Derby and District Organists’ Association

Exploring a Pipe Organ with CATO

Exploring a Pipe Organ with CATO

Children and the Organ Project

When you look inside an organ you will see many pipes in a variety of shapes and sizes.

An organ with about 16 stops usually has more than 1000 pipes. A cathedral organ may have 10,000 pipes.

However large or small an organ is, its pipes may be grouped into five main families:

• DIAPASONS• FLUTES• REEDS• STRINGS• MIXTURES

DIAPASON family

These pipes are usually seen on the front of the organ.

The tone is bold and full.

DIAPASON stop names

Double Diapason

Open Diapason

Principal

Twelfth

Fifteenth

Tierce

FLUTE family

The pipes are often made from wood and sometimes have a stopper in the top.

The tone is sweet and mellow.

FLUTEstop names

Bourdon

Claribel

Harmonic Flute

Hohl Flute

Rohr Flute

Nazard

Piccolo

REED family

Each pipe has a metal vibrator in its foot.

The tone is sharp, clear and can be loud.

REED stop names

BassoonClarinetClarionCornpeanOboeTrumpetTromboneTubaVox Humana

STRINGS family

These pipes are very narrow, giving a ‘thin’ clear tone.

They tend to sound rather soft and mysterious.

STRINGS stop names

Gamba

Salicional

Voix Celeste

Violone

MIXTURE family

There are 3 ranks of pipes which sound a chord for each note.

They are pitched high and sound very bright.

MIXTURE stop names

Mixture

Sesquialtera

Doublette

Cornet

Fourniture

An organ is usually divided into sections, each with its own manual (keyboard).

GREAT – SWELL - PEDAL

An organ is usually divided into sections, each with its own manual (keyboard).

The Great Organ is played from one manual.

GREAT – SWELL - PEDAL

Great Organ

An organ is usually divided into sections, each with its own manual (keyboard).

The Great Organ isplayed from one manual.

The Swell Organ is played from a second manual.

GREAT – SWELL - PEDAL

Great Organ

Swell Organ

An organ is usually divided into sections, each with its own manual (keyboard).

The Great Organ isplayed from one manual.

The Swell Organ is played from a second manual.

The Pedal Organ is played by the feet from the pedalboard.

GREAT – SWELL - PEDAL

Great Organ

Swell Organ

Pedal Organ

Pedal Organ

Each section of the organ contains pipes from all the five families of pipes:

DIAPASONS

FLUTES

REEDS

STRINGS

MIXTURES

GREAT – SWELL - PEDAL

Great Organ

Swell Organ

Pedal Organ

Pedal Organ

DIAPASONS

FLUTES

REEDS

STRINGS

MIXTURES

GREAT – SWELL - PEDAL

When you sit at the console and look at the stops, you need to spot the different families that they belong to.

♪ Try to spot the five families of pipes in each section of the organ.

DIAPASONS

FLUTES

REEDS

STRINGS

MIXTURES

♪ Try to spot the five families of pipes in each section of the organ.

DIAPASONS

FLUTES

REEDS

STRINGS

MIXTURES

♪ Try to spot the five families of pipes in each section of the organ.

DIAPASONS

FLUTES

REEDS

STRINGS

MIXTURES

♪ Try to spot the five families of pipes in each section of the organ.

DIAPASONS

FLUTES

REEDS

STRINGS

MIXTURES

♪ Try to spot the five families of pipes in each section of the organ.

DIAPASONS

FLUTES

REEDS

STRINGS

MIXTURES

♪ Try to spot the five families of pipes in each section of the organ.

DIAPASONS

FLUTES

REEDS

STRINGS

MIXTURES

♪ Try to spot the five families of pipes in each section of the organ.

DIAPASONS

FLUTES

REEDS

STRINGS

MIXTURES

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

♪ How many diapason stops are in this list? Click on each name to find out.

Harmonic Flute

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

Sesquialtera

Answers

Are you ready for the answers?

Back

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

Diapason stops

Harmonic Flute

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

Sesquialtera

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

♪ How many reed stops are in this list? Click on each name to find out.

Harmonic Flute

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

Sesquialtera

Answers

Are you ready for the answers?

Back

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

Reed stops

Harmonic Flute

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

Sesquialtera

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

♪ How many flute stops are in this list? Click on each name to find out.

Harmonic Flute

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

Sesquialtera

Answers

Are you ready for the answers?

Back

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

Flute stops

Harmonic Flute

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

Sesquialtera

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

♪ How many stops in the strings family are in this list? Click on each name to find out.

Harmonic Flute

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

Sesquialtera

Answers

Are you ready for the answers?

Back

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

Strings family

Harmonic Flute

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

Sesquialtera

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

♪ How many mixture stops are in this list? Click on each name to find out.

Harmonic Flute

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

Sesquialtera

Answers

Are you ready for the answers?

Back

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

Mixture stops

Harmonic Flute

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

Sesquialtera

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

Pipe Families

Harmonic Flute

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

Sesquialtera

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Harmonic Flute

Sesquialtera

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

Several names of organ stops are borrowed from orchestral instruments. For these stops the sound is similar to the sound made by the instrument.

Bassoon

Bourdon

Clarinet

Claribel

Clarion

Cornopean

Cymbale

Double Diapason

Fifteenth

Gamba

Harmonic Flute

Sesquialtera

Sub Bass

Mixture

Tierce

Trumpet

Trombone

Twelfth

Tuba

Violone

Vox Humana

Voix Celeste

Nazard

Oboe

Open Diapason

Piccolo

Posaune

Principal

Rohr Flute

Salicional

♪ How many instrument names can you spot in the list of organ stops?

What have you learned?

An organ contains hundreds of pipes which may be grouped into five families:

Each family is different from the others by the type of their sound.

Members of each family have stop names.Some names come from musical instruments.

DiapasonsFlutesReedsStringsMixtures

Materials prepared by Laurence Rogers for the

Children and the Organ Project

Team:Stephen JohnsJames MuckleEdmund StowGillian Chatto

Laurence RogersJohn ForsterChris Darrall

Sponsored by

Derby and District Organists’ Association

Derby and District Organists’ Association

Children and the Organ Project

The project aims to introduce young children to the fascinating world of pipe organs through practical workshops and fun

activities. The building and playing of organs being such multi-disciplinary activities, their study has numerous spin-offs for the

school curriculum.

For more information, visit our website:www.derbyorganists.co.uk

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Copyright owner:Derby & District Organists’ Association

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Yes!

This is a diapason stop.

Yes!

This is a reed stop.

Yes!

This is a flute stop.

Yes!

This is a strings family stop.

Yes!

This is a mixture stop.