Vox Angelica

Abstract

MANY of your readers may be acquainted with the nature of the Vox Angelica stop on a good organ. It consists of two ranks of pipes of small scale and delicate quality of tone, one of which is tuned slightly sharp, so that a wavy (hence called Unda Maris) sound is produced. Now it is possible to obtain very similar effects on an ordinary Estey American organ. Given the viola and violetta stops to be drawn out, wrap a band of india-rubber (an ordinary elastic band does very well) round the neck of the viola stop so that it cannot return completely home, on moderate pressure, and allowing a fraction of an inch to intervene between its true final position when inactive; beats will be heard of intensity depending upon the deviation from complete occlusion of this stop. The nearer the viola stop is to occlusion the more rapid the beats; but it is undesirable to obtain rapidity, as the lower notes are too prominently out of tune in this case. Any body can, by experiment, determine the proper amount of deviation to be employed, and having done this the effect is remark ably good. On an Estey, the two stops mentioned are the only admissible ones for such an experiment, from consideration of overtones. No doubt some of your readers may adopt a more elaborate and convenient method of regulating the deviation than by elastic bands, after some experiments. It may seem a paradox to obtain beautiful concordant effects by the use of discordant vibrational relations, but it is undeniable that on a first-class organ the Voix Celeste, or Vox Angelica, or Unda Maris, is a most beautiful stop, and is capable of producing perfect con sordini effects.