Process
The first task of an organ tuner is to select a temperament. Generally speaking, the temperament of a pipe organ is part of its design, and is not lightly changed during its lifetime. Equal temperament is very common, but by no means universal. Along with the temperament goes the overall concert pitch of the instrument, often A=440 Hz in modern instruments, but this also is far from universal. The pitch of an organ cannot be significantly changed without major work, as pipes need to be shortened or lengthened.
Another important preparation step is to stabilize the temperature of the building in which the organ resides. Ideally, the temperature should be the same as that at which the organ will be typically used, and the temperature should have been stable for many hours before beginning the tuning. The reason for this is that the pitch of organ pipes vary significantly with temperature, and not all pipes vary at the same rate relative to temperature.
The actual tuning process begins with the tuning of the "tuning stop", the stop to which most or all other stops will be tuned in turn. The tuning stop is usually the 4′ Octave or Principal (Diapason) in each division. The middle octave is usually tuned first, either by ear, or using some sort of electronic tuning device. The rest of the tuning stop is tuned to itself, in octaves. That is, tenor C is tuned to middle C, tenor D to middle D, and so forth.
Once the tuning stop is fully in tune with itself, the rest of the stops are tuned. Most stops are tuned to the tuning stop, though some stops are more easily tuned to stops other than a 4′ Principal.
Read more about this topic: Pipe Organ Tuning
Famous quotes containing the word process:
“Yet I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“Any balance we achieve between adult and parental identities, between children’s and our own needs, works only for a time—because, as one father says, “It’s a new ball game just about every week.” So we are always in the process of learning to be parents.”
—Joan Sheingold Ditzion, Dennie, and Palmer Wolf. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 2 (1978)
“To me, the whole process of being a brushstroke in someone else’s painting is a little difficult.”
—Madonna [Madonna Louise Ciccione] (b. 1959)