Help me, I'm going to build a pipe organ

mshilarious

mshilarious

Banned
That's it. I've decided I'm tired of looking at the books on my shelves, I'm going to replace them with pipes--190 of them. I'm going to have it all controlled by MIDI, so I can use my early-90s vintage Yamaha digital piano as a controller. You can send me your MIDI files, and I'll give you a real pipe organ recording!

Right now I am looking for pipes. If I don't make it back . . . avenge my death!
 
andydeedpoll said:
that sounds incredible.

i can't wait to see some pictures :)

Andrew.
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Well, don't hold your breath, I estimate it will take me at least a year to get it fully functional. But I hope to have the first rank of pipes soon, and I'll post pics and sound clips as I go.
 
A late friend of our family built pipe organs. He used wood for the pipes.
 
apl said:
A late friend of our family built pipe organs. He used wood for the pipes.
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I'm buying the pipes. You can get them at less than 1/3 of cost new. Plus, my woodworking skills are horrible, I can manage a windchest (rectangular box with holes), but not a pipe.

The wood pipes are generally flute-like, with few overtones. The plan right now is for the following stops:

8' Bourdon (the wood flute-sounding pipe): F2 - C6 (44 pipes)
4' Principal (your basic metal pipe): F3 - C7 (44 pipes)
4' Oboe (a reed pipe, also metal): C3 - C6 (37 pipes)
2' Clarion (a trumpet-looking pipe, actually a reed): C4 - C6 (25 pipes)
some other stop, possible Celeste (slightly out of pitch principals, for a chorusing/vibrato effect): C4 - C7 (37 pipes)

187 total.
 
Zaphod B said:
Where are you going to put this thing? :confused:
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Right here! This is the back wall of the studio, with my rack (currently in a state of disarray, still working on post-construction wiring) (I have an old thread in Studio Building where I have rack construction pics).

Basically, this was a built-in entertainment center/wet bar in what became my studio. The rack takes up the TV portion; in the cabinets below I have much of my inventory (well, the accessories, packaging supplies, etc.) stored. I also replaced an icemaker with a bigass sub :cool:

One the right wall you will see there is an HVAC unit behind. My clever idea is to tap a vent in lieu of a blower. I expect it will work OK, if I can get regulation of pressure right (and I keep the AC/heat off when the organ is on!) Behind the cabinets is a utility closet, so I can route blower lines and wiring there quite easily.

The printer on the right shelf will have to stay, so that gives me 32" height on the right, 48" on the center left, and 16" on the far left, above the sink. Also, in the top cubby on the right of the rack, I'd like to have hopefully seven or more of brass clarion/trumpet pipes sticking out. At least enough for a fanfare :)

I will build a rackmount MIDI controller with 128 or 192 outputs; these will control a valve under each pipe. That means a whole lotta wires into the rack; right now I just have 12 pair for mics and headphones! There will actually have to be four windchests; one for each shelf, so that makes for a good amount of vent work to be done.

There will be a MIDI jack in the little patch panel (above the speaker) to connect a controller. Of course it will also be routed through the computer, so I can record the MIDI performance in individual parts (since I only have one 'manual' and no talent!) and then listen to playback through the organ of all the parts together.

Or I can just scan in some Bach, and kick back :cool:
 
MadAudio said:
I'll bet I get my bass put together before you get this organ done!
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I should hope so. Actually, I have a long list of instruments awaiting repair myself; my acoustic, a mandolin that needs a new fretboard, a lute that needs a new pegbox and new frets, a bouzouki that needs refinishing and a refret. I just need to get a good week of lutherie behind me . . . after I finish painting the house :o Also, I want to mount a trem in my So-Cal, but I might hire that out. There is a guy here that does pro work, I just need to meet him sometime.

I have nearly finished all the fabric treatments in the studio . . . I should post more pix in Studio Building.

I am negotiating to acquire what I hope will be most of the pipes . . . I think I can hold the entire project to less than $2K :)
 
Most blowers in hvac units only moves 450 cfm per ton of cooling, less in heat mode........the average 6" duct is only good for 110 cfm...don't know if this helps....just my 2 cents:D
 
jpw23 said:
Most blowers in hvac units only moves 450 cfm per ton of cooling, less in heat mode........the average 6" duct is only good for 110 cfm...don't know if this helps....just my 2 cents:D
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That is helpful. Unfortunately organ makers talk in ancient terms. Most pipes need "4 inches" of pressure. I assume that's psi? I dunno, haven't researched it that much, I am worrying about pipes right now. Obviously there will be a limit on the number of pipes that can be played at one time, but on the other hand, most small freestanding pipe organs use blowers that run off 120V, so it can't be that bad to use an HVAC blower. Or I could use an air compressor with a regulator and reservoir, but I am hoping an HVAC system would act as its own reservoir :confused:

I will just be running in "fan" mode when the organ is played, otherwise the wood pipes could get unhappy when hot or cold air were blown through them, I'd imagine.
 
Hmm, OK, so far I have read this:

http://www.whiteblowermanufacturing.com/capacity_med.htm

And also noted the downstairs blower is a mere 1/5 hp, 0.2 inch unit! GRRR! Whoever would have thought it so weak! Well, except for jpw23 who actually knows this stuff :o

It's still confusing with respect to the table in the link, because I won't have anything near 15 stops, but that doesn't really say how many notes in each stop they are talking about . . .

Further research is required . . .
 
Hmmm, here is a guy that managed a very similar organ with a 1/5hp 106 cfm blower at 3 inches. He is using lower bass notes than I will have; I presume those require more air. On the minus side, when I run my fan, it will also be supplying air to all the other vents. Perhaps some sort of switching arrangement could be devised? Might be tough in the manifold . . . and shutting all the vents would be a pain. Hmmm.
 
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