Tuning And Voicing · Volume 7

Tuning & Voicing — Vol 07: Reference & Cheatsheet

The six volumes before this one carried the argument. This one carries the numbers. It is the dive’s reference apparatus, gathered into tables meant to be consulted at the bench rather than read through: the cents and beat arithmetic, the equal-temperament interval deviations, the temperament comparison, the way pitch is moved in each pipe family, the levers of flue and reed voicing, a free-reed quick-card, a faults-and-fixes chart, a glossary, a cross-index to the rest of the dive and to the sibling dives, and the bibliography.

Nothing here is new. Every value has been established and derived in an earlier volume, and the cross-index column on each table points back to where it was worked out. Every cents and beat figure has been recomputed for this volume and agrees with Vol 2 and Vol 6; where a figure is a rule of thumb rather than a derived constant it is flagged (est.). The deeper acoustics — why a jet speaks at an edge, why cut-up and nicking and the frein do what they do, the standing wave and the Töpfer halving number — remain deferred by name to “How Organ Pipes Make Sound,” and wind pressure to “Wind Systems.”

7.1 How to use this reference

The tables are grouped by task. To place a pipe on pitch, use the cents and beats tables (Section 2) with the pitch-method-by-family table (Section 4). To decide how far off a chord will sound in equal temperament, use the equal-temperament interval table (Section 3). To fix tone or speech, use the voicing-effects table (Section 5); for a free-reed rank, the quick-card in Section 6. When something is wrong and the cause is not obvious, start at the faults-and-fixes table (Section 7). The glossary (Section 8) fixes the vocabulary and its spellings, and the cross-index (Section 9) says which volume carries the full treatment of any topic.

The one-page card below condenses the whole dive to a single figure for the wall above the bench.

Tuning and voicing at a glance — one-page bench card Tuning & voicing at a glance GOLDEN RULE Voice first · tune last · in a stable temperature · by pump-and-manometer, never by mouth. MOVE THE PITCH (per family) Stopped (gedeckt): slide the stopper. in / down = sharp · out / up = flat Open flue: speaking length — slide, cone, or cut. leave over-length, tune down · piccolo: bend the tab String / violin: slide (coarse) + frein (octave/fine). frein pulls the over-blowing pipe down an octave Beating reed: move the tuning wire. toward the tip = shorter tongue = sharp Free reed: scratch the tongue (no wire). tip up = sharp · middle/base = flat SHAPE THE TONE (flue voicing) Cut-up: keep it ≤ 1/3 of the mouth width. higher = flutier/louder/later · lower = brighter/chiffier Nicking: notches across the flue edge. more = less chiff · light/none = lively chiff Upper lip: rounded = smoother · sharp = keener. Foot hole / flueway: narrower = quieter. CELESTE Zero-beat the doubled pipes; detune the celeste mate ~2 c → one waver every ~2 s at A=440. match the waver speed across the rank THE NUMBERS 1 octave = 1200 c · 1 ET semitone = 100 c · semitone ratio 2^(1/12) ≈ 1.059463 1 cent = 2^(1/1200) ≈ 1.0005778 · n = 1200·log2(f2/f1) · beat rate = |f1 − f2| At A=440: 1 c ≈ 0.254 Hz ≈ 1 beat / 3.9 s · 2 c ≈ 0.5 Hz · 5 c ≈ 1.3 Hz (est.) ET vs just: major third +13.69 c wide · perfect fifth −1.96 c narrow · only the octave is pure A4 = 440 Hz (ISO 16), but crank organs run A=442/443/445 — keep ONE pitch across the whole organ TEMPERATURE Flues go SHARP when warm, FLAT when cold (~3 c/°C, est.). Reeds barely move. Warm room → flues sharp, reeds stay → reeds sound FLAT vs flues. Tune at playing temperature.

Figure 7.1 — The whole dive on one card: the golden rule, how pitch is moved in each pipe family, the flue-voicing levers, the celeste, the constants, and the temperature rule. The sections below expand each block into full tables.

