Facades - Helping or Hurting

[soundboarddude]

I have heard that facades hurt the overall sound of a pipe organ, and just not having one (or having an open case) helps the sound tremendously.

However, on electronic organs, I've heard that a facade helps to make the organ sound more like a pipe organ (which would just be true anyways).

How much would a facade really change the sound?

[Havoc]

It could hurt if the pipes are too close together, and the rest of the front is also rather massive. So yes, in cases of bad design by clueless organ builders, it can be a bad thing.

[KleinErzahler]

Greetings,

Nahhhh, just raise the pressure! (C:

- N

[NYCFarmboy]

facade pipes are like having permenantly mostly closed swell shades, so if you do have them you would need to up the pressure.


they may look nice but I think they are a bad idea if they are blocking sound even a little bit unless of course the builder is looking for muffled/muddled sound from the pipes behind the facade.

[Havoc]

> facade pipes are like having permenantly mostly closed swell shades,

There is a serious difference between both cases. In a swell, the pipes are enclosed totaly at each side by a rather heavy construction. The walls come against the windchest and the top is closed as well. So sound only goes out through the shades.

In a normal organ construction, the case is much more open. The front pipes are more spaced, and all the woodwork in the front is "open". There are cases where the front pipes are/were mufling the sound, but it isn't because there are pipes in the front that the sound is mufled! Don't forget that the pipes on the windchest are closer together than the frontpipes. The box around the organ is there for a reason as well. It helps focus the sound and make it a whole.

Upping the pressure achieves nothing. The voicing of a pipe is what makes it work. Old italian could fill a cathedral with 45mm pressure and have a facade.