[sdiy] combination actions on Organs, was presets on a modular

[Bill Felton]

On Nov 12, 2004, at 1:33 PM, Peter Blackett wrote:

> Dear Sdiy list,
> there have been some good points about presets on a modular,but I feel 
> the comments relating to Organs isn't correct.
> its correct,most pipe organs do have stops that can be adjusted 
> manually to change the sound that you get,but they also usually have a 
> row of three or more buttons under each manual that are called 
> combination actions.these select a preset combination of stops when 
> pressed.
> in some cases there is also an additional pedal(seperate from the 
> swell pedal used to control the volume of some of the pipes),called a 
> crescendo pedal.when pressed this gradually introduces more 
> stops,making the sound louder and richer.
> but of course it took a while for this interface to be developed and 
> refined.
> I think that having physical controls that you can adjust is going to 
> be an advantage over virtual controls,no matter what electronic 
> circuitry is behind the panels.but that's only my own view.
> but the key is to make the arrangement of coutrols to be a balance 
> between being versatile enough  and easy to use when you aren't 
> familiar with it.
> regards Peter
>

Significant correction -- on pretty much any modern (post-mid-18th 
century) organ, the combination actions work via a 'capture' mechanism 
which allows them to be pretty freely programmable.  Pull the stops you 
want, set the combination to that set via whatever mechanism was 
provided (you wouldn't *believe* the variability!!) and voila -- 
user-set combinations.  Truly hellish to build before electronics 
became reliable (early middle 20th century).
Imagine a mechanical action user-settable combination action...  Or a 
user-programmable crescendo pedal.

cheers,
Bill