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For those pipes the pitch is a function of its length, the wavelength of the sound produced by an open pipe being approximately twice its length. A pipe half the length of another will sound one octave higher. If the longest pipe, C, is 8 feet (2.4 m) in length, the pipe one octave higher will be 4 feet (1.2 m) long, and two octaves above ...
Scaling is the ratio of an organ pipe 's diameter to its length. The scaling of a pipe is a major influence on its timbre. Reed pipes are scaled according to different formulas than for flue pipes. In general, the larger the diameter of a given pipe at a given pitch, the fuller and more fundamental the sound becomes.
The particular length "eight feet" is based on the approximate length of an organ pipe sounding the pitch two octaves below middle C, the bottom note on an organ keyboard. This may be calculated as follows. If a pipe is open at both ends, as is true of most organ pipes, its fundamental frequency f can be calculated (approximately) as follows ...
The pitch produced by an organ pipe is a function of its length. All else equal, longer pipes produce lower-pitched notes, and shorter pipes are higher in pitch. An organ stop uses a set (rank) of pipes of graduated lengths to produce the range of notes needed.
Organ pipes are made from either wood or metal and produce sound ("speak") when air under pressure ("wind") is directed through them. As one pipe produces a single pitch, multiple pipes are necessary to accommodate the musical scale. The greater the length of the pipe, the lower its resulting pitch will be.
The length of the foot does not affect the pipe's pitch, so organ builders vary the foot lengths of their flue pipes depending on other factors, including the desired shape of the pipes in the façade, the height of the rackboard in which the pipes are seated, and the weight of the completed pipe.
The pitch of very low-pitched pipes (in the 16 ft and 32 ft octaves) can be inaudible close to the pipe. Organ tuners often listen for beats between harmonics rather than the fundamentals. The audibility of these harmonics is extremely sensitive to the position of one's ears relative to the pipes.
A mixture is an organ stop, usually of principal tone quality, that contains multiple ranks of pipes including at least one mutation stop. It is designed to be drawn with a combination of stops that forms a complete chorus, for example, principals of 8 foot (8 ′ ), 4 ′ , and 2 ′ pitches.
Bourdon, bordun, or bordone normally denotes a stopped flute type of flue pipe in an organ characterized by a dark tone, strong in fundamental, with a quint transient but relatively little overtone development. Its half-length construction makes it especially well suited to low pitches, and economical as well.
Pitch and timbre. The pitch produced by a pipe is a function of its length. An organ stop may be tuned to sound (or "speak at") the pitch normally associated with the key that is pressed (the "unison pitch"), or it may speak at a fixed interval above or below this pitch (an "octave pitch").