Philip Jamison wrote:

> I often find organs scales marked on pipes or keyframes to be off by
> several notes.  I've read that many organ makers tuned their organs a
> third or more higher than the pitches on the scale.  Why didn't they
> just list the pitches as they actually are?

The question you arise is of great importance in the restoration of
historical organs.  In many cases pipes have been moved from their
original place, leading often to horrifying phonical situations.  In
all those cases, it is fundamental to know exactly how the original
builder marked the pipes, in order to place them back to the correct
location.

I have spotted some such systems.  Usually the main reason for the
strange appearance you mention is that some builders used to mark the
pipes for their convenience during pipe fabrication, regardless of
where the ultimate destination was on the wind chest.

I'll give an historical example, hoping I'm not too long or off-topic.
The core of Italian antique organs was the 'Ripieno', a sort of
mixture, that is usually composed with 3 to 7 ranks of pipes.  The
upper ranks produce the overtones of the first stop, that is called
"Principale" (literally, "main", 8').

They are made with pipes derived from a unique diagram, but properly
scaled down, so that the second rank, called "Ottava" (4') is made with
pipes that are similar with those of the Principale, but scaled down by
twelve 'places'.  The third stop, called "Quintadecima" (2'), is
similar with the Ottava, but again scaled down by 12 places.  Thus, for
an example, the C2 (a 1' pipe) of Quintadecima is exactly equal with the
pipe that is at the C3 of the Ottava, and the C4 of the Principale.

Now, in the years between 1780 and 1800 Ferdinando De Simone, an organ
builder of the south of Italy, built several organs.  He used to build
several ranks of pipes at a time, all equal, usually 12-13, regardless
of the instrument and the stop they were destined for, and marked them
as if they were all Ottava.

Thus all pipes of 2' were marked with a "12", all pipes of 1' were
marked with "24" and so on.  When establishing stops, he selected the
proper pipes for them, so only the Ottava has the proper number marked
on the pipes.  All other pipes are marked improperly.  For example,
the first pipe of the Quintadecima is marked with a "12", the second
with "13" and so on.  This is only one example, several other systems
have been identified.

(Note that this is a simplified description; I have eliminated some
complications in an attempt to be more clear.  Hope I've been clear
enough.)

I also have read of builders that tuned instruments a third or more
higher or lower, but in my experience (19 years of hard work around
organs of all kinds, from XVI century up to our days) I never found one
organ showing such a feature, nor a reference in literature to an
existing instrument.  I doubt that this is one of the myths that pass
from one book to another without a real basis.

Best regards

Leonardo Perretti
L.Perretti@isnet.it

 [ You're right, it's not a myth, but now it seems rather unique to
 [ the grind organs and band organs and dance hall organs.  Perhaps
 [ Ingmar Krause and Hans van Oost will tell us more.  Thanks,
 [ Leonardo, for your fine explanations!  -- Robbie