For audio examples, please see the article on organ stops.
An organ stop can mean one of three things:
- the control on an organ console that selects a particular sound
- the row of organ pipes, used to create a particular sound, more appropriately known as a rank
- the sound itself
This is a sortable list of names that may be found on electronic and pipe organ stops. Countless stops have been designed over the centuries. This list deals mainly with common stops on Baroque, classical and romantic organs.
| Stop name | Alternate name | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeoline | Aéoline Éolienne |
String | an extremely soft stop with a very delicate, airy tone; built frequently as a single-rank stop, or as a double-rank Aéoline céleste |
| Blockflöte | Flute | German for "recorder"; a stopped-flute of 4′ or 2′ pitch, taking its name from the common flute called a "recorder" which its tone closely resembles | |
| Bombarde | Reed | an extremely powerful reed-stop, occurring on the manuals at 8′, or in the pedal at 16′ or 32′ pitch | |
| Bourdon | Flute | a wide-scaled stopped-flute, 16′ or 8′ on the manuals, and at 16′ (Soubasse) or 32′ (Contrabourdon) | |
| Celeste | Voix céleste | String, 2 ranks | a 8′ string stop composed of two pipes for each note, one being tuned slightly sharp to create an undulating effect |
| Cello | Violoncelle | String | a string stop at 8′ or 16′; It has a broader, warmer, more "romantic" tone than the Gamba |
| Choralbass | Principal | a 4′ octave Diapason in the pedal division | |
| Clarinet | Clarionet | Reed | a reed stop with a richer tone imitating the orchestral instrument. |
| Clairon | Reed | a 4′ octave of the French style Trompette | |
| Clarion | Reed | a 4′ octave of the Trumpet | |
| Cornet | Flute | pronounced kor-NAY; a multi-rank stop consisting of up to five ranks of wide-scaled pipes. The pitches include 8′, 4′, 2 2⁄3′, 2′ and 1 3⁄5′. Three- and four-rank cornets eliminate 8′ and 4′ ranks. This stop is not imitative of the brass instrument cornet. | |
| Cornopean | Reed | a common reed stop used for both chorus and solo, generally in a swell division; The tone is similar to the trumpet. | |
| Cromorne | Krummhorn | Reed | distinctive reed stop, originating from the cromorne typically of low to moderate volume or power and often having a distinctly buzzing or bleating sound; "Cremona", a common variant of the stop's name, has nothing to do with the town of Cremona in Italy nor the famous school of violin makers who lived there. |
| Diapason | Principal | a flue stop which is the "backbone" sound of the organ; Most commonly at 8′ on a manual, and 8′ or 16′ on the pedals. Modern organ builders use the term Principal. | |
| Diaphone | a special type of organ pipe, producing tone by using a felt hammer to beat air through the resonator; Common on theater organs, it is not often seen on church and concert instruments. | ||
| Doublette | Principal | 2' Super-Octave most commonly found in French organs | |
| Fagotto | Bassoon Faggot |
Reed | one of the earliest pedal reeds at 16′ It can also be found at the same pitch on the manuals of larger organs, as part of the manual reed chorus. |
| Flageolet | Flute | A romantic style flute in 2' or 1' pitch. | |
| Gamba | Viol da Gamba Viole |
String | one of the earliest designs of string stops; named after the Baroque instrument viola da gamba; It has a thinner, more cutting tone than the Cello stop. |
| Gedackt | Gedeckt | Flute | a basic stopped 8′ flute in the manuals, and stopped 16′ and/or 8′ flute voice in the pedal |
| Gemshorn | Cor de Chamois | Principal | German for "chamois horn"; a narrow-scale, tapered Principal with a tone falling between Principal and Flute. |
| Harmonic Flute | Flute | an open metal flute made to sound an octave above its length by means of a small hole at its midpoint; This stop speaks a very pure flute tone and was popularized by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. | |
| Larigot | Flute | a single-rank mutation stop of 1 1⁄3′ pitch | |