7.2 Cents and beats

7.2.1 The constants

The cent is defined, not measured; the following are exact by definition or recomputed from the definitions (Vol 2 §2.4; Wiki: Cent, Equal temperament).

Table 1 — 2.1 The constants

QuantityValueNote
Octave1200 centsratio 2/1, by definition
Equal-tempered semitone100 centsone twelfth of the octave, by definition
Semitone frequency ratio2^(1/12) ≈ 1.0594631twelve of these multiply to 2
One cent, as a ratio2^(1/1200) ≈ 1.0005778a rise of about 0.0578 %
Cents between two frequenciesn = 1200 · log₂(f₂ / f₁)the master formula
Beat rate between two tones**f₁ − f₂

Two checks close the definitions on themselves: an octave gives 1200 · log₂(2) = 1200 c, and a semitone ratio 1.059463 gives 1200 · log₂(1.059463) = 100.0 c (Vol 2 §2.4).

7.2.2 Cents ↔ beats at A = 440 Hz

The tuner reads cents; the ear hears beats in hertz. Near the reference A4, a pipe that is c cents sharp sounds Δf = 440 · (2^(c/1200) − 1) hertz above a true 440 and, sounded against it, beats at that rate. The table recomputes both Δf and the beat period 1/Δf; it agrees with the identical tables in Vol 2 §2.5 and Vol 6 §5.3.

Table 2 — 2.2 Cents ↔ beats at A = 440 Hz

Error (cents)Ratio 2^(c/1200)Δf at A = 440 (Hz)Beat rateBeat period
11.0005780.254≈ 0.25 Hz≈ 3.9 s
21.0011560.509≈ 0.5 Hz≈ 2.0 s
51.0028921.273≈ 1.3 Hz≈ 0.8 s
101.0057932.549≈ 2.5 Hz≈ 0.4 s
Figure 1 — The bench reference in use — a wide-range chromatic/strobe tuner and a U-tube water manometer set to the organ's own pressure
Figure 1 — The bench reference in use — a wide-range chromatic/strobe tuner and a U-tube water manometer set to the organ's own pressure — melright.com/busker gallery

The working yardstick, near A440, is one cent ≈ 0.254 Hz ≈ one beat every ~3.9 seconds (est. helper; recomputed from the cent ratio). It is used two ways at the bench. It sets the celeste detune — a “few cents,” roughly 2, gives about one waver every two seconds (Vol 6 §5.3) — and it sanity-checks a tuner reading: if the meter says a pipe is 5 cents off but no beat is heard against its neighbour, one of the two readings is wrong. The relation scales with pitch: the same cents error higher in the compass beats faster in hertz, so above the melody register the numbers grow and the celeste offset is trimmed by ear to keep the heard waver even (Vol 6 §5.3).

A cents-to-beats ruler at A = 440 Hz Cents error → beat against a true A = 440 Hz 0 c 5 c 10 c 1 c 0.254 Hz ~3.9 s 2 c 0.51 Hz ~2.0 s typical celeste 5 c 1.27 Hz ~0.8 s ear's rough resolution 10 c 2.55 Hz ~0.4 s Δf = 440·(2^(c/1200) − 1); beat period = 1/Δf. Faster in hertz higher up the compass for the same cents.

Figure 7.2 — The cents-to-beats ruler at A = 440 Hz. A one-cent error beats about once every four seconds; the celeste’s usual two-cent detune wavers about once every two seconds; five cents (near the ear’s resolution) throbs a little faster than once a second. The mapping stretches at higher pitch.

7.3 The equal-temperament interval table

Equal temperament divides the octave into twelve identical 100-cent steps, so every interval is a whole number of hundred cents. Just intonation tunes the same intervals as small whole-number ratios. The difference between them — recomputed here from n = 1200 · log₂(ratio) and agreeing with Vol 2 §2.6 — is the audible cost of a temperament that treats every key alike. Positive means equal temperament is wider (sharper) than just; negative means narrower (flatter).

