AGO Organ Maintenance & Tuning Basics 3

Question 1

What is a 'wind chest' in an organ?

Accepted Answer

The pressurized chamber that distributes wind to the pipes on each manual

Answer

The wind chest is a sealed pressurized box that holds the organ's pipes and contains the valve mechanisms (pallets or sliders) that control wind flow to each pipe.

Question 2

When tuning reed pipes, adjustments are made by:

Accepted Answer

Moving the tuning wire up or down to alter the effective vibrating length of the tongue

Answer

Reed pipe pitch is controlled by a tuning wire (wire spring) that limits how much of the brass tongue vibrates — raising it sharpens, lowering it flattens.

Question 3

Which type of pipe is most sensitive to temperature changes in terms of pitch stability?

Accepted Answer

Open metal flue pipes

Answer

Open metal flue pipes are very sensitive to temperature because pitch is proportional to the speed of sound, which rises with temperature, causing metal pipes to go sharp when warm.

Question 4

What does 'cutup' refer to in pipe voicing?

Accepted Answer

The height of the mouth opening (the gap between the lower lip and the languid)

Answer

Cutup is the height of the pipe mouth — the gap between the lower lip and the upper edge of the languid — which critically affects tone color and speech.

Question 5

A 'stopped' pipe (Gedackt) produces a pitch equivalent to an open pipe of:

Accepted Answer

Twice its length

Answer

A stopped pipe behaves acoustically like an open pipe twice its length, sounding an octave lower than an open pipe of the same physical length.

(AGO) American Guild of Organists Certification Practice Test

(AGO) American Guild of Organists Certification Practice Test

AGO Organ Maintenance & Tuning Basics 3