_PEDALS._
WE have hitherto said nothing of pedals. What we shall now say will not
occupy much of our remaining space.
We have to fit our little organ with a set of pedals pulling down the
bass keys of the manual, but commanding no separate pipes of their own.
What is to be their compass? On this we have to remark that when an
organ is intended for the practising of a student or professional
musician, or for the performance by any player whatever of genuine
organ music, the full compass of thirty notes, C to f, is quite
essential. On this point no room must be left for misconception. But
small organs, designed for humble and unambitious players, or for the
accompaniment of voices in a room or in a village church, may be fitted
with pedal-boards shorter by a whole octave than this complete or full
compass. A range of seventeen notes, C to e, will certainly suffice for
the ordinary practice of the great majority of persons who are at all
likely to sit down to our little organ.
Observe, however, that this curtailed pedal-board must be placed in
the same position relatively to the key-board which would be occupied
by one of full range. In other words, it must _not_ be located, for
appearance sake, in the middle of the case, but must be pushed away
to the left of the player, leaving a blank space on the floor to the
right. If this were overlooked, it is plain that a player accustomed to
the imperfect pedals would be utterly at fault when introduced to an
instrument of higher character.
An excellent rule on this subject has been laid down by Mr. Hopkins,
whose opinion in such matters is judicial. It is this:--To place the
central C of the pedals--the thirteenth note, commencing from the
left--directly underneath the middle C of the manual. If this rule be
observed, the foot will easily find all the notes of the lower octave,
whether the compass be complete or curtailed; and we must leave to
our readers to decide upon the range of their pedal-board after a
due consideration of circumstances. Seventeen notes (an octave and a
third) must be taken as a minimum; twenty notes (octave and a half) and
twenty-five notes (two octaves) are alternatives still falling short
of the full compass of thirty notes necessary for the practice of the
preludes and fugues of Bach and other great masters.
The pedals should be made of oak, and should be from 18 to 20 inches
in length, 1 inch wide or thick, and at least 1-1/2 or 2 inches in
depth. The sharps, or short keys, should be about 5 inches in length,
but they are glued or otherwise fastened upon strips of oak as long as
the other pedals. The front or near end of the sharps should stand up
about 1 inch above the level of the naturals; from this point they may
slope up to 1-3/8 inch. The long tails or bearers of the sharps must
be sunk about 1 inch below the level of the naturals, in order that
they may not be touched by the foot. The fore-end of the sharps will be
well rounded off, and the upper edge of all the pedal keys will be made
slightly convex. Lastly, the distance between the centres of any two
adjoining naturals may be 2-1/2 inches precisely. Of course an empty
space or gap will appear between E and F and between B and C in each
octave, as those intervals have no intervening short key.
We have found the following arrangements convenient and satisfactory.
Make the pedal-frame of stout oak; the back bar, behind the heels of
the player, a balk 3 inches or more by 2 inches. The fore end of the
frame under the organ-panel is formed by an upper and a lower bar,
between which strong round pins of oak are placed, making a rack
through which the ends of the pedals protrude an inch or two. These
protruding ends, where they pass through the rack, are muffled with
cloth to prevent rattling, and each pedal descends upon a small pad of
vulcanised india-rubber, and is met by a similar pad under the upper
bar when it recovers its position. If this is properly managed the
movement will be quite noiseless.
The builders commonly use a spring, screwed at one end to the under
part of each pedal, and pressing at the other extremity upon a board or
bar; or, on the other hand, the springs are screwed to this board or
bar and press against the under sides of the pedals. In this case the
tail of the pedal key, out of sight under the back bar of the frame,
works upon a pin passing into a mortice.
We ourselves, however, have long used a spring which serves both for
spring and for hinge. It is a simple slip of steel, 5-1/2 inches long,
5/8 inch wide, and 1/16 inch thick, having two holes near the one end,
and one hole near the other. This latter is screwed firmly down to
the back bar of the frame, which, as we have already explained, is a
balk 3 inches by 2. The fore end of the spring is screwed by its two
holes to the under side of the tails of the natural keys (cut away to
receive it), and to the upper side of the tails of the sharp keys. Or,
the spring may be quite concealed from view by being let into a saw-cut
in the tails of all the pedals. We have found this plan perfectly
effectual, and we strongly recommend it to our readers. The springs can
be made by any smith for twopence or threepence each. Their strength or
resistance can be easily regulated by screwing them, not to the plane
surface of the back balk, but within grooves cut in it, 1/2 inch deep
at the back, diminishing to nothing in front. A few turns of the screw
(which should be well greased with tallow), by lowering the tail of
the spring, will bring on it a strain or tension which enables us to
adjust with accuracy the resistance of each pedal to the pressure of
the foot.
The pedal-board should be laid upon the floor so that the distance
between the upper surface of the pedal natural keys and the upper
surface of the manual natural keys may be 28 inches.
The manual should overhang the pedal-board so that the front of its
sharps may be just over the front of the pedal-sharps.
The seat of the player, to correspond with these arrangements, should
be 22 inches above the pedals. The dip, or fall, of the pedals, under
the foot of the player, need not exceed 5/8 inch, or at most 3/4 inch,
where they pass through the rack.
The connection between the pedals and keys will be by backfalls,
working in a strong bridge secured to the frame below the key-board.
These may be parallel, in which case a roller-board will be requisite,
or disposed as a fan-frame. The hinder end of each backfall has a
tapped wire passing through a hole in it, and carrying a button on its
top, muffled with a disc of cloth or baize. The lower end of the wire
underneath the backfall is bent into a ring, so as to be easily turned
round by the finger and thumb. These adjustable buttons push up the
tails of the keys when the fore ends of the backfalls are drawn down
by trackers connecting them with the pedals. The eyes or rings on the
pedals, to which these trackers are hooked, should be bushed, and great
care should be taken to secure noiseless action in every part.
The pedal-board is usually secured to the floor by a couple of screws
passing through the side cheeks. But it is sometimes convenient,
especially in small rooms, to make it removable at pleasure. This can
be easily done by fitting a set of false or dwarf pedals, about 6
inches in length, in a bridge spaced to correspond with the keys of
the pedal-board, and screwed to the floor under the organ. These false
pedals are practically short backfalls, turning on a wire near their
hinder end, and having the trackers hooked to them an inch or two
from their fore end; and some simple form of spring should be placed
under each. Then we have only to adjust matters so that the protruding
ends of the organ-pedals may rest upon the fore ends of these false
pedals, either or both of them being leathered or otherwise muffled at
the point of contact, and it is plain that the pressure of the foot
on any pedal will pull down the manual key as before. Two iron pins
should be fitted to the pedal frame, going into holes in brass or iron
plates screwed to the floor. These guide-pins will insure instantaneous
fitting of the pedal-board at any time.