Table 3 — 3. The equal-temperament interval table

IntervalJust ratioJust (cents)Equal (cents)ET − just (cents)
Unison1/1000
Minor second16/15111.73100−11.73
Major second9/8203.91200−3.91
Minor third6/5315.64300−15.64
Major third5/4386.31400+13.69
Perfect fourth4/3498.04500+1.96
Tritone45/32590.22600+9.78
Perfect fifth3/2701.955700−1.96
Minor sixth8/5813.69800−13.69
Major sixth5/3884.36900+15.64
Minor seventh16/9996.091000+3.91
Major seventh15/81088.271100+11.73
Octave2/1120012000

The two rows to hold in mind are the major third, which equal temperament stretches +13.69 cents wide of just (a bright, faintly restless third that beats audibly), and the perfect fifth, which it makes only −1.96 cents narrow (near enough to pure that it beats slowly and sounds solid). Only the octave stays pure. The arithmetic is symmetric: an interval’s inversion carries the equal-and-opposite error, so the wide major third pairs with an equally narrow minor sixth, and the narrow fifth with an equally wide fourth. The full statement of the equal-temperament tradeoff — every key equally usable and free modulation, in exchange for every third about 14 cents wide and every fifth about 2 cents narrow, which is exactly the compromise a fixed mechanical organ must accept because it cannot retune per key — is derived in Vol 2 §2.6–2.7.

7.4 Temperament comparison

For a fixed crank organ the choice is settled: equal temperament. The other three are listed for context, because they are the history equal temperament replaced and the vocabulary a reader will meet elsewhere; none is a live option for an instrument that cannot retune between keys (Vol 2 §2.6).

Table 4 — 4. Temperament comparison

TemperamentOne-line characterFixed-organ verdict
Just intonationEvery interval a pure small-integer ratio; flawless in its home key, badly out in othersReference only — serves exactly one key on a fixed instrument
MeantoneFifths narrowed to purify the thirds; very sweet near C, a howling “wolf” in remote keysReference/context only — remote keys unusable
Well temperamentUnequal but all keys usable (Werckmeister 1707, Kirnberger); each key a distinct “colour”Reference/context only — the same roll would sound different by key
Equal temperament (12-TET)Twelve identical 100-cent steps; every key alike; every third ~14 c wide, every fifth ~2 c narrowThe choice — the only scheme under which every transposed roll sounds alike

7.5 Setting pitch by pipe family

How the pitch is actually moved, family by family (Vol 3). “Note-count is not pipe-count”: bass and many melody notes are doubled pipes, and each physical pipe is set individually before doubled pairs are zero-beat and celeste pairs detuned (Vol 1 §6; Vol 6 §5).

Table 5 — 5. Setting pitch by pipe family

Pipe familyPitch controlDirection to sharpenNotes / source
Stopped (gedeckt)Movable stopperPush the stopper in / down (shortens the air column)Out/up flattens; trim stoppers to equal length after tuning (Vol 3 §2; O’Rourke; en_pijp)
Open flueSpeaking length — tuning slide, tuning cone, or cutShorten the speaking length (slide down / cut)Leave the pipe over-length and tune down; cone on metal pipes only (est. for busker pipes — usually wooden, slide/stopper) (Vol 3 §3)
Open flue, piccolo (no stopper)Metal tab bent over the topAdjust the tabEarly piccolos have no stopper — bend the tab (Vol 3 §3.2; O’Rourke)
String / violinTuning slide (coarse) + frein (Gavioli beard)Slide down for coarse pitch; set the frein for the octave and fine controlThe frein pulls an over-blowing pipe down an octave; the plate–mouth gap fine-tunes (Vol 3 §4; en_vioolpijp; O’Rourke)
Beating reedTuning wire / spring on the tongueMove the wire toward the tip (shortens the vibrating length)Shorter free length = higher pitch (Vol 3 §5; O’Rourke)
Free reed (melodica / accordion)Scratch the tongue — no wireScratch the tip (removes tip mass) to raiseScratch the middle/base to lower; see the quick-card, Section 6 (Vol 3 §6; jsart51)

Temperature note (applies to the whole rank, not one pipe). Flue pipes go sharp when warm and flat when cold — the speed of sound rises with the square root of absolute temperature while the pipe length is fixed, so f = c/λ rises (Vol 3 §8). As a working figure, ~3 cents per °C (est. rule of thumb; ~30 c per 10 °C — recomputed as +29 c for 20→30 °C). Reeds barely move with temperature (their pitch is the metal tongue’s mechanical vibration, not an air column; the exact reed coefficient is small (est.)). The consequence for a mixed organ: in a warm room the flues run sharp while the reeds stay put, so the reeds sound flat relative to the flues (and the reverse when cold). Tune the two families together at the temperature the organ will be played (Vol 3 §8; Vol 5 §4).

