DTOS Logo        Frequently Asked Questions

 

1.  How is a Theatre Pipe Organ  (TPO) different from a Classical Organ?

Here is the short answer.  If you want more details, click here  for the long answer on the More Information page.

Classical organs are found in churches and formal auditoriums.  They have a characteristic sound and are designed to play the classical organ repertoire.

Theatre pipe organs (TPO's) were built for theaters, but now they are found in schools, pizza parlors, private homes, and some auditoriums.  They sound more like an orchestra or band and are designed to play popular music.


2.  What makes the sound?

Many of the sounds are produced by air flowing through metal or wooden organ pipes of different sizes and shapes.     The sound effects and percussions are “played” by small hammers that are moved by air pressure.


3.  How does a TPO work?

It is a complicated process to make music from this instrument of wind, pipes, and technology.  The organists (both men and women, but we’ll use they for convenience) sit at the console, sometimes called the key desk.

The console controls a vast array of possibilities.  To prepare for each composition they play – whether it is a popular song or a Bach fugue – they must decide in advance which ranks to use, alone or in combination with others, and which keyboard to use for any part of the song.  When this has been decided, it can be “pre-set” into the memory of the organ so the organist can use it at the correct point in the performance.

The basic design for the TPO is simple.  The signal from a stoptab and the signal from a key travel separately to the relay board, where they are combined. This triggers a signal to a valve that allows air to enter the chosen pipe, which sounds as long as the key is pressed.

But this simple design becomes very complicated when a melody is played using 2 manuals and the pedalboard, with several ranks chosen to play in 2 or 3 octaves.    Dozens of valves all over the organ start opening and closing at a furious rate.

Making all this possible is the air pushed from blowers through windlines into the chests upon which the pipes are arranged.  Here the air waits under pressure until a valve opens and the pipe “speaks”.


4.  From how many locations does the sound come?

For the Dickinson Kimball, there are 2 big chambers in the walls on either side of the stage.  On the left is the MAIN chamber, which holds 22 ranks, 2 tuned percussions, and most of the sound effects.  On the right is the SOLO chamber which holds 29 ranks and 5 tuned percussions.  The STAGE chamber holds 12 ranks and some sound effects.

On top of the Stage chamber are 2 tuned percussions.  Backstage on a balcony (stage right) are 3 ranks.  For a concert, the piano is moved to the stage on the side opposite the console.


5.  How many pipes are in the Dickinson Kimball?

There are 4926 pipes in the organ.


6.  Are there any speakers in the Dickinson Kimball?

Thirty six of the 4900+ sounds in the organ are produced by several Walker speakers.  They are equivalent to 3 ranks of pipes 16’ to 32’ long.   There is not enough room for the actual pipes, but those 36 sounds are important to the overall sound of the organ.


7.  How big is the biggest pipe?

In the Dickinson Kimball that would be the pipe that plays CCCC in the Bombarde rank.  It is over 32 feet long and 2 feet in diameter.  It can be seen backstage on a balcony with other large pipes.


8.   What is the size of the smallest pipe?

In the Dickinson Kimball that would be one of the 2 top pipes in the Sesquialtera mixture in the Stage chamber.  It is smaller than a pencil and sounds about 4 or 5 octaves above middle C.


9.  What is a rank?

Pipes with the same shape and quality of sound, arranged according to pitch, are called a rank.  Some ranks have more pipes than others.

The 61 pipes of the Waldhorn rank range in length from 8 feet to 1/2 inch.

The 97 pipes of the Bourdon rank range in length from 32 feet to 1/2 inch.

The name RANK possibly came from the way the pipes look -- standing in rows on the chests, like soldiers at attention.

10.  How many ranks are in this organ?

The original 19 ranks have been increased to 66, not to make it louder but to provide more variety in the tonal palette. This means there is great variety in the possible sounds available to the organist, just as a portrait painter uses the colors available on his palette.

Organs are described by the number of manuals (keyboards) and the number of ranks they have.  The Dickinson Kimball was originally a 3/19 in the theater, but now it is a 3/66.


11.  What does “originally a 3/19  but now a 3/66” mean?

This means that the Kimball still has 3 manuals as it had in the theater, but several ranks have been added to the original 19 to make the total sound more exciting.  So now there are 66 ranks.  Sixty-six ranks is about all that our chambers can hold.

Now that a second console is available, also with 3 manuals, a more accurate description of the Dickinson Kimball would be 3/66 with twin consoles.

12. Why are there now 2 consoles for the organ?

Having 2 consoles makes it possible to play organ duets.  Two organists can play more complex arrangements of the compositions.

13.  Can the sounds of the ranks be combined to make other sounds?

Yes, organs are designed to play several ranks at the same time, thus combining the effects of their sounds.  One popular combination is the tibia rank played along with the vox humana rank to create a lush, romantic sound.  Playing several string stops (violin, viola, and cello ranks) at the same time sounds like the entire string division of an orchestra.  Combining flutes with strings creates a more mellow sound.

This can be done through the combination action.  When the organists make their decisions about the sounds (ranks) they want to use, they can "pre-set" those selections through the series of pistons -- buttons under the lip of each manual, which can be pushed to turn on the pre-set combination of ranks.  Each button sends signals from each of the pre-set ranks to the relays instead of having to turn on each rank by hand.

