The Elbphilharmonie Organ

Both consoles each have four manuals that create a variety of sound groups that play the organ and are called registers.

The visible part of the organ’s exterior is called the façade. The façade mainly consists of playable pipes and non-playable dummy pipes. Here you can see exactly how near the organ is to the audience and is right behind the seating.

The mechanical console has the same functions as the mobile console. The difference is that the signals are transmitted manually and not electronically.

The so-called “white skin” which ensures perfect acoustics is also used here.

The pipes in the façade are a mix of real and dummy ones. They are made of a special metal so that they can be touched without leaving marks. Normal organ pipes can only be touched when wearing gloves as the finger prints can be seen forever.

The narrow spiral staircase leads to the organ’s interior.

What looks like a wooden wall is actually made up of large wooden pipes.

Part of the organ can be found in the reflector, this hangs from the ceiling to reproduce an optimal sound in the hall. The pipes in the echo can be used to create exciting sound effects.

The pipes create a sound using these metal tongues, which can be variably opened and closed.

The Grand Hall can be seen through the large metal pipes of the façade.

In the Solo there are also especially loud registers. These large wooden pipes are part of this.

This is a good view of the half opened wooden shutters of the swell here.

The wooden pipes have a wooden stop in their opening. Its purpose is to give the wooden pipes a special sound. These pipes are called “gedackt” which is an old German word meaning capped.

All pipes sit on a windchest that controls the wind that is passed through them. The windchests are in the wooden boxes that the pipes are stuck into.

All of these different sized pipes make up the Great. This is where the main sounds of the organ are created.

These huge wooden pipes create the deep tones. There are even larger pipes in the pedal division.

These large pipes make the tingling in your stomach. You really can sense the music. The large pipes are played by foot using pedals.

The pitch of the wooden pipes is created by these movable boards. Their function is similar to the “expressions” of the metal pipes.

Earlier the bellows were hand-operated by the organists’ assistants. Today this happens electrically. In the background you can see the base of the large pipes.

Wind is distributed through wooden channels to each pipe to create tones.