BASIC GLOSSARY

bajo - the lower bass half of the keyboard, usually C and below.

bajoncillo - 4´ interior or horizontal trumpet, corresponding to the bass half of the keyboard.

bellows - wedge-form chamber in which air is collected and distributed to the pipes of an organ under pressure (Sp. fuelle).

clarín - 8´ horizontal trumpet corresponding to the entire keyboard or its soprano half.

divided registers - windchest construction typical of Spanish baroque organs whose sliders are divided at middle c/c#’ and controlled by different stop knobs; because of this the organist can choose different sounds for the right and left hands (Sp. medio registro).

feet - measure of the speaking length of the longest principal pipe used to categorize organs; large Oaxacan organs are eight-foot (8´), medium are four-foot (4´), and small are two-foot (2´); an eight-foot pipe is pitched at a’=392 herz, unison pitch (Sp. pies).

flautado - principal pipes and fundamental sound of the organ.

key desk - recessed square around the keyboard (Sp. ventana).

mechanical action - key action in which the keys are connected mechanically to the valves which open to admit air from the wind chest into the pipe; pressing the key opens the valve and releasing the key allows it shut by means of a spring.

pallet -valve in the wind chest of the organ which is opened to admit air to the channel of a particular note; the air then passes to the pipe depending on whether the slider is in open or closed position; each pallet is connected to its corresponding key according to varying techniques (Sp. ventilla).

pallet box - substructure under pressure inside the wind chest housing the row of pallets, each corresponding to a separate key.

pipe shade - decoration of carved wood to hide the empty space above the pipes, keep them from falling forward, and help enhance the organ´s sound (Sp. celosia).

processional organ - a 2´ organ which sits entirely (bellows included) on a table and is moveable.

rack board or pipe rack - a perforated thin board which holds the pipe foot firmly and prevents the pipe from falling over (Sp. panderete).

rank - a row of pipes of the same type controlled by one stop knob (Sp. hilera).

register - a specific rank or multiple ranks of pipes which has a characteristic sound.

roller board - wooden panel above the keyboard with a series of horizontal rollers connecting the keyboard action to the pallets (Sp. tablero de reducción).

short octave - keyboard design typical of the XV to mid-XIX centuries in which the lowest octave of the keyboard is not chromatic, but is shortened by the omission of C#, D#, F#, and G#. E corresponds to C, F# to D, and G# to E. (Sp. octava corta).

slider - perforated wooden slat inside the windchest which slides back and forth to allow or prevent air from entering the row of pipes above it based on whether its holes are aligned with those of the wind chest below and the toe boards above; in smaller Oaxacan organs, the ends of the sliders protrude from the sides of the organ case and correspond to stop knobs on the front of the organ (Sp. corredera).

sticker or pin action - key action found on 18th century Oaxacan table organs; when the key is depressed, it pushes on wooden slats or levers set in splayed fashion under the keyboard (which serve the function of horizontal trackers) which push on small wooden rods to open the appropriate pallet; this kind of action permits a substantially wider wind chest in proportion to the keyboard, thereby allowing for lower-pitched ranks of pipes (Sp. tracción de empuje).

stop knob - wooden knob on the front of the case of stationary organs which is pushed and pulled to control changes of registers (Sp. tirador).

tiple - the soprano half of the keyboard.

toe-board - long pierced wooden board which sits above the sliders and holds the pipe foot; as a group the toe boards cover the top of the wind chest; a pipe stands in each hole and is prevented from falling over by a pipe rack (Sp. tapa).

tracker - long thin strip, usually of wood, connecting the key of an organ to its pallet or valve either directly or to a roller of the roller board: pressing the key opens the valve to admit air to the pipe (Sp. varilla).

wind chest - wooden box inside the organ including the pallets, sliders and other wooden components, which stores the air from the bellows under pressure and distributes it to the pipes to make them speak (Sp. secreto).

wind trunk - large wooden square or rectangular conduit which conveys the air from the bellows to the wind chest.