•Replace an original screw with a longer one only if it has the same number of threads per inch. Changing the pitch of the threads will tear out the original threads in the wood like mincemeat. The new screw might hold once, but when it is removed again, the hole will be stripped again. Cross-sectio...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- Can anyone help me find some graphic or tabular representation of the effect of heat and humidity on pitch as it relates to pipe organ tuning? Charles D. Lightfoote Parsons Pipe Organ Builders Canandaigua, New York [ This is also a concern of fai...

•Charles D. Lightfoote wrote, "Can anyone help me find some graphic or tabular representation of the effect of heat and humidity on pitch as it relates to pipe organ tuning?" If memory serves, the usual compensation is 6 cents per 1 degree Fahrenheit of change. Applied to the fairground organ (raise...

•> Last year I made a 25-note set of hanging chimes out of copper pipe, > and it took at least 20 minutes to file each note to pitch. Following > a length chart was out of the question, because every pipe from the > store gave different results. (Yes, I checked the gauge!) The > results were worth i...

•Plating metal that produces musical tones is risky. The result may look nice, but the extra layer of metal deposited on the object will usually change the pitch of tuning, and the newly-plated bell, chime, or bar will require re-tuning before it will be in tune with other sound producing mechanisms...

•Does anyone know where I can get some instructions and plans to build a reed box much like Wicks used on small pipe organs to conserve space for a 16' pedal stop? I would like to add one to a small MIDI band organ -- even at 8' pitch. Thanks, Rich Broeker

•[ Rich Broeker wrote in 060401 MMDigest: > Does anyone know where I can get some instructions and plans to build > a reed box much like Wicks used on small pipe organs to conserve space > for a 16' pedal stop? I would like to add one to a small MIDI band > organ -- even at 8' pitch. This is a great...

•[ Bill Finch wrote in 060417 MMDigest: > I am curious to know if anyone has worked out a standard MIDI protocol > channel and key assignments) for band organs? Would it seem logical > to assign each pipe rank to a separate MIDI channel and just use > a MIDI note number that corresponds to the pitch...

•Thanks to all who have offered suggestions. Luckily, Harold Draper responded to me directly and has the exact reed that I need, along with instructions for how I can tune it to the pitch of my organette. Greg Farmer

•The scale is as follows: C F G A C D E F G A B-flat B C D E F You can, of course, transpose either way, but this scale was taken from my own instrument and represents the pitch found. The card roll is 65 mm wide with a 3.6 mm pitch between adjacent notes and a 5.5 mm margin to the first note. The s...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- I'm having trouble playing MIDI directly from my computer to a PianoDisc (model PianoCD). The key does not lift between consecutive notes of the same pitch. Does anyone know how to adjust the system to increase the lift between notes? This proble...

•Matthew Caulfield could try the electronic tuning software from Dirk's website: http://www.dirksprojects.nl/index.php?Lan=english&Page=base/home.php Bill Chapman is right that pipes that get close in pitch or the har- monics of each other could cause the less dominant one to change its frequency. T...

•Howard, Bob Taylor is correct regarding that "Pedal Augment" switch. It simply also coupled the low 12 Pedal notes up one octave, so you got a 16' and 8' pitch of the same rank playing together. It affected any rank that was being played in the Pedal, not just one of them. From what I can learn, th...

•A friend here in New Zealand has just acquired a 48-note Racca book-playing piano. He is restoring it and needs tuning advice. Specifically we need to know the A pitch, so that the piano will hold its tune. Can anyone help please? Michael Woolf New Zealand

•In the 080410 MMD Michael Woolf asked for some information about the Racca Book-playing Piano (Piano Melodico), especially about the "A- pitch." For many years I have tuned all my different Piano Melodici to A=440 Hz, without any problems concerning its stability. These excellently manufactured ins...

•When tuning one note lower, low E becomes D, and F becomes E, but F-sharp becomes...? My first organ I tuned on pitch, but I wanted to try it one note lower. Les Higger lhigger@att.net.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]

•For Les Higger (080915 MMDigest): One note lower for F is not E but E-flat. F-sharp becomes E. There is more to consider than just tuning the organ. If the organ is designed for a certain pitch, tuning it one note lower could make the slides or stoppers loosen in the pipe causing the pipe to go off...

•Thanks to everyone for the response. I now understand how it works. The organ I want to re-tune is a Wurlitzer 105, the second organ I've built. The first I built was tuned on pitch because of the trumpets that I used from a Wurlitzer 125 that I built 40 years ago. Since then, using Bob Stanoszek's...

•I have a Nelson-Wiggen Style 3 with xylophone serial no. 100911. What pitch should it be tuned to, A435 or A440? Also, what year was it produced? I believe Don Teach might have one of these. There's not much information on this model. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks, Dave Wilcox ...

•Dave Wilcox asks, "I have a Nelson-Wiggen Style 3 with xylophone serial no. 100911. What pitch should it be tuned to, A435 or A440?" Unless you want to go to a whole lot of trouble the answer is easy -- tune the piano to the xylophone. The only reason absolute pitch might matter is if you need to b...