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| St. Alban's
Episcopal Church - 2/23 Austin |
Main Page | Great Division | Swell Division | Console | Other Photos | Stop List |
St. Alban's Episcopal Church
Bexley, OH
2/23 Austin
Opus 2588 - 1975
Other Photos
Click on the photo to see a larger image
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Austin
pipe organs have several signature features, one of which is the
patented universal air chest system. Instead of having several
reservoirs of air which the pipes can draw from, all of the pipes
get their air from the same reservoir. Seen here is the access door to
the chest under the Great Division. |
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The door of the air chest has been opened. The space fills with air to a certain pressure when the blower is running and provides the air for all of the pipes. When the blower is running it is very difficult to open this door due to the air pressure inside. |
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Here's the view on the other side of the door. The small units to the left of the door are bellows units for some of the large pedal pipes. |
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Against
the front wall is this bellows which expands and contracts to maintain
a constant pressure within the chamber regardless of how many pipes are
being played. |
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Being inside an Austin universal air chest is like looking at a tracker pipe organ, because many of the principals of how things work mimic that of a tracker pipe organ, only on a smaller scale. The wood stringers are called trackers and are connected to a vertical rod, which is connected to a "pallet" which opens and closes to allow air to enter the pipes above. |
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This is the other end of the wood trackers above. When a key is played on the console, the bellows the tracker is connected to collapses. However a pipe will only play if the stop is selected. The units below the small bellows are magnets which control the bellows. |
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Here's a closer look at the key bellows and magnets. The dates stamped on the magnets are from the early 1980s when some rework was done on the instrument. |
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This view shows the bellows, magnets and tracker cross pieces. On the far left are two bellows for larger pedal pipes. When these open air will enter the pipes. |
| St. Alban's
Episcopal Church - 2/23 Austin | Main Page | Great Division | Swell Division | Console | Other Photos | Stop List |
| List of Pipe Organ Profiles | Pipe Organ Profiles Home | N8RRB Home | E-mail the Webmaster |