# What are organists constantly adjusting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 29, 2022, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-organists-constantly-adjusting/968780 "2022-07-29T13:40:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-organists-constantly-adjusting/968780/1 "2022-07-29T13:40:50Z")
Whenever I see someone playing an organ they’re always constantly playing with knobs and switches and things. What are all of those things they’re adjusting all the time? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-organists-constantly-adjusting/968780/2 "2022-07-29T13:55:02Z")
They’re called stops, and they switch which voices (i.e., pipes) the sound is coming from at any given moment. The organist can also change this by playing on a different keyboard (known as a manual), but each manual has its own set of stops. Some organs have buttons directly under the manuals that allow the player to set up certain preset selections of stops and switch to all of them with one push. Organs are amazing instruments. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-organists-constantly-adjusting/968780/3 "2022-07-29T13:56:15Z")
^ And that’s where “pulling out all the stops” comes from. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-organists-constantly-adjusting/968780/4 "2022-07-29T13:56:41Z")
This gets into a lot of detail about this specific organ, but it covers the basics of how organs work. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JeB3JnKp8To/maxresdefault.jpg "Pipe Organ (An instrument the size of a building)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeB3JnKp8To) > [@pulykamell](#): > > And that’s where “pulling out all the stops” comes from. I didn’t rewatch the video, but IIRC, that was mentioned in it. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-organists-constantly-adjusting/968780/5 "2022-07-29T13:57:47Z")
> **[Organ console](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_console)** > > The pipe organ is played from an area called the console or keydesk, which holds the manuals (keyboards), pedals, and stop controls. In electric-action organs, the console is often movable. This allows for greater flexibility in placement of the console for various activities. Some very large organs, such as the van den Heuvel organ at the Church of St. Eustache in Paris, have more than one console, enabling the organ to be played from several locations depending on the nature of the performance.... ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-organists-constantly-adjusting/968780/6 "2022-07-29T14:09:46Z")
A rock/jazz\* organ like a Hammond B-3/C-3/L-100/etc will have drawbars that you can pull in and out on them to shape the sound. That’s what the sliders here are that the hand is reaching for: \*OK - they were not originally made for these genres, but these are the ones most associate them with. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JMZFnBllRdE/hqdefault.jpg) ](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JMZFnBllRdE/hqdefault.jpg) There are also buttons on this type of organ where you can turn vibrato on and off, toggle percussion (little clicking sounds when you hit a key) and shape its quality, and turn the Leslie speaker on and off and set its speed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-organists-constantly-adjusting/968780/7 "2022-07-29T14:29:15Z")
Oh, and those inverted colored keys on the left side of the keyboard are presets. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-organists-constantly-adjusting/968780/8 "2022-08-18T00:15:52Z")
And of course, the reason that Bach had twenty children was because his organ didn’t have enough stops. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-organists-constantly-adjusting/968780/9 "2022-08-18T19:10:13Z")
Ninjaed by 19 days!