yeah...i know about the keyboards and stuff, but I have no idea what are the stops, pedals, and why there are multiple keyboards... An organ is actually many many instruments all controlled from a single station (the console). The console consists of multiple keyboards (at least two, and as many as 6 in some models I've seen) and a bank of foot pedals (and, on rare occasions, multiple banks of foot pedals).
The stops are basically controls that link each keyboard to a set of pipes. Different sets of pipes sound differently (some like small delicate flutes, others like large sonorous horns, etc).
The reason for mutliple keyboard is so that the player can assign one set of stops to one keyboard, as second set of stops to the other keyboard, and still a third set of stops to the pedals. By assigning different stops to the different keyboards, the player can rapidly switch between different characteristics (such as a large full sound for the refrain, and a smaller delicate sound for a verse, for example), or play different voicings simultaneously such as an accompaniment with a solo voice.
Despite horserider's claim of being an organist in the past, his claim that the upper keyboard is for the right hand and the lower keyboard for the left is basically flat wrong. Often, both hands are playing on a single keyboard, allowing for the verse / refrain differentiation mentioned above. The stops are the sound settings, and originated in title from the days of the "pump organ" by which the player "pumped" a set of bellows with their feet. The pitch control was pulled out until it was at the proper "stop" for the pitch the player wanted. This has carried over to current day organs; Hammond being one company that used drawbar-type "stops" with electronic components.
The pedals are the "bass" for the instrument. They are played with the right foot (mostly), and music composed for organs will have the bass notes in a seperate set of staffs below the left-hand bass lines.
The lower keyboard is the same concept as the left side of a piano. The music is read the same and played the same, except that the note(s) continue to make sound until you lift your finger(s), whereas the piano note fades.
The upper keyboard is the "right-side" of the piano keyboard, played in treble clef, and the music is read as the piano treble clef is read.
Hope this helps some. the pedals are for effects of sounds, like when you hold one down and let go of your hands, the note will hold longer so you can quickly move your hands to another spot, the levels of keyboards are for different octaves, the organ has more octaves than a piano or keyboard, they work as wind pipes rather than strings http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/articl...
I hope this gives you a little bit of new insight.
I know based on my limited knowledge on organs that the stops and some pedals control different sounds the organ can produce to mimic other instruments. The multiple keyboards and some of the pedals control octave range the organ will play in. like the phantom of the opera. or davy jones. |
