Alexey Nadezhin: “The organ is the largest and most complex musical instrument. In fact, the organ is a whole brass band, and each of its registers is a separate musical instrument with its own sound.
The largest organ in Russia is installed in the Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow International House of Music. I was lucky to see him from a side from which very few people have seen him.
This organ was made in 2004 in Germany by a consortium of companies Glatter Gotz and Klais, considered the flagships of organ building. The organ was designed specifically for the Moscow International House of Music. The organ has 84 registers (in a conventional organ the number of registers rarely exceeds 60) and more than six thousand pipes. Each register is a separate musical instrument with its own sound.
The height of the organ is 15 meters, weight - 30 tons, cost - two and a half million euros. 
Pavel Nikolaevich Kravchun, Associate Professor of the Department of Acoustics at Moscow State University, told me about how the organ works. 
The organ has five keyboards - four hand and one foot. Surprisingly, the foot keyboard is quite complete and some simple works can be performed with one foot. Each manual (manual keyboard) has 61 keys. To the right and to the left are the register turn-on knobs. 
Although the organ looks completely traditional and analog, it is actually partly controlled by a computer, which primarily remembers presets - sets of registers. They are switched by buttons on the ends of the manuals. 
Presets are stored on a regular 1.44″ floppy disk. Of course, disk drives are almost never used in computer technology, but here it works properly. 
It was a discovery for me to learn that every organist is an improviser, because the notes either do not indicate the set of registers at all or indicate general wishes. In all organs, only the basic set of registers is common, and their number and tone can vary greatly. Only best performers can quickly adapt to the huge range of registers of the Svetlanov Hall organ and use its capabilities to the fullest.
In addition to handles, the organ has foot-operated levers and pedals. Levers enable and disable various computer-controlled functions. For example, the combination of keyboards and the effect of the increase, controlled by a rotating pedal-roller, as the rotation of which additional registers are connected and the sound becomes richer and more powerful.
To improve the sound of the organ (and at the same time other instruments) in the hall, a electronic system Constellation, including many microphones and mini-monitor speakers on stage, lowered from the ceiling on cables using motors and many microphones and speakers in the hall. This is not a sound amplification system, when it is turned on, the sound in the hall does not become louder, it becomes more uniform (spectators in the side and far places begin to hear the music as well as the audience in the stalls), in addition, reverberation can be added to improve the perception of music. 
The air with which the organ sounds is supplied by three powerful but very quiet fans. 
For its uniform supply, ordinary bricks are used. They press the furs. When the fans are turned on, the bellows inflate and the weight of the bricks provides the necessary air pressure. 
Air is supplied to the organ through wooden pipes. Surprisingly, most of the shutters that make the pipes sound are controlled purely mechanically - by rods, some of which are more than ten meters long. When many registers are connected to the keyboard, it can be very difficult for the organist to push the keys. Of course, the organ has an electric amplification system, when turned on, the keys are pressed easily, but high-class organists of the old school always play without amplification - after all, this is the only way to change intonations by changing the speed and force of pressing the keys. Without amplification, the organ is a purely analog instrument, with amplification it is digital: each pipe can only sound or be silent.
This is what the rods from the keyboards to the pipes look like. They are wooden, since wood is the least susceptible to thermal expansion. 
You can go inside the organ and even climb through a small "fire" escape along its floors. There is very little space inside, so it is difficult to feel the scale of the structure from the photographs, but still I will try to show you what I saw. 
Pipes differ in height, thickness and shape. 
Some of the pipes are wooden, some are metal, made of tin-lead alloy. 
Before everyone big concert the organ is reconfigured. The setup process takes several hours. For adjustment, the ends of the smallest pipes are slightly flared or rolled with a special tool; larger pipes have an adjusting rod. 
Larger trumpets have a cut tab that can be twisted and twisted slightly to adjust the tone. 
The largest pipes emit infrasound from 8 Hz, the smallest - ultrasound. 
A unique feature of the MMDM organ is the presence of horizontal pipes facing the hall. 
I took the previous shot from a small balcony, which can be accessed from inside the organ. It is used to adjust horizontal pipes. View auditorium from this balcony. 
A small number of pipes have only an electric drive. 
And the organ also has two sound-visual registers or “special effects”. These are “bells” - the ringing of seven bells in a row and “birds” - the chirping of birds, which occurs due to air and distilled water. Pavel Nikolaevich demonstrates how the "bells" work. 
An amazing and very complex tool! The Constellation system goes into parking mode, and that's the end of the story about the largest musical instrument in our country. 
The organ is a musical instrument that is called the "king of music". The grandiosity of its sound is expressed in the emotional impact on the listener, which has no equal. In addition, the world's largest musical instrument is the organ, and it has the most advanced control system. Its height and length are equal to the size of the wall from the foundation to the roof in big building- temple or concert hall.
The expressive resource of the organ allows you to create music for it with the widest scope of content: from reflections on God and the cosmos to subtle intimate reflections of the human soul.
The organ is a musical instrument with a history that is unique in its duration. Its age is about 28 centuries. It is impossible to trace within one article great way this tool in art. We limited ourselves to a short outline of the genesis of the organ from ancient times to those centuries when it acquired the form and properties known to this day.
The historical predecessor of the organ is the Pan flute instrument that has come down to us (after the name of the one who created it, as mentioned in the myth). The appearance of the Pan flute is dated to the 7th century BC, but the real age is probably much older.
This is the name of a musical instrument consisting of reed tubes of different lengths placed vertically next to each other. Lateral surfaces, they are adjacent to each other, and across are united by a belt of strong matter or a wooden plank. The performer blows air from above through the holes of the tubes, and they sound - each at its own height. A real master of the game can use two or even three pipes at once to extract a simultaneous sound and get a two-part interval or, with special skill, a three-part chord.
