Toning Down a Shrill Band Organ
Greetings, I'd like to hear the opinions of some experienced band
organ people on the following situation. My Frati/B.A.B. 48-key organ
has a rank of piccolo pipes in front and another rank of 1' wooden
flutes directly behind it. Right now the organ is very ear-piercing,
which I understand is somewhat characteristic of these organs.
My questions: should I accept this and leave it alone, or can I
achieve a more pleasing balance by facing the flutes backward -- or
perhaps isolating the piccolo pipes by adding a manually operated
register?
Assuming I leave the organ as-is, would it better to tune the two
ranks in unison, or slightly off pitch to produce a tremolo?
Thanks for your help!
Craig Wiley
Polk, Ohio
[ The calliope has the same problem, in my opinion: the higher
[ pitch notes are usually much too loud. One solution is to
[ install a restriction in each pipe and re-voice them.
[ -- Robbie
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