Hi All, Today I received an organ pipe in the mail, that I purchased
from an auction on eBay. Three weeks ago in an e-mail, Dan Caulfield
said he bought an organ pipe from eBay to see how it was built. It
seemed like a good idea so I did the same. The 16" wooden pipe ended
up costing me around twenty dollars plus shipping.
The first thing I noticed was the pipe was not carved as precisely as
one might expect. The mouth area is crooked and the right side is not
carved the same as the left. Two screws hold on a carved hatch that is
part of the air channel. When I removed this I found more evidence of
sloppy workmanship.
On the plus side, I can see the areas that are used to adjust the
voicing of the pipe. I was able to sent air from my barrel organ into
the pipe via an air hose. The pipe is very inefficient so I surmise
it would not be good for a small barrel organ. At lower air rates the
sound of the air rushing through is as loud as the tone.
I am hoping that some fellow members of MMD might shed some light on
the design of organ pipes for barrel organs. At this point I will just
have to keep using accordion reeds.
John Conrad Kleinbauer
[ Vicki Webb demonstrated a pipe for me which produced a nice tone over
[ a very wide pressure range. Vicki, could you describe it for us,
[ please? -- Robbie
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