Field-Guide

A Layman's Field-Guide to Identifying Pipe-Organ Species - a humorous explanation generated during a sleepless night

1. Lesson number one: all organs are not created equal; the one you saw in your grandma's parlour or heard on a gospel choir recording are not the same as the one in Notre Dame.

2. Lesson number two: Any musician knows that it can be difficult to adapt to a different violin, piano, bassoon, etc. than the one they are accustomed to playing. For an organist, there are several species of organ, and each organ has its own touch, feel, and for lack of a better word, competency, often drastically different than what the musician prefers. Harpists particularly will understand the organist's plight, as the instrument is relatively rare, and one must go to the organ in order to practice it (and unlike the harp, it is not portable for concerts). Organists flock to the really good instruments, politely fighting each other for practice time and memory pistons on which to save their configurations of stops. In order to explain what is so different from one organ to the next, it is necessary to outline for you the four general categories, or species, of organ that I have identified, complete with ample metaphors and analogies to illustrate each.
The four categories are as follows: the Noise Machine, the Beast of Burden, the Runner-Up, and the Work of Art.

A. The Noise Machine
If this instrument were a car, it would probably be a golf cart; fun to play with, but it can't really take you very far. Instruments that fit into this category are the kind found in homes (or attics), or the expanded versions found in some churches. Noise Machines are comparable to the button labeled "organ" on a keyboard/synthesizer, and in some cases are inferior even to those. The keyboards are too short to play art music on, as is the pedal board (all four or fives keys of it), and it functions best as a harmonic support for hymns, to play chords on, or to annoy neighbors (or a visiting organist). The Noise Machine has several buttons that are meant to represent stops (some even include rhythm sections!), but they all have a very phony and overdone vibrato that has nothing equally annoying to compare it to in the natural world.

B. The Beast of Burden
To continue with the car analogy, this instrument would be a jalopy, or perhaps a VW Bus. Beasts of Burden are a step up from Noise Machines in that they typically have a few ranks of pipes, two full length keyboards and pedalboard, and one can attempt some art music on them. These organs are commonly found in practice rooms of universities, and some churches have larger scale models that nonetheless function and feel almost the same (with the exception that there may actually be pipes for the bass pedal notes, instead of harmonics approximating the sound). Beasts of Burden do not respond well to the organist's touch, with keys that are the equivalent of running in the sand or a bog, and a key or pipe stop may become stuck at times so that the pipe keeps sounding until you deprive it of wind by turning the bellows off. These instruments try to do what the organist demands, with much bellowing, wheezing, and shrieking like a chorus of donkeys, geese, and alley cats. The benefits of this instrument are that one can sometimes clear the adjoining practice rooms of people, so that there are then fewer musicians to hear the blatantly loud mistakes and profanity directed at the organ. One can also practice fingering and manual changes that are not possible on a piano, although this is sometimes better done with the organ turned off.

C. The Runner-Up
This instrument is comparable to a modest sedan; it is like the athlete who fell just short of the bronze medal, and is the wannabe of the organ world. It is certainly better than a Noise Machine or Beast of Burden, as it is either a quality digital instrument that can fool the listener into thinking it is the real thing, or an instrument with several ranks of pipes and a reasonably stylish facade. These organs handle decently, have a fair selection of stops, and may be found in churches in rural areas or in churches that paid a good sum for an organ, but not enough of a sum to get a Work of Art. An organist will settle for one of these, and may even moderately enjoy it and do less negotiating than with a Beast of Burden. Art music is possible on a Runner-Up, it just may not be quite as brilliant or have the ease of touch of the next category.

D. The Work of Art
This instrument is a Porsche, a Corvette, or perhaps even a Ferrarri (but one usually has to go to Europe for those). A Work of Art commands a room, and its beauty of presence (the arrangement of facade pipes, the wood carving of the case, the way it is situated in the room, and so forth) is matched by its beauty of sound. These organs have three or more manual keyboards and pedalboards that include stops for 16- and often 32-foot pipes. There are rows of stops to choose from, including reed, string, and brass stops in addition to the Principles and Flutes, and usually a few harmonic Mixtures available also. These instruments sparkle with brilliance, and full organ (pulling out all the stops) has a power that one can feel under one's feet and radiating through the air. The touch still varies from instrument to instrument, but they are generally responsive to the organist's wishes, and the development of good technique becomes easier to measure and perfect, creating more of a symbiotic relationship with the keys rather than a tug-of-war. The Work of Art inspires an organist to work hard to be worthy of playing it.

This concludes the field guide. I hope that you have the chance to experience a Work of Art at least once in your lifetime. For goodness sake, at least get a CD from Amazon that lists Bach as a composer and has a picture of the organ on the front! As for me, I battle with Beasts of Burden while I wait for a turn to play the real thing, a Work of Art, in the Organ Hall!