Randy Charles wrote about voicing his new organ pipes:

> I have built a manometer and a manifold that will allow me to
> adjust the pressure to the required amount.  I have been told
> that they should operate at 8 inches of water.

Since I am a pipe organ builder, and a voicer in particular, I'd like
to weigh-in on this topic.

My first question is, where did the pressure of 8" come from?  If this
is something that's going to be used in a house, I would think that
substantially lower pressure would be more than sufficient.  Nowadays,
we build pipe organs for churches with not much more than 3" of wind!

> Is the 8 inches measured with the pipe playing or with the pipe
> stopped?  There is quite a pressure difference with it (a pipe)
> open and closed.

That should not be the case!  As Robbie said: you need to have a means
by which to regulate the wind pressure.  Even so, if your wind supply
is so unsteady that playing only one pipe results in _that_ much
fluctuation, you have a fundamental flaw in your wind supply, whatever
it is.  There should not be any kind of change whatsoever, because
pressure changes drastically affect tuning also.

If you wish to write me privately, perhaps I can give you a hand with
this, at least from the background of a pipe organ builder.  We could
see if some of that knowledge is applicable to your situation.

Faithfully,

Richard Schneider, Schneider Pipe Organs, Inc.
Kenney, IL  61749-0137
http://www.schneiderpipeorgans.com/