7.6 Voicing effects (flue)

The bench levers of tone and prompt speech, and which way each one pushes. Voicing is done first, on the manometer at the organ’s own pressure, and drags pitch with it — hence “voice first, tune last” (Vol 4; Vol 1 §1.3). The why behind each effect belongs to “How Organ Pipes Make Sound”; here it is only the adjustment and its direction.

Table 6 — 6. Voicing effects (flue)

LeverAdjustmentEffect on tone / speechConstraint · source
Cut-up (mouth height ÷ width)Raise itLouder, rounder, flutier, fewer upper partials, later/slower speechKeep ≤ 1/3 of the mouth width (jsart42)
Cut-upLower itBrighter/stringier, more chiff, prompter attackVol 4 §2; OHS works03; Pykett
Nicking (notches across the flue edge)More nickingLess chiff — smoother, immediate speechC.B. Fisk; Audsley (Vol 4 §3)
NickingLight or noneLively/pronounced chiff, vigorous attackBusker pipes usually voiced with light/no nicking (est.) (Vol 4 §3)
Upper lipRound the edgeSmoother, gentler tonejsart42; Audsley (Vol 4 §4)
Upper lipSharpen the edgeKeener/stringier, more edgeVol 4 §4
Foot hole (toe)Narrow itQuieter — less wind admittedVol 4 §5; Pykett
Flueway / flue slitNarrow itThinner jet — quieter, can slow speechVol 4 §5; cross-ref Wind Systems for pressure

Balance is the second half of voicing: no pipe within a rank may dominate its neighbours, and no rank may swamp another when several are drawn — both trimmed with the foot holes and judged by ear across the compass (Vol 4 §6; Vol 6 §6.1; jsart19).

Figure 2 — The mouth of a small wooden flue pipe showing the cut-up, upper lip and languid a voicer adjusts
Figure 2 — The mouth of a small wooden flue pipe showing the cut-up, upper lip and languid a voicer adjusts — melright.com/busker gallery

7.7 Free-reed tuning quick-card

The hobbyist’s practical reed route is the free-reed “melodica trumpet,” not the traditional beating reed. The numbers below are quoted exactly from Gisli Olsen’s recipe (jsart51) and match Vol 5 §3; keep them identical wherever they appear in the program.

Table 7 — 7. Free-reed tuning quick-card

StepValue / actionSource
Which reedUse the air-out reed of each pair; tape off the air-in reed (spare)jsart51 (Vol 5 §3.1)
Where they startFactory A = 420 Hz → about 20 cents sharp at A = 440 Hzjsart51 (Vol 5 §3.2)
Lower the pitchScratch the middle of the tongue, flat on a hard surface, over 3–4 mm, “little by little, very light”jsart51 (Vol 5 §3.3)
TargetBring it to about 4–5 cents above zero on the tunerjsart51 (Vol 5 §3.3)
Raise the pitchScratch the tip (removes tip mass)jsart51 (Vol 5 §3.4)
Resonator lengthLow C ≈ 10 cm, high C ≈ 6 cm, others between (“length not critical”)jsart51 (Vol 5 §3.5)
Tune the resonatorSlide a stopper to the resonance dip (pitch drops, then the tuner turns up again — the lowest point is resonance)jsart51 (Vol 5 §3.5)
Mount the plateGlue with beeswax, soldering iron moved fast — the plate must not be heatedjsart51 (Vol 5 §3.6)

The reed-versus-flue temperature caution (Section 5, “Temperature note”) applies directly to this rank: tune it to the flues at playing temperature, and expect the two families to part if the temperature changes (Vol 5 §4).

