a collection of “fixed-pitched pipes blown by a single player (such as the panpipes)” (Randel 583).

The first examples of pipe organs with the basic features of today can be traced to the third

century B.C.E. in the Greco-Roman arena; it is said to have been invented by Ktesibios of

Alexander and contained “a mechanism to supply air under pressure, a wind-chest to store and

distribute it, keys and valves to admit wind to the pipes, and one or more graded sets of

fixed-pitch pipes.” (Randel 583) These early organs used water as a means to supply air-pressure,

hence the use of the terms hydraulic and hydraulis. Hydraulic organs were in use for several

hundred years before the concept of bellows, similar in concept and style to those of a blacksmith,

came into use with the organ. Numerous bellows were used to supply air to the wind-chest, often

being pumped in pairs by men. The disadvantages of this method of air supply include the lack of

consistent pressure, which leads to inconsistent pitch and tuning; also, many people were required

to operate the bellows since there were upwards of twenty-four bellows per orga

influence remained fairly strong even after the regional Iberian style took grasp. These Spanish

octaves; their use was to play plain-song and chant melodies, usually in processions. Similar to a

any style of keyboard. Keys of a sort were introduced around this time, though not in the manner

influential Baroque organs of J.S. Bach, Buxtehude, Scheidemann and others; these organs also

dexterity, they were sufficient to play plain-song and chant melodies, particularly with the use of

including those that mimicked the viol family, reed stops (trumpet, posaune, shalm, vox-humana,

Some topics in this essay:
Hopkins Rimbault, Spanish Portuguese, Ktesibios Alexander, Calvinist Reformation, Holland Randel, Saint-Saëns Randel, Middle Ages, , Gibbons Randel, Reformation Counter-Reformation, hopkins rimbault, organ building, sixteenth century, play plain-song chant, organ builders, organ sets, sets pipes, randel 585, similar concept, reed stops, plain-song chant melodies, organ sets pipes, hydraulic organs,