A survey of pipe organ reed research emphasizing recent developments
George R. Plitnik · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2014
As experimental and theoretical acoustics advanced during the 19th century several prominent researchers attempted, typically unsuccessfully, to understand the physics of pipe organ reeds. Centuries of organ building experience had advanced the art of reed voicing to a consummate skill passed down from masters to apprentices, with no understanding of, and no desire to learn, the underlying physical principles. This presentation will give a cursory survey of two centuries of organ reed investigations and then highlight the research during the past two decades which has unlocked some of the conundrums of the past to render these complicated instruments amenable to scientific understanding. The following reed parameters and their influence tone will be examined: reed thickness, reed length, imposed air pressure, reed curvature, shallot type, shallot filling, and the type of metal used for the reed as well as the provenance and method of its manufacture.