7.8 Faults and fixes

A diagnostic table for the common complaints, each pointing to the volume with the full method. The order of the columns is the order of the bench thought: symptom, likely cause, the lever to reach for.

Table 8 — 8. Faults and fixes

SymptomLikely causeFixDetail in
Organ was in tune, now sounds off after a moveTemperature change — flues sharp when warm, flat when cold (~3 c/°C, est.)Let it settle to playing temperature and retune at that temperature; do not tune coldVol 3 §8; Vol 6 §8.1
Reeds sound flat against the flues (warm room)Flues went sharp; reeds barely moveTouch up the reeds to the flues at the playing temperature; the split returns if temperature changesVol 3 §8; Vol 5 §4
A pipe overblows (jumps to the octave)Too much wind / cut-up wrong / no frein on a string pipeReduce wind at the foot hole; adjust cut-up; on a string pipe fit/set the frein to pull it down an octaveVol 4 §5; Vol 3 §4
Slow or late speechCut-up too high / too much nicking / foot hole too smallLower the cut-up, reduce nicking, or open the foot hole a littleVol 4 §2–3, §5
Explosive spit / harsh attackToo little nicking / cut-up too lowAdd light nicking or raise the cut-up slightlyVol 4 §2–3
A rank sounds uneven — one pipe punches throughLoudness not balanced within the rankBalance with foot holes/flueway, judged up and down the scaleVol 4 §6; Vol 6 §4.2
One rank swamps another when drawn togetherRanks not balanced against each otherTrim the louder rank’s foot holes; balance by ear with ranks combinedVol 4 §6; Vol 6 §6.1
Doubled pair beats under a sustained noteNot zeroed to unisonSound the pair together and adjust the mate to zero beatVol 2 §2.3; Vol 6 §5.2
Celeste will not waver evenly across the rankFixed cents offset beats faster higher upSet the offset, then even the heard waver speed pipe to pipe by earVol 2 §2.5; Vol 6 §5.3
A single pipe has drifted aloneA stopper has crept, or a frein/wire shiftedReset that one pipe only; no full pass neededVol 3; Vol 6 §8.1
Whole organ slightly off but internally consistentOverall temperature/season driftTouch-up to the organ’s existing reference; re-zero-beat the doublesVol 6 §8.2

The governing distinction (Vol 6 §8.2): if pipes are on the wrong pitch the organ needs tuning; if pipes sound wrong, it needs voicing — and voicing re-enters at Stage 1, voice-first, tune-last, exactly as the first time.

Glossary

Definitions and values as verified across the dive; spellings are the canonical ones for the program (see the spelling watch at the end).

