Sixteenth English

Listed only by Irwin, who says:

A rank of Foundation pipes that speaks at 1 7/9' on the manuals, and 3 5/9' on the pedals. This is at the note two octaves and one note above the key struck. This pitch is not a common harmonic of any series of stops on the organ, but may be seen in the ancillary Harmonic division of a very large instrument. It can add an unusual variety of brassiness to a loud chorus of Reeds, but it must be remembered that it brings with it a whole train of partials from its own pipes, at least twelve, if the pipes are open metal Diapasons or Geigen Diapasons. Sometimes pipes as soft as Dulciana pipes are used for ranks of these unusual pitches to keep the tone from being too assertive. From the middle C key this rank sounds at D3, and from the low pedal CCC key, at D (below middle C). The manual pitch is between the 2' and 1-3/5' pitches.

This mutation stop reinforces the 9th harmonic of the 16' harmonic series in the manuals, and of the 32' harmonic series in the pedal. When played from a C key on an instrument tuned to equal temperament, its pitch is only approximately at D, not exactly.

See Ninth, Twenty-Third.

Examples

Sixteenth 1 7/9', Choir-Swell; Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA; Midmer-Losh 1929-32. (This stop is unified at octaves to 8/9' and 3 5/9'. It is not known whether it is improperly tuned as Irwin describes. Contributions welcome.)

Bibliography