[rodgersorgan] Keyboard Couplers Challenge Our Ears
- From: noel jones <gedeckt@xxxxxxxx>
- To: rodgersorgan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 23:45:47 -0400
A one keyboard organ needs no couplers.
A single keyboard organ often has a pedal board with pull downs, a form of
coupler, that pulls the keys above down when pedal notes are played.
Some small organs that would have only one keyboard have two, with the few
stops
available on both keyboards, sometimes at different pitches, to give the player
more choices over the combination of stops being used by each hand.
Two manual organs usually have independent stops for each keyboard, and some
for
the pedal as well. To generalize, the Swell will have predominately flute
stops,
the Great Principals.
However there will be a small Swell Principal Chorus, based on a Geigen
Principal or large Viole, and a small Flute Chorus on the Great, usually 8', 4'
and sometimes 2'.
Great richness can be heard if you couple the Swell Principal Chorus (8', 4'
and
Mixture) to the Great and its Principal Chorus. PArt of this is due to the
addition of like -pitches stops, but also the mixtures are in most cases built
upon different pitches as well bringing a dimension of sound to it all.
Since Flutes can be open or stopped with the tones differing, the Swell to
Great
Coupler can be used to match an 8' flute and a 2' flute from two different
manuals.
Using couplers and thinking of the organ as a whole can open up all kinds of
possibilities. I find myself using the Swell String Celeste II coupled to the
Great with a Flute 4' on the Great with Tremulant. Careful adjustment of the
expression pedals to balance and a very delightful sound is produced.
CAUTION: When playing mechanical action (tracker) organs the couplers in some
cases should not be activated while playing as there is in some cases a
possibility of damage occurring as the coupling mechanism comes into play. This
is also something to watch for on harpsichords which require sliding a keyboard
forwards and backwards to activate couplers there too.
--
noel jones, aago
athens, tennessee, usa
423 887-7594
-------------------------------
frog music press, publishing MIDI music
moderator, rodgers organ users group
at www.frogmusic.com
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