| Mixture | Flute or Principal | any multi-rank stop; Mixtures enhance the harmonics of the fundamental pitch, and are intended for use with foundation stops, not alone. Mixture IV, for example, indicates four ranks. | |
| Nachthorn | Night Horn Cor de Nuit |
Flute | a wide-scaled flute producing a soft, but penetrating sound; occurring at 8′ and 4′ pitch |
| Nasard | Nasat Nazard Twelfth |
Flute | a single-rank mutation stop of 2 2⁄3′ pitch in the manuals and 5 1⁄3′ in the pedals; It is the lowest non-unison stop that reinforces the 8′ fundamental harmonic and 16′ pedal |
| Oboe | Hautbois | Reed | a single-rank reed stop used as both a solo stop and a chorus reed |
| Octave | Oktav Prestant |
Principal | a 4′ Principal on the manuals |
| Ophicleide | Reed | a powerful reed stop, much like the Bombarde; pitched as a 16′ or 32′ in the pedal division or found as an 8′ or 16′ on the manuals | |
| Orchestral Oboe | Reed | a different stop than Oboe; designed specifically to imitate the orchestral instrument | |
| Piccolo | Flute | a flute or occasionally a diapason at 1′ | |
| Posaune | Reed | German for "trombone"; voiced to blend with an ensemble | |
| Principal | Montre Principale Prinzipal |
Principal | a prominent Diapason, commonly found at 8′ as well as 16', 4', and 2' pitches; It is the "basic voice" of the organ. |
| Quarte | Reed | a flute at 2′; short for Quarte de nasard, sounding an interval of a fourth above the nasard stop | |
| Rankette | Reed | a reed stop with 1⁄32 length resonators producing a buzzy sound with low fundamental. | |
| Rohrflöte | Chimney Flute | Flute | German for "reed flute"; a semi-capped metal pipe with a narrow, open-ended tube (i.e. "chimney") extending from the top which resembles a reed |
| Salicional | String | an 8′ string stop; It is the most common stop used for the Voix céleste in combination with a second rank of salicionals tuned slightly sharp. | |
| Sifflöte | Piccolo Sifflet |
Flute | a 1′ flute |
| Super Octave | Principal | the manual 2′ Principal or Diapason; Its name merely signifies that it is above (i.e. "super") the 4′ Octave. | |
| Tierce | Seventeenth Terz |
Flute | a single-rank mutation stop pitched 1 3⁄5′, supporting the 8′ harmonic series |
| Trombone | Pausane Buccina |
Reed | a powerful reed stop, simulating the trombone; most commonly in the pedal at 16′ or 32′ pitch and under a high wind pressure |
| Trompette en Chamade | Fan Trumpet Horizontal Trumpet Trompette à Chamade |
Reed | a powerful reed of the trumpet-family, usually 8′ in the manuals and 16′, voiced as a brilliant solo stop, capable of being heard over full organ |
| Trompette Militaire | Reed | a powerful reed of the trumpet-family, with a with brassy, penetrating tone | |
| Trumpet | Trumpette | Reed | a loud reed stop, generally a single rank, with vertical full-length resonators flared to form a bell; In traditional organ building, the Trumpet is a firmer, more solid-pitched stop than the French Trompette, which emphasizes overtones at the expense of fundamental tone. |
| Tuba | Reed | a powerful large-scale reed of the trumpet-family usually 8′ in the manuals and 16′ (sometimes 32′) in the pedals; The tuba-voice is named after the ancient Roman trumpets though not imitating their sound. Generally on high wind-pressure and usually the loudest voice (decibel level) in the organ, whereas the various 32′ stops are the most powerful voices (sound wave pressure). | |
| Twenty-Second | Kleine Principal | Principal | a 1′ diapason |
| Unda Maris | Flute | Latin for "wave of the sea"; a very soft rank tuned slightly sharp or flat. It is drawn with another soft rank to create a very slow undulation similar to, but less prominent than, a Voix céleste. Occasionally built as a double-rank stop called Unda Maris II, one rank at standard pitch and the other tuned sharp. | |
| Vox Humana | Reed | a type of reed stop designed to impressionistically imitate the human voice |
External links[]
- Encyclopedia of Organ Stops, a fairly exhaustive reference that describes over two thousand stop names.
- Pipe organ tonal design, a French organ builder's site in sometimes puzzling English.
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