TOWN MALL ORGAN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 103, 24 January 1908, Page 7

TOWN MALL ORGAN.

Tho ordinary man about town does not know that the. Town Hall, organ has to bo tuned prior to every performance, nor as a rule does be care. Still it is interesting to those who nro fond of music to learn how extremely delicate a piece of. mechanism is the big' city instrument.' -Jf is highly'sensitive to changes of temperature, and the Steinwav grand piano used- during the. Biittllumford concerts had to be timed up sharp, so that its pitch would coincide"-with tho Organ when tho hall was full at night, the reason -being that a warmer temperature tends to flatten the tone of n piano, whilst it sharpens tho organ's tone. The, reason lor the organ pipes (or some. of .them) , becoming sharp in a heated atmosphere was tho rarefying o ft lie air in the tubes. When the note was held the air rushed through faster, and the sound-"'vibrations wore quicker with a warm than a denser' cold air. The reeds were not so affected,*as they wore, fitted with a metal, tongue, , which expanded infinitcsimally with the .rise in tejiiperaturc and so acted as a comiiensatiiig partin keeping tho tone oven". The tongueless (luo pipes were most affected "by heated air or heat (tho warmth of the hand on the- pipe will sharpen its tone), and it is these that have'to be carefully adjusted before each performance, a work that is. performed by Air. H. A. Tustin, representative in -New Zealand for Messrs. Norman' and Board, builders of the instrument. 'Mr. Tustin said that before tho doors were open oii tho night of Madame Butt's first concert tho temperaturo in tho organ (where, a thermometer, is kept) was 62 degrees Fall., but at 8.30 p,m., after the hall had been filled somei time; this had risen to 70 degrees. Tho normal temperature considered ~ when voicing ail organ is GS degrees Pah.".! •