On the Master Console of the Dickinson Kimball, there are 75 pistons available to the organist.  The combination action has 64 levels of memory which gives organists  the possibility of  75 x 64  different pre-set combinations of sound, besides any that they turn on (register) by hand.  It is a nearly infinite range of possibilities.  The biggest problem is remembering which button has the sound desired at the moment.

14.  What are stoptabs?

The tablets that turn on and off the ranks (also called stops) are called the stoptabs.  They control the ranks of pipes in the chambers.  Each tablet is engraved with the name of the rank and the length of the longest pipe available with that tablet.
     
On the Dickinson Kimball there are 301 stoptabs arranged in the stoprails of the horseshoe of the Master Console, controlling the 66 ranks, 9 tuned percussions and 26 sound effects.  In addition, there are a total of 263 buttons for other controls including the series of pistons.

Why is so much engraved on each tablet?  ← Click the link to go to the More Information page.
              

15.  What is a stoprail?

The row of stoptabs arranged around the horseshoe is the stoprail.  There may be more than one row, depending on the number of stoptabs to fit into the curve.  There are 2 full stoprails and 2 partial ones on the Dickinson Kimball.

16.  What is a manual?

Manual is another name for a keyboard, specifically the keyboards played with the hands. There are 61 keys on each manual.  The pedalboard is another keyboard, especially designed to be played with the feet.  It has 32 keys, which are called pedals.  Most organs have 2 or 3 manuals but some have more.  The Wanamaker Organ in Macy’s Store in Philadelphia has 6 manuals.


17.  What is a horseshoe console?

A theatre organ console is designed to place the most stoptabs within easy reach of the organist.  Therefore the stoprails are curved into a horseshoe shape.  A TPO console is recognized by its horseshoe console.

In contrast, on a classical organ console, the stoptabs are displayed in straight rows above the manuals and/or on large panels on either side of the console.


18.  Where did the Dickinson Kimball come from?

The W.W. Kimball Organ Company of Chicago, Illinois, built a 3/19 theatre pipe organ for the Boyd Theater in Philadelphia.  On Christmas Day in 1928 it first played for a movie audience.  Forty years later it was moved to John Dickinson High School in Wilmington, Delaware.

Since then ranks have been added from other organs that were available for parts.  The nucleus of the Stage organ came from a theater in Champaign, Illinois.  The diapaison chorus pipes came from the Scranton, Pa, Chamber
of Commerce auditorium.  Several ranks, including the Waldhorn, are from the Second Baptist Church of Germantown, PA.


19.  How did John Dickinson High School get the organ?

In the 60’s, the RKO-Stanley-Warner Company realized that they had no further use for the TPO's that were still hidden away in several of their theaters.  They also realized that if they donated the organs to non-profit organizations, there
could be a tax write-off..

Bob Dilworth persuaded the school administration to make a request.  On Election Day 1968, he visited the theater and saw the organ for the first time.  He led the group of high school students that went to the Boyd Theater and worked on the organ every Friday and Saturday night between the last show and breakfast.  This group repaired the organ enough for a Farewell Concert.  Then they packed up all the parts and moved it to the high school auditorium.  One year later in February 23, 1970, the organ played the opening concert in its new location.


20.  How can I learn more about the Dickinson Story?

Pictures and details of the history of the Dickinson Kimball are in a booklet which is available through the Music Shop.
DTOS Music Shop

21.  What is the value of the Dickinson Kimball?

To build an exact copy of the console, pipes, and the infrastructure would cost about $2.5 million.  However, some of the pipes cannot be duplicated.  

22.  What companies built TPO’s?

In England, Compton was a major producer.  In the US there were Kimball, Barton, Marr & Colton, and Moeller, among others.  The biggest producer was the Wurlitzer Company.  Their advertising genius and several ground-breaking new techniques made their name synonymous with TPO for many people.


23.   Where are the largest TPOs?

The largest TPO in the world is in the Music Room of the home of Jasper San Filippo in a suburb of  Chicago.  It is a 5/80 mostly Wurlitzer.
The 2nd largest is in the Nethercut Museum in Sylmar, CA.  It is a 4/70+ mostly Wurlitzer.
The 3rd largest is in the Organ Stop Pizza Parlor in Mesa, AZ .  It is a 4/70+ mostly Wurlitzer.
The 4th largest is the Dickinson Theatre Organ.  It is a 3/66 mostly Kimball with twin consoles.
The 5th largest is the organ in Radio City Music Hall.  It is a 4/56 mostly Wurlitzer with twin consoles.
The 6th largest is in the ballroom of the Atlantic City Convention Hall.  It is a 4/54 Kimball.
The 7th largest is the former Brooklyn Fox organ now at WurliTzer Manor in Gig Harbor, Washington.  It is a 4/48.  Read more about it at
 www.pstos.org/instruments/wa/gig-harbor/wurlitzer-manor.htm .
The 8th  largest is in the Atlanta Fox Theater.  It is a 4/45 Moeller.


Written by Mary Ann and Bob Dilworth
June, 2007