THE PIPE ORGAN.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 299, 1 August 1929, Page 3

THE PIPE ORGAN.

WHERE IT ORIGINATED. The huge modern pipe organs used in churches and theatres probably owe theiir origin to a small Chinese mouth instrument in which bamboo tubes were used for pipes, and which somewhat resemble in appearance the modern saxophone, is the opinion of Dr. Berthold Laufer. curator of anthroology at Field Museum of Natural History (says the San Francisco Examiner.) f Examples of these instruments, which first appeared in very ancient times, but are still used to a limited > extent in China, were collected by Dr. Laufer while on an expedition in ! China, aand are now on exhibition at j the Museum. They are rarely heard j nowadays, however, because of a ! curious superstition that a skilful J performer becomes so wedded to his j music that he is for ever play'ng, to the exclusion of all other activities. I This, the Chinese apparently fear, j would prove inconvenient for the . player, and might become' annoying I to the neighbour. ; Playing Causes Disease. j Another thing that has caused the popularity of the instrument to wane , in late years is the fact that because I it is played largely by sucking the j breath in, as well as by blowing, the i organ causes inflammation of the I

bronchial tubes and diseases of the lungs, and it is said that no habitual player ever lives longer than forty years, Dr. Laufer states. This is a serious th ng to the Chinese, to whom longevity is one of the fundamental ideals. The mouth pipe organ, or “ sheng ” as the Chinese call it, consists of a bowl-shaped body of lacquered wood at the end of a tube with a mouthpiece. This gives it a resemb’ance ta a large saxophone. Seventeen bamboo tubes of varying lengths are inserted in the top of the body, which provides the wind reservoir. Thirteen of the tubes are fitted with free reeds similar to thos§ used in grand organs to-day. Each of the tubes has t a small hole just above the point J where it enters the reservoir. Ancient and Modern. The harmonium, or small organ with free reeds, but without p'pes, was the first Occidental development from this instrument, says Dr. Laufer. The principle of the free reed became widely known in Europe through the introduction of the Chinese reed organ at the end of the eighteenth century. Professor C. G. Kratzenstein invented the harmonium after examining a sheng sent to his native city. The first instrument of this typo was the Pan pipes of the ancient Greeks, wh'ch consisted of a set of pipes cf different lengths bound together and made to sound by the players’ breath.

About two centuries B.C. a device was invented ( for forcing air into the pipes by wateV power, and keys were added to oper* and ciose the pipes. The hydraulic organ was common among the Greeks and Romans. Centuries later the bellows came into use, instead of water power, to furnish air. An organ built in the tenth century for Winchester Cathedral in England had a bellows so powerful that seventy men were needed to pump ’t. In the organs of te-day the power that pumps the bellows would be < qual to fifty or even a hundred horsepower. Yet so improved is the mechanism of the keyboard that the touch of a finger is a 1 that is required to open the p : pe valve:-. The greatest changes are due to the use of electrici'y. So much of the machinery is now operated by electricity that the inside of an organ looks like a telephone exchange.