A fresh wind for the organ

The organ is a wind instrument too

... in fact, it’s the biggest of the wind family! It can have thousands of pipes, ranging from ten metres to just a few centimetres in length.

Each of these pipes can do one thing: play a particular note at a particular volume (or “dynamic”). When the organist depresses a key on the keyboard, it makes the note sound; the keys are basically just on/off switches. While on a piano it is so important, how you touch a key, on an organ, it doesn’t make any difference.

So it’s not surprising that organists would really like to have a direct influence on their sound, just like flautists or violinists. The Bernese organist and composer Daniel Glaus and his team have found a solution: in their “wind dynamic organ”, the further down you press the key, the more air flows into the pipe, making it louder and sometimes also higher.

Prototypes for the wind dynamic organ

This project has built three prototypes for the wind dynamic organ (see also the Video below):

  • Prototype I is a small-scale test assembly. It has just three keys with five pipes or “registers” each. It is currently on display at the exhibition FRESH WIND.
  • Prototype II is a small organ. It has one manual of two octaves in range, three registers and 75 pipes.
  • Prototype III has three manuals, each with a range of five octaves, five registers and 443 pipes.

Since then, wind dynamic organs have been built in other places, too. They allow organists to play a whole new type of organ music.

Link to the project's site...

Prototype I is more of a small experimental laboratory than a musical instrument
Prototype I is more of a small experimental laboratory than a musical instrument
Prototype II has a compass of 2 octaves, 3 registres and 75 pipes, offering many possibilities for musical experiments.
Prototype II has a compass of 2 octaves, 3 registres and 75 pipes, offering many possibilities for musical experiments.

Video: Daniel Glaus and the wind dynamic organ