The String Family; The Reed Family - Rodgers 35A Owner's Manual

THE STRING FAMILY
This sound is a relative newcomer to organ tone, coming as it did in the early
19th century.
It
is generally an imitative sound, closely associated with the
sound of an orchestral string section. The string family of organ stops pos-
sesses a soft tone, with an incisive edge and a limited amount of foundational
pitch. This extreme development of harmonic partials allows this sound to
blend easily in to quieter ensembles, while at the same time giving them a
"singing" quality, like the sound of violins in the symphony orchestra. The
Gamba on the Swell has this type of sound, giving that division a valuable voice
for use in quiet, orchestral ensembles. The 16 1 Dulciana in the Pedal is a
string of soft speech, yet it has definition and gives pitch security for that di-
vision in soft playing.
Extra sets of tone generators, playable on the Swell and Choir manuals, create
the Celeste effect. An organ celeste is created by setting precisely-tuned os-
cillators against purposely out of tune oscillators. Historically, the resulting
undulating "beat" is said to resemble "celestial voices," hence the "Celeste"
nomenclature
o
This gently undulating sound is unequalled in adding warmth and
emotional depth to organ tone. Two distinctive Celeste voices are on the Swell
Manual, the Gamba Celeste and Flute Celeste. The Choir Celeste is the broad
Gemshorn sound, an_ideal accompaniment for the Solo voices of the Swell. The
compass of these voices is from tenor C to c4.
In
pipe organs, all of the above tone qualities (Diapasons, Flutes, and Strings)
are derived from a pipe sound caused by a vibrating column of air set in mo-
tion by the action of air impinging on a lmife-like edge on the upper part of the
pipe mouth. These pipes and their resulting sounds are classed collectively
under the name of Flue Stops
o
THE REED FAMILY
Pipe organ Reed Stops make use of the vibrations of a brass reed tongue against
a fixed shallot, the resulting impulses being qualified and given tonal shape by a
resonator placed above the reed assembly. Reeds are of two basic types, solo
and chorus reeds. The Solo Reeds are of an imitative orchestral character,
best used standing alone in a melodic line. The Krummhorn (the organ counter-
part of the Clarinet) and the Hautbois (the organ Oboe) belong to this category.
The Chorus Reeds, such as the Trompette, may be used in a solo capacity, but
are voiced for the purpose of adding "fire" to the full Diapason and Flute Chorus,
due to the extreme harmonic development of these stops. The 16 1 Fagotto in the
Pedal adds "snarl" and percussiveness to the Pedal Ensemble.
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