Pipe Organ Tuning - Process

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.