drawbar question

[MsB3]

YAWL ITS LIKE 50 MILLION WAYS TO SET YOUR DRAWBAR AND IT GETS CONFUSING I WANTED TO KNOW IS THERE A SPECIFIC WAY YOUR DRAW BAR HAS TO BE SET????
AND WHAT DO THE DRAW BARS ACTUALLY DO?
DO THEY INCREASE VOLUME OR SOMETHING?
SOMEBODY HOOK ME UP WITH THE INFO PLEASE

[musmin7]

the drawbars are representations of the pipes on a pipe organ each pipe or drawbar makes a consistant pitch or sound. that's what the nubers are for 16' 51/3' 8' 4' 22/3' 2' 13/4' 11/3' 1'

'= feet or length of the pipe
the tones that are produced go from left to right  low to high pitch

the pulling out of the drawbars determines the volume of that particular tone by pulling out more than one at a time you really create a chord when playing only one key on the manual several tones are made to sound the pure tones 16' 8' 4' 2' 1'  can be mixed with the harmonic tones
51/3' to create a rich full sound.

you are correct in saying there are millions of sound settings when you combine the 9 bars with the distance they are pulled out.

changing the bar setting while playing adds texture to the music and enhances the song by a soft setting for slow or soft parts to a bright setting for fast excited parts.

some settings that might be good to start with
8_8_88_83
8_88_ _ _ _ 8
8888 _ _5_ _
8_ 8 _ _ _ _ _8
5375_ 4_ _ _
8888_ _ _ _8

the setting can be as varied as your imagination

don't forget the foot pedals add to the sound as well

let me know if I may be of more assitance
be blessed

[MsB3]

MIN OK LET ME START OFF WITH SAYING THOSE VARIOUS INCHES JUST STRAIGHT UP CONFUSED ME THE MORE!!!!
AND ARE YOU SAYING THAT IF I HIT ONE KEY AND PULL SEVERAL DRAWBARS OUT AT THE SAME TIME....THAT THAT ONE KEY WILL PRODUCE SEVERAL SOUNDS LIKE HARMONY??
WHAT ARE YOU SAYING CAN YOU BE MORE SPECIFIC AND LOGICAL YOU SOUND LIKE A PROFESSOR IM JUST A BEGINNER

[ApostolicFemale]

Well I know this. The farther you pull the bars out the louder it gets. And yes you are right. THERE A MILLION DIFFERENT SOUNDS YOU CAN GET. I like to play using the Bb pre-set so I use the second set of bars...I'm sure ya know all this!!! LOL..but anyway, I wonder if you notice that when u pull out the last white bar to hear a kinda ringing scratching type sound and if you hold down a chord or a note while pulling the different bars out, that you can hear how all the sounds mix. My mother told me that certain colors were for different sounds...I kinda forgot but I know that BROWN is BASS. WHITE and BLACK are harmony and.... anyway. That's what I know about drawbars! lol

[musmin7]

MsB3,
first off I am no proffessor and sorry if I confused you but I'm glad to have a dialog with you untill you get it or I explain it better for you

The little marks next to the numbers i.e.(16') are associated with the length of a pipe in feet on a pipe organ. the longer the pipe the deeper the sound.  the shorter the pipe the higher the sound. Now we can use the terms sound or picth or tone at this point they all mean the same.

This is on of the ways to decide how to talor the sound you want longer pipes give you a deeper more rounded tone shorter pipes give you a brighter more present tone the draw bars are aranged in logical order from rounded to bright. Left to Right

when thinking of contouring the sound think of this analogy you have a portere house steak you want to cut you look into the kitchen drawer and now you must pick a knife. you have the choice of a butter knife a pairing knife or a sharp steak knife, which do you pick?  You pick the steak knife because it's a sharper knife to cut through the steak.

think of sounds/tone in that way dull/rounded to sharp/bright the left side of the drawbars are like the butter knife the further right you go it gets sharper like the steak knife and cuts through easier.

AND ARE YOU SAYING THAT IF I HIT ONE KEY AND PULL SEVERAL DRAWBARS OUT AT THE SAME TIME....THAT THAT ONE KEY WILL PRODUCE SEVERAL SOUNDS LIKE HARMONY??

try doing this experiment with the drawbars

with only the 2' drawbar pulled out compleatly play a low C note on the keyboard. stop now play an E stop now play a G stop those three notes make up the C chord.  

play them all together and listen closely.
now push the 2' drawbar back in and hold down the single C note again while slowly pulling out the 2' drawbar you will hear the C note sound push it back in while still holding the note down and pullout the next drawbar the 1 3/5' you will hear the E note sounding while still holding down the C key push it back in and pull the next bar the 1 1/3' you will hear a G sounding while still holding down the C key now push it back in and while still holding the C key down pull them out and leave them out one at a time you will hear each note of the C chord C,E,G sound while only playing one Key. this is making use of the harmonic tones that are produced by the organ which gives us such a rich and lusious sound.


please let me know if this helps you to understand a bit more about the drawbars function on an organ. if not let me know and I'll try again
ether way I want to hear from you
be blessed

[MsB3]

on the organ at my church the drawbars have numbers on them 1-8 what does that mean??

[ddw4e]

on the organ at my church the drawbars have numbers on them 1-8 what does that mean??

That's the volume of that particular drawbar (1=soft 8=loud)

[musmin7]

MsB3,

Is that what you were confused about when you looked at my post and I wrote the numbers for the drawbars as 16' 51/3' 8' 4' 22/3' 2' 13/4' 11/3' 1'
A lot of organs if they are older may have had the numbers I wrote worn off these numbers apear on the front of the drawbar where you grasp it to pull it out you don't see the 1-8 until you pull them out. If the numbers are worn off of your organs drawbars they will be from left to right drawbar 1 through 9
bar 1 16'
bar 2 5 1/3'
bar 3 8'
bar 4 4'
bar 5 2 2/3'
bar 6 2'
bar 7 1 3/4'
bar 8 1 1/3'
bar 9 1'

[MsB3]

THANKYOU SO MUCH MINISTER THATS WHAT HAD ME CONFUSED...I WAS SITTIN HERE LIKE....WHAT IS HE TALKIN ABOUT!! THANKS

[musmin7]

I'm glad you continued to ask questions.

did you get to trying the exercise for hearing the chord that is produced when you pull out the three bars?

let me know if you can hear the chord forming when you do that it will help you to learn to hear the sound you want to contour with the drawbars

be blessed

[newgreaterlover]

I got A quick Question
is Having the Drawbars set at 55550000
is that the same as 88880000 just at a lower Volume?
or is that a different Type of setting for a different Style?

[musmin7]

Having the bars pulled out to 5555 is the same setting as 8888 at a lower volume..

the diff setting thousands of them are made when you combine diff bars
you can use the same bars but when at diff volumes they produce a diff sound or setting.  If you use the same bar's but just reduce the setting of the volume 1-8 then it is really the same setting sorta kinda maby :wink: