards, etc.) to be entirely detached from the organ, moved to a
distance and connected with the organ by a cable fifty or one hundred
feet or as many miles long. This arrangement may be seen, for example,
in the College of the City of New York (built by the E. M. Skinner
Co.), where the console is carried to the middle of the platform when a
recital is to be given, and removed out of the way when the platform is
wanted for other purposes.
As all the old mechanism--the backfalls, roller-boards and trackers--is
now swept away, it is possible by placing the bellows in the cellar to
utilize the _inside of the organ_ for a choir-vestry, as was indeed
done with the pioneer Hope-Jones organ at St. John's Church, Birkenhead.
DIVISION OF ORGANS.
Before the invention of pneumatic and electro-pneumatic action, organs
were almost invariably constructed in a single mass. It was, it is
true, possible to find instruments with tracker action that were
divided and placed, say, half on either side of a chancel, but
instances of the kind were rare and it was well nigh impossible for
even a muscular organist to perform on such instruments.
The perfecting of tubular pneumatic and especially of electro-pneumatic
action has lent wonderful flexibility to the organ and has allowed of
instruments being introduced in buildings where it would otherwise have
been impossible to locate an organ. Almost all leading builders have
done work of this kind, but the Aeolian Company has been quickest to
seize the advantage of division in adapting the pipe organ for use in
private residences.
Sound reflectors have recently been introduced, and it seems likely
that these will play an important part in organ construction in the
future. So far they appear to be employed only by Hope-Jones and the
firms with which he was associated. It has been discovered that sound
waves may be collected, focussed or directed, much in the same way that
light waves can. In the case of the Hope-Jones organ at Ocean Grove,
N. J., the greatest part of the instrument has been placed in a
basement constructed outside the original Auditorium. The sound waves
are thrown upward and are directed into the Auditorium by means of
parabolic reflectors constructed of cement lined with wood. The effect
is entirely satisfactory. In Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland, Ohio,[6]
Hope-Jones arranged for the Tuba to stand in the basement at the
distant end of the nave. Its tone is directed to a cement reflector
and from that reflector is projected through a metal grid set in the
floor, till, striking the roof of the nave, it is spread and fills the
entire building with tone. In St. Luke's Church, Montclair, N. J., he
adopted a somewhat similar plan in connection with the open 38-foot
pedal pipes which are laid horizontally in the basement. We believe
that the first time this principle was employed was in the case of the
organ rebuilt by Hope-Jones in 1892 at the residence of Mr. J. Martin
White, Balruddery, Dundee, Scotland.
OCTAVE COUPLERS.
In the days of mechanical action, couplers of any kind proved a source
of trouble and added greatly to the weight of the touch. The natural
result was that anything further than unison coupling was seldom
attempted.
In some organs hardly any couplers at all were present.
In Schulze's great and celebrated organ in Doncaster, England, it was
not possible to couple any of the manuals to the pedals, and (if we
remember rightly) there were only two couplers in the whole instrument.
Shortly after the introduction of pneumatic action, an organ with an
occasional octave coupler, that is a coupler which depressed a key an
octave higher or lower than the one originally struck, was sometimes
met with.
In the pioneer organ built by Hope-Jones in Birkenhead, England (about
1887), a sudden advance was made. That organ contains no less than 19
couplers. Not only did he provide sub-octave and super-octave couplers
freely, but he even added a Swell Sub-quint to Great coupler!
Octave couplers are now provided by almost all builders.
Though condemned by many theorists, there is no doubt that in practice
they greatly add to the resources of the instruments to which they are
attached. We know of small organs where the electric action has been
introduced for no other reason than that of facilitating the use of
octave couplers, which are now a mere matter of wiring and give no
additional weight to the touch.
Hope-Jones appears to have led in adding extra pipes to the wind-chest,
which were acted upon by the top octave of the octave couplers, thus
giving the organist a complete scale to the full extent of the
keyboards. He made the practice common in England, and the Austin
Company adopted it on his joining them in this country. The plan has
since become more or leas common. This is the device we see specified
in organ builders' catalogues as the "extended wind-chest," and
explains why the stops have 73 pipes to 61 notes on the keyboard. An
octave coupler without such extension is incomplete and is no more
honest than a stop which only goes down to Tenor C.
[1] The researches of Dr. Gabriel Bédart, Professeur agrégé Physiologie
in the University of Lille, France, a learned and enthusiastic organ
connoisseur, have brought to light the fact that the first tubular
pneumatic action was constructed by Moitessier in France in 1835. It
was designed upon the exhaust principle.
[2] Dr. Gauntlett's idea was to play _all_ the organs shown in the
Great Exhibition in London, in 1851, from one central keyboard. He
proposed to place an electro-magnet inside the wind-chest under each
pallet, which would have required an enormous amount of electric
current. The idea was never carried out. This plan seems also to have
occurred to William Wilkinson, the organ-builder of Kendal, as far back
as 1862, but, after some experiments, was abandoned. An organ
constructed on similar lines was actually built by Karl G. Weiglé, of
Echterdingen, near Stuttgart, Germany, in 1870, and although not at all
a success, he built another on the same principle which was exhibited
at the Vienna Exhibition in 1873. Owing to the powerful current
necessary to open the Pallets, the contacts fused and the organ was
nearly destroyed by fire on several occasions.
[3] Sir John Stainer, in the 1889 edition of his "Dictionary of Musical
Terms," dismisses the electric action in a paragraph of four lines as
of no practical importance. In that same year the writer asked Mr. W.
T. Best to come over and look at the organ in St. John's Church,
Birkenhead, which was then beginning to be talked about, and he laughed
at the idea that any good could come out of an electric action. He was
a man of wide experience who gave recitals all over the country and was
thoroughly acquainted with the attempts that had been made up to that
time. He did not want to see any more electric organs.
[4] Console--the keyboards, pedals and stop action by which the organ
is played; sometimes detached from the instrument.
[5] from Matthews' "Handbook of the Organ," p. 52 _et seq_.
[6] Organ built by the Ernest M. Skinner Co.
* * * * * *
[Illustration: DR. ALBERT PESCHARD. Inventor of Electro-Pneumatic
Action.]
Dr. Albert Péschard was born in 1836, qualified as an advocate
(Docteur en droit), and from 1857 to 1875 was organist of the
Church of St. Etienne, Caen, France. He commenced to experiment in
electro-pneumatics in the year 1860, and early in 1861 communicated his
discoveries to Mr. Barker. From that date until Barker left France,
Péschard collaborated with him, reaping no pecuniary benefit therefrom.
Péschard, however, was honored by being publicly awarded the Medal of
Merit of the Netherlands; the Medal of Association Francaise pour
l'Avancement de la Science; Gold Medal, Exhibition of Lyons; and the
Gold Medal, Exhibition of Bordeaux. He died at Caen, December 23,
1903. (From Dr. Hinton's "Story of the Electric Organ.")