A new application of physics

[davidh 0]

At present there are no satisfactory substitutes for 32’ and 64’organ pipes, but they require a lot of space and a lot of money.

 

Folo Paril recently suggested a new approach. It is well known that inhaling helium (now considered risky) raises the pitch of the voice. It follows that heavier gases will produce lower pitches from physical systems of identical size. He proposes organ pipes sounding in atmospheres of Xenon or Sulfur Hexafluoride. The speed of sound in air is 343m/s, in Xenon it is 169m/s and in SF6 it is 134m/s. He is currently researching other gases with even lower speeds of sound. Therefore substantially smaller pipes will be sufficient for the lower frequencies. He suggests that the 32’ and 64’ terminology should be retained, even though the pipes will no longer be those physical lengths.

 

It is unreasonable to expect the audience to breath unusual gases, so the bass organ chambers will be enclosed in solid surrounds with fronts of gas-tight but acoustically transparent membranes. As the chambers will be be sealed, the gas can be recirculated through the blower. The heat gained by compression in the blower will be lost as the gas expands through the pipes, so low-energy thermal controllers will be sufficient to match the temperature in the enclosure to the surrounding air, avoiding mismatches of pitch.

 

Mr Paril is prepared to licence his technology to builders, subject to the usual agreements on commercial confidentiality and the payment of large sums of money.

[John Robinson 0]

I think Mr Paril must be living on a different planet! Does he know how much xenon gas costs? Has he considered that, no matter how air(xenon)-tight enclosures are made, there will inevitably be leakages and the xenon would have to be replaced periodically.

 

It would be cheaper to continue to make the 32' organ pipes (although it is debatable whether real 64' pipes are cost-effective). Then again, perhaps he is unaware that half-length 32' pipes (flue or reed) must come much cheaper than full-length versions and yet can sound very effective.

[Vox Humana 0]

[S_L 0]

LOL

 

Yes - very interesting - and, I'm sure, scientifically very sound! - or not!!!!

 

I'm sure there are others on here who can write, a good deal more coherently than me, on the subject and would do - if it weren't the day it is!!!

 

:)

[CTT 0]

I understand that the stop is best heard in the morning for some reason.

[ajsphead 0]

There are perfectly satisfactory substitutes for 32' registers. Polyphones and cubes, in the right acoustic, work very satisfactorily. We have just lost the art of making them and carrying out any development since the 1930s.

[Barry Oakley 0]

At present there are no satisfactory substitutes for 32’ and 64’organ pipes, but they require a lot of space and a lot of money.

 

Folo Paril recently suggested a new approach. It is well known that inhaling helium (now considered risky) raises the pitch of the voice. It follows that heavier gases will produce lower pitches from physical systems of identical size. He proposes organ pipes sounding in atmospheres of Xenon or Sulfur Hexafluoride. The speed of sound in air is 343m/s, in Xenon it is 169m/s and in SF6 it is 134m/s. He is currently researching other gases with even lower speeds of sound. Therefore substantially smaller pipes will be sufficient for the lower frequencies. He suggests that the 32’ and 64’ terminology should be retained, even though the pipes will no longer be those physical lengths.

 

It is unreasonable to expect the audience to breath unusual gases, so the bass organ chambers will be enclosed in solid surrounds with fronts of gas-tight but acoustically transparent membranes. As the chambers will be be sealed, the gas can be recirculated through the blower. The heat gained by compression in the blower will be lost as the gas expands through the pipes, so low-energy thermal controllers will be sufficient to match the temperature in the enclosure to the surrounding air, avoiding mismatches of pitch.

 

Mr Paril is prepared to licence his technology to builders, subject to the usual agreements on commercial confidentiality and the payment of large sums of money.

 

Posted a day too early, perhaps???

[Colin Pykett 0]

Some of the replies here are nearly as funny as the original post (if not more so)!

 

But a few years ago I seem to remember seeing another mention of Mr (or Ms) Paril's fertile imagination, and funnily enough it was around the same time of year as well. Then the light dawned - I strongly suspect the author who kicked off this thread is a long-lost friend of mine!

 

But I won't blow his cover.

 

CEP

[headcase 0]

Aha...the enigmatic, or should I say 'anagramtic' Mr Paril. Well done !

[David Drinkell 0]

Seriously, though, I used to wonder, back in the days of prepared pianos and such-like, why no avant-garde composer had got round to writing for voice or wind instruments after a lungful of nitrogen.....

 

Or did they?

 

(Later edit: I meant helium! I am an idiot when it comes to science).

[John Robinson 0]

Seriously, though, I used to wonder, back in the days of prepared pianos and such-like, why no avant-garde composer had got round to writing for voice or wind instruments after a lungful of nitrogen.....

 

Or did they?

Or even helium!

 

I could suggest that to my wife, who is a mezzo but a wannabe soprano!

[JWAnderson 0]

Speaking of April Fools, did anyone else see that Liverpool Cathedral have commissioned a mobile console for their chamber organ due to arrive in 2017??

[John Robinson 0]

Speaking of April Fools, did anyone else see that Liverpool Cathedral have commissioned a mobile console for their chamber organ due to arrive in 2017??

Presumably for a very large and immovable chamber organ? I reckon it could contain about 80 stops, just to keep Liverpool a couple of steps in front of the Albert Hall!

[Damian Beasley-Suffolk 0]

King's College organ theft.

 

 

Diabolical.

[Choir Man 0]

Mention of helium and Kings reminds me of their news on April 1 two years ago...

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