Table 9 — 9. Glossary

TermDefinition / value
CentOne hundredth of an equal-tempered semitone; one 1200th of an octave; frequency ratio 2^(1/1200) ≈ 1.0005778 (Vol 2 §2.4; Wiki: Cent).
OctaveFrequency ratio 2 : 1 = 1200 cents (Wiki: Cent).
Equal-tempered semitone100 cents, ratio 2^(1/12) ≈ 1.059463; twelve make an octave (Wiki: Equal temperament).
Cents formulan = 1200 · log₂(f₂ / f₁) — the cents between two frequencies (Wiki: Cent).
Harmonic seriesThe partials of a pitched pipe at integer multiples of the fundamental (f, 2f, 3f…); the basis of just intervals and of beats between near-coincident partials (Vol 2 §2.2; the acoustics of why belong to “How Organ Pipes Make Sound”).
BeatThe periodic loudness pulsation of two close tones; **rate =
Just intonationIntervals as small whole-number ratios (major third 5/4 = 386.31 c; perfect fifth 3/2 = 701.955 c); pure but key-bound (Vol 2 §2.6).
MeantoneHistorical temperament narrowing the fifths to purify the thirds; sweet in a few keys, “wolf” elsewhere — reference only (Vol 2 §2.6).
Well temperamentUnequal but all-keys-usable (Werckmeister 1707; Kirnberger); each key a distinct colour — reference only (Vol 2 §2.6).
Equal temperament (12-TET)The octave in twelve identical 100-cent steps; every key alike, every major third ~+14 c wide, every fifth ~−2 c narrow; the fixed organ’s tuning (Vol 2 §2.6–2.7).
A440 / ISO 16A4 = 440 Hz reference standard; crank organs commonly built at A = 442/443/445 but internally consistent (Vol 2 §2.8; Wiki: A440; O’Rourke).
VoicingAdjusting a pipe for tone, loudness and prompt, blended speech (cut-up, flue, nicking, lip, foot hole) — done first (Vol 1 §1.1; Vol 4).
TuningAdjusting a pipe’s pitch to the scale (stopper / slide / cone / wire / scratch) — done last (Vol 1 §1.2; Vol 3).
ChiffThe transient “spit” as speech begins; more nicking suppresses it (Vol 4 §3; C.B. Fisk).
Cut-upMouth height ÷ mouth width; kept ≤ 1/3 here; higher = flutier/louder/later, lower = brighter/chiffier (Vol 4 §2; jsart42; OHS).
NickingNotches across the languid/lower-lip flue edge that steady the jet and reduce chiff (Vol 4 §3; C.B. Fisk; Audsley).
Frein (Gavioli beard)A 0.5–1 mm brass plate across a string-pipe mouth; pulls an over-blowing pipe down an octave and fine-tunes it (Vol 3 §4; en_vioolpijp).
LanguidThe internal block/plate below the mouth that forms the windway and directs the jet at the upper lip (OHS works18; the acoustics dive).
ManometerA U-tube water gauge on the voicing rig; pipes are voiced at a known gauge (~5 in H₂O), never by mouth (Vol 1 §3.2; jsart26).
Celeste / undulantTwo ranks deliberately detuned a few cents so they beat gently — beats used as the effect (Vol 6 §5.3; O’Rourke).
Gedeckt (gedackt)A stopped flue pipe; sounds an octave lower than an open pipe of the same length and carries mainly odd partials (Vol 3 §2; the acoustics dive).

Spelling watch: cent (not “sent”), temperament (not “temperment”), Werckmeister, Kirnberger, gedeckt/gedackt, frein, languid, chiff, celeste.

7.9 Cross-index

7.9.1 Within this dive (Vols 1–6)

Table 10 — 10.1 Within this dive (Vols 1–6)

TopicVolume
Voicing vs tuning; the golden rule; the toolkit; note-count ≠ pipe-count; reference pitchVol 1
The cent, the harmonic series, beats, cents↔beats helper; just/meantone/well/equal; why ET for a fixed organ; A440 vs 442/443/445Vol 2
Setting pitch per family (stopper, slide/cone/cut, frein, tuning wire, scratch); temperature dependenceVol 3
Voicing flue pipes — cut-up, nicking, upper lip, flueway/foot hole, balancing, the manometer rigVol 4
Voicing and tuning reeds — beating reed and the free-reed “melodica trumpet”; reed-vs-flue driftVol 5
The whole-organ session — order of operations, zero-beat doubles, detune the celeste, balance, keeping it in tuneVol 6
Reference tables, glossary, cross-index, bibliographyVol 7 (this volume)

7.9.2 To the sibling dives (Mechanical Organs program)

Table 11 — 10.2 To the sibling dives (Mechanical Organs program)

TopicSibling dive
Edge tone, standing waves, open f≈c/2L vs stopped f≈c/4L, odd-vs-full harmonics, Töpfer h=17, end correction, reed excitation — the why behind cut-up, nicking and the freinHow Organ Pipes Make Sound
Wind pressure and bellows; the ~5 in H₂O (127 mm ≈ 1.245 kPa) voicing gauge in contextWind Systems
Making the pipe (geometry: cut-up ≤ 1/3, frein 9°/0.5–1 mm, free-reed build numbers) — hands the finished rank to this dive to tune and voice; defers the cent, ET and the temperament comparison to hereBuilding Organ Pipes
The worked instrument — Raffin 20-note + Alderman 26-note, ~69 pipes, ~5 in H₂OThe John Smith Universal Organ
The 20-note Höffle build path + Jäger & Brommer benchmark; overlapping craft sourcesThe Hobby Crank Organ
Reading and arranging what the organ plays (rolls/books/MIDI)Encoding the Music

7.10 Bibliography

Temperament, cents and beats (theory this dive owns).

