# Organ vs. Whistle--the difference? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organ-vs-whistle-the-difference/637738 "2012-10-15T01:29:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organ-vs-whistle-the-difference/637738/1 "2012-10-15T01:29:26Z")
My next model project is a 1/24th scale calliope truck, and I’ve been poking around on the web to see what a calliope actually looks like. It’s just a row of steam whistles with their valves hooked to a keyboard. No biggie, except for the tedium of making twenty-five valves–but I’ll make one and then cast 24 copies. But it occurs to me: Both whistles and pipe organs use a compressed gas to create sound. But how does the operating principle of a whistle differ from that of an organ pipe? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organ-vs-whistle-the-difference/637738/2 "2012-10-15T02:05:00Z")
size of the toot. steam calliope is big whistles. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organ-vs-whistle-the-difference/637738/3 "2012-10-15T02:09:57Z")
There’s also the physical difference between, say, a policeman’s whistle, where all the air comes out the fipple, and a steam whistle/calliope/recorder, where some of it also goes up the tube and out the top. That’s going to give a larger resonating chamber for vibrating air, but that’s about all I’ve got for an explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organ-vs-whistle-the-difference/637738/4 "2012-10-15T07:51:59Z")
There are a number of different categories of organ pipe - some of them are just big whistles, others have reeds or other voicing mechanisms. > **[Organ pipe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_pipe)** > > An organ pipe is a sound-producing element of the pipe organ that resonates at a specific pitch when pressurized air (commonly referred to as wind) is driven through it. Each pipe is tuned to a note of the musical scale. A set of organ pipes of similar timbre comprising the complete scale is known as a rank; one or more ranks constitutes a stop. > Organ pipes are generally made out of either metal or wood. Very rarely, glass, porcelain, plastic, paper, Papier-mâché, or even stone pipes may be seen... ---
**Author:** ![sidecar\_jon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@sidecar\_jon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidecar_jon)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organ-vs-whistle-the-difference/637738/5 "2012-10-15T14:18:24Z")
I once made a few organ pipes (very small ones) It is usual to vary the length to get notes, but an organ pipe can be half the length if it is closed at the top. Whistles etc usually have an open end like the higher notes of organ pipes. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organ-vs-whistle-the-difference/637738/6 "2012-10-15T14:40:02Z")
steam would be at higher pressure than pumped air. also the steam would need to be vented and/or condensed. i think that reed pipe organs used in air pipe organs might corrode and not work long. closed pipes might not vent enough pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/organ-vs-whistle-the-difference/637738/7 "2012-10-15T17:33:42Z")
If you blow on an organ, it doesn’t necessarily make a sound. 😃