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Scan 144
The New Encyclopedia Of Music And Musicians, 1929
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1their application is notable in all varieties of reed-organ and in accordions and concertinas. They have but rarely been applied in the pipe-organ.
3The pitch of the tones produced from a reed may be determined by the mass and vibrating-length of the reed itself or by the length of an air-column in a tube with which the reed is connected, or even by a combination of both processes. In instruments of the reed-organ class pitch is determined by the reed, so that there must be a separate reed for every pitch required. In the pipe-organ most reed-pipes use both processes of pitch-determination and there is a separate pipe for each tone (see under Pipe). But in almost all other reed-instruments the pitch is fixed by manipulating the vibrating-length of the air-column, so that a single mouthpiece, with either a single or a double reed, suffices for all tones. In these latter, also, the range of pitch may be greatly widened by increasing the pressure in blowing, which may be managed so as to cause the air-column to vibrate in the upper octave or even at the twelfth.
5For instruments blown by the breath reeds are made almost always of cane or some similar substance. In both kinds of organ the usual material is brass.
7In instruments like the oboe and bassoon the term reed is applied to the entire setting of the reeds. So in both kinds of organ. In the orchestra the reed-instruments collectively are called the reeds, as also all the reed-stops in the pipe-organ.
9It should be noted that brass-instruments generally are sounded by a reed-like action of the player's lips within the mouthpiece. Still more obviously the vibration of the vocal cords in the larynx is essentially that of a double reed which is composed of soft and adjustable tissue. In explaining the sound-production of all instruments of the whistle-kind, including all flutes and most pipes in the pipe-organ, it is also argued that the initial vibration is that of a flat jet of compressed air, which is sometimes called an air-reed. The reed-principle, then, is utilized in all music produced by the voice or by instruments, except those with strings and those sounded by percussion.
11Reed-Organ. A keyboard-instrument, the tone of which is produced by means of a graduated set of small free reeds through which air can be caused to pass. Two main classes are distinguished, the harmonium and its relatives, in which the reeds are sounded by an outward current from a compression-bellows, and the so-called American organ, in which they are sounded by an inward current induced by an exhaust-bellows. G (Harmonium, American Organ).
13The principle of all instruments of this class is supposed to have been derived from the Chinese cheng. Such an instrument was seen in Russia by the organist Volger about 1790. Soon after he became eager to introduce free-reed stops into organs. These never became common. But the minute brass reeds of the cheng became the model in 1810 for the orgue expressif of Grenié, followed by a host of forms under various names and leading to the harmonium of Debain (1840), which is the parent of later varieties of that class. Meanwhile the differences of detail that distinguish the American organ had been at least forecasted (about 1835) by an employee of Alexandre in Paris who removed to America. There several forms were made, at first under the name melodeon (corrupted into melodium), but finally brought to decided efficiency (about 1860) by Mason & Hamlin of Boston under the name cabinet-organ. The differences between the European and American types lay in many details besides the form of blowing. The former excelled in delicacy of quality and in capacity for fine gradations of intensity, but the latter had far more sonority and value for use in small halls or churches.
15In both cases the blowing is effected by two diagonal bellows operated by foot-treadles or pedals, combined with a reservoir-bellows (in the harmonium) or an exhaust-chamber (in the American organ). The reeds or vibrators (consisting of the reed proper and the brass-frame to which it is fastened) are placed over grooves or channels into which the air can be directed by depressing the keys. Ordinarily there are several sets of reeds, with varying qualities, which are controlled by means of stop-knobs, as in the pipe-organ. Several special devices include the expression (connecting the air-pressure directly with the feeders), the percussion (starting the speech of the reeds by little hammers), the several forms of swell (in America controlled by a knee-lever), the tremulant (a rotary fan affecting the air-current), the prolongement (continuing tones after keys are released), etc. But more important than any of these was the gradual discovery of how to secure contrasted qualities of tone by modifying the form of the reeds or by adjusting resonators to them. Thus in the same instrument there might be many distinct stops, as in the pipe-organ. These might be associated with two manual keyboards and a pedal keyboard besides. Such large instruments naturally required to be blown by other means than the player's feet.
17A striking extension of the reed-organ principle was made in the rocation of J. B. Hamilton of London (first patent in 1872), using uncommonly large reeds and adding ingenious resonators.
19Many composers have written music for the harmonium either alone or in combination with other instruments.
21Reel. See Dances. G.
23Refrain. A line, couplet or quatrain recurring again and again in a lyric poem, usually at the end of stanzas, or its musical setting; a burden or (in popular usage) a chorus. G.
25Regal. A small form of pipe-organ with one or two ranks of reed-pipes and a short keyboard, especially when made so as to be carried on the player's arm or placed on a table, his left hand operating the bellows and his right the keys. It was sometimes made to fold up in covers like those of a book; whence the name Bible regal. It was single if there was but one set of pipes and double if there were two. In any case, however, often called a pair of regals. G.
27This is the smallest variety of the class of organs called portatives. It was much used in the 16-17th centuries as a form of keyboard-instrument for private or personal use, helping to advance the recognition of instrumental styles in general and also of the modern conception of harmony.
29The term has also been applied to a form of xylophone.
31Register. In a general sense, same as compass or range. Specifically, (a) a series of tones in either the voice or an instrument that are produced in the same way and have a similar quality, and (b) in the organ, same as stop. G.
33The vocal registers are the several kinds of tone produced instinctively or deliberately by varying the action of the larynx or the adjustment of the resonance-cavities, usually with some special application of the breath-stream. Their name comes from the fact that particular kinds of tone are most easily used with particular ranges of pitch and have even been regarded as normally belonging to them. Hence the terms high, middle and low registers. But the contrasts of quality can be effected at almost all pitches of the given voice. Hence the terms chest-register and head-register for tones that evoke sympathetic resonance in chest and head respectively. The terms thick, middle and thin are also somewhat used, referring either to the size and sonority of the tones or to the conjectured condition of the vocal cords in phonation.
35Register-differences are usually conspicuous in the untrained voice, often with one or more marked breaks where one quality is exchanged for another. They are more striking in the adult male voice, but they are at least latent in all voices. The so-called falsetto, which is the thinnest and most flute-like quality, is often quite unused, though in some cases it offers the means for valuable training for the whole voice. The object
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