  • Wikipedia, “Cent (music)” — cent definitions (1200/octave, 100/semitone), ratio 2^(1/1200), formula n = 1200·log₂(f₂/f₁).
  • Wikipedia, “Equal temperament” — twelve equal 100-cent steps, ratio 2^(1/12) ≈ 1.059463, A4 = 440 Hz, the ET third (+13.69 c) and fifth (−1.96 c) deviations, Werckmeister’s 1707 advocacy of ET.
  • Wikipedia, “Beat (acoustics)” — beat rate = |f₁ − f₂|; zero-beat tuning.
  • Wikipedia, “A440 (pitch standard)” — A4 = 440 Hz, ISO 16.
  • Wikipedia, “Musical temperament” / “Werckmeister temperament” / “Kirnberger temperament” — the just → meantone → well → equal history (reference/context).

Bench craft (tuning and voicing the crank organ).

  • Hal O’Rourke, Raffin owner tuning guide, melright.com/busker/tuning.htm — the primary bench-tuning source: wide-range chromatic tuner, per-family pitch methods, “pick one pitch and keep it consistent,” most new Raffins ≈ A = 445 Hz, the celeste set by beats.
  • Bruce Thompson, melright.com/busker/jsart42.htm — cut-up ≤ 1/3 the mouth width; knife-cut equal to the cut-up; slight upper-lip rounding for a smoother tone.
  • Tony Goldsworthy, melright.com/busker/jsart26.htm — the inflator-pump + U-tube water-manometer voicing rig; voice at a known gauge, never by mouth (moisture swells thin walls).
  • Gisli Olsen, melright.com/busker/jsart51.htm — free-reed scratch-tuning: A = 420 → ~20 c sharp at A = 440; scratch the middle 3–4 mm to ~4–5 c; resonator low C ≈ 10 cm / high C ≈ 6 cm; beeswax mount, plate not heated.
  • John Pettifer, melright.com/busker/jsart19.htm — a 26-note multi-rank build; balancing several ranks so none dominates; bass chest ≈ 6½″ water.
  • John Smith, melright.com/busker/jsart09.htm — the piccolo (open, octave-above); final upper-lip adjustment made on the organ wind supply.
  • Walter Höffle, hobbycrankorgan.com/subdir/en_vioolpijp.htm — frein (Gavioli “beard”) tuning of the string pipe; build over-length with a tuning slide; voice without the frein first, then fit it to pull the pipe down an octave.
  • Walter Höffle, hobbycrankorgan.com/subdir/en_pijp.htm — stopped-pipe cap and stopper detail; trim stoppers to near-equal length after tuning.

Voicing terminology and traditional practice.

  • Organ Historical Society, “Pipes and Timbres” (works03.htm) and “Flue Pipe Construction” (works18.htm) — cut-up ↔ timbre, scale ↔ timbre, and pipe-anatomy definitions (languid, flue/windway, lips, cap/stopper).
  • C.B. Fisk, “Pipe Flueways” and “Articulateness and the Organ” — nicking and chiff, authoritatively: more nicking diminishes the chiff until it is inaudible.
  • Colin Pykett, “The Physics of Voicing Organ Flue Pipes” — a physics-literate tie between flueway, cut-up, foot hole and nicking and their effect on loudness and speech.
  • G. A. Audsley, The Art of Organ Building (1905, public domain) — classic treatise on voicing, nicking, cut-up ratios and languid setting.

Dutch originals of the hobbycrankorgan.com pages are at hobbydraaiorgel.nl on the same subdir paths if an English page is unavailable.


End of Vol 07 and of the Tuning & Voicing dive. This volume gathered the numbers; Vols 1–6 carry the craft. For the physics beneath the levers, see “How Organ Pipes Make Sound”; for wind, “Wind Systems”; for making the pipes handed here to tune and voice, “Building Organ Pipes.”

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