Pan's flute personifies the eternal human desire for invention, especially in art, and the desire to improve expressive possibilities music. Before this instrument appeared on the historical stage, ancient musicians there were more primitive longitudinal flutes - the simplest pipes with holes for fingers. Their technical capabilities were not great. On a longitudinal flute, it is impossible to simultaneously extract two or more sounds.
The following fact also speaks in favor of a more perfect sounding of Pan's flute. The method of blowing air into it is non-contact, the air jet is supplied by the lips from a certain distance, which creates a special timbre effect of mystical sound. All predecessors of the organ were brass, i.e. used a managed manpower breath to create Subsequently, these features - polyphony and ghostly fantastic "breathing" timbre - were inherited in the sound palette of the organ. They are the basis of the unique ability of organ sound - to introduce the listener into a trance.
From the advent of the Pan flute to the invention of the next predecessor of the organ, five centuries passed. During this time, connoisseurs of wind sound extraction have found a way to infinitely increase the limited time of human exhalation.
In the new instrument, air was supplied by means of leather bellows, similar to those used by a blacksmith to force air.
There was also an opportunity to automatically support two-voice and three-voice. One or two voices - the lower ones - without interruption pulled sounds, the pitch of which did not change. These sounds, called "bourdons" or "faubourdons", were extracted without the participation of the voice, directly from the bellows through the holes open in them, and were something of a background. Later they will receive the name "organ point".
The first voice, thanks to the already known method of closing holes on a separate “flute-like” insert in bellows, got the opportunity to play quite diverse and even virtuoso melodies. The performer blew air into the insert with his lips. Unlike bourdons, the melody was extracted by contact. Therefore, there was no touch of mysticism in it - it was taken over by bourdon echoes.
This tool has gained great popularity, especially in folk art, as well as among itinerant musicians, and became known as the bagpipe. Thanks to her invention, the future organ sound acquired an almost unlimited length. While the performer pumps air with bellows, the sound is not interrupted.
Thus, three of the four future sound properties of the “king of instruments” appeared: polyphony, mystical uniqueness of timbre and absolute length.
Starting from the 2nd century BC. constructions appear that are increasingly approaching the image of an organ. For air injection, the Greek inventor Ktesebius creates a hydraulic drive. This allows you to increase the power of sound and supply the nascent colossus instrument with rather long sounding pipes. To the ear, the hydraulic organ becomes loud and sharp. With such properties of sound, it is widely used in mass performances (race races, circus shows, mysteries) among the Greeks and Romans. With the advent of early Christianity, the idea of blowing air with bellows returned again: the sound from this mechanism was more lively and “human”.
In fact, at this stage, the main features of the organ sound can be considered formed: a polyphonic texture, an imperiously attention-grabbing timbre, an unprecedented length and a special power suitable for attracting large mass of people.
The next 7 centuries were decisive for the organ in the sense that it became interested in its capabilities, and then firmly “appropriated” them and developed Christian church. The organ was destined to become the instrument of mass preaching, as it remains to this day. To this end, his transformations moved along two channels.
First. The physical dimensions and acoustic abilities of the instrument have reached incredible levels. In accordance with the growth and development of temple architecture, the aspect of architectural and musical progressed rapidly. The organ began to be built into the wall of the temple, and its thunderous sound subdued and shook the imagination of the parishioners.
Quantity organ pipes, which were now made of wood and metal, reached several thousand. The timbres of the organ acquired the widest emotional range - from the likeness of the Voice of God to the quiet revelations of religious individuality.
The possibilities of sound, previously acquired on the historical path, were needed in church life. The polyphony of the organ allowed the increasingly complex music to reflect the multifaceted interweaving of spiritual practice. The length and intensity of the tone exalted the aspect of living breathing, which brought the very nature of organ sound closer to the experiences of the destiny of human life.
From this stage, the organ is a musical instrument of great persuasive power.
The second direction in the development of the instrument followed the path of strengthening its virtuoso capabilities.
To manage a thousandth arsenal of pipes, a fundamentally new mechanism was needed, enabling the performer to cope with this untold wealth. History itself prompted the right decision: the idea of keyboard coordination of the entire array of sounds was perfectly adapted to the device of the “king of music”. From now on, the organ is a keyboard-wind instrument.
The control of the giant was concentrated on a special console, which combined the colossal possibilities of clavier technique and the ingenious inventions of organ masters. In front of the organist were now placed in a stepped order - one above the other - from two to seven keyboards. At the bottom, near the floor under your feet, there was a large pedal keyboard for extracting low tones. It was played with the feet. Thus, the organist's technique required great skill. The performer's seat was a long bench placed on top of the pedal keyboard.
The combination of pipes was controlled by a register mechanism. Near the keyboards were special buttons or handles, each of which actuated tens, hundreds and even thousands of pipes at the same time. So that the organist would not be distracted by switching registers, he had an assistant - usually a student who was supposed to understand the basics of playing the organ.
The organ begins its victorious march in the world artistic culture. By the 17th century it had flourished and unprecedented heights in music. After the perpetuation of organ art in the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, the greatness of this instrument remains unsurpassed to this day. Today the organ is a musical instrument of recent history.
Pope Vitalius (?-672), who by his decree introduced the organ into liturgical use
In the small old German city of Passau, where there are only 50 thousand inhabitants, including 10 thousand students of the local university, for many decades the largest organ in Europe has been sounding in St. Stephen's Cathedral. By the richness and beauty of the sound, by the impact on the listeners, it is unique. It is no coincidