Resultant (organ)
Encyclopedia
In pipe organ
s, a resultant tone is the sound of a combination of organ pipe
s that allows the listener to perceive a lower pitch
.
This is done by having two pipes, one pipe of the note being played, and another harmonically related, typically at its fifth
, being sounded at the same time. The result is a pitch at a common subharmonic of the pitches playes (one octave
below the first pitch when the second is the fifth, 3:2, two octaves below when the second is the major third, 5:4). This effect is useful especially in the lowest ranks of the pipe organ where cost or space could prohibit having a rank of such low pitch. For example, a 64' pipe would be costly and take up at least 32' of space (if capped) for each pipe. Using a resultant tone for such low pitches would eliminate the cost and space factor, but would not sound as full as a true 64' pipe.
This effect is most often used in the lowest octave of the organ only.
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
s, a resultant tone is the sound of a combination of organ pipe
Organ pipe
An organ pipe is a sound-producing element of the pipe organ that resonates at a specific pitch when pressurized air is driven through it. Each pipe is tuned to a specific note of the musical scale...
s that allows the listener to perceive a lower pitch
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
.
This is done by having two pipes, one pipe of the note being played, and another harmonically related, typically at its fifth
Perfect fifth
In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones...
, being sounded at the same time. The result is a pitch at a common subharmonic of the pitches playes (one octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
below the first pitch when the second is the fifth, 3:2, two octaves below when the second is the major third, 5:4). This effect is useful especially in the lowest ranks of the pipe organ where cost or space could prohibit having a rank of such low pitch. For example, a 64' pipe would be costly and take up at least 32' of space (if capped) for each pipe. Using a resultant tone for such low pitches would eliminate the cost and space factor, but would not sound as full as a true 64' pipe.
This effect is most often used in the lowest octave of the organ only.