The Tracker Organ
By Craig Brougher
A tracker organ has nothing to do with a trackerbar. That just means the keys operate the pipe pallets mechanically and directly, instead of electrically or pneumatically.
It gives the artist the ability to "voice" the pipe he is playing, in some cases, when pipes with a wide latitude of aperture are used. He can change the loudness with the depth of touch, and especially what organists call "attack." Hence, the modern name "tracker organ." The attack "tracks" the touch-- the way the artist presses down the key.
They were building them thousands of years ago, even BC. The name came very recently, by comparison. Crude ones were built again in Europe before the dark ages, but these were junk, compared to those several hundred years earlier and before. They are being built again. We have one right here in Independence, MO, by the way. A very fine example of a tracker organ.
"Tracker holes" in any trackerbar operate the air tracking mechanism. "Trackerbar holes" refer to all the holes in the bar without differentiation to purpose. So "tracker hole" is a _specific hole_ in a trackerbar that does a specific thing. Not so with _trackerbar hole_.
Robbie, you just have to become comfortable with calling the holes in a trackerbar "trackerbar holes." We just won't allow you to call them "tracker holes." What do you think about that? {:-)
Craig Brougher
[ "A rose is a rose is a rose." -- Gertrude Stein
[ "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." -- Shakespeare
[ "A _nose_ by any other name would still smell." -- Robbie
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(Message sent Fri 17 Jan 1997, 14:46:22 GMT, from time zone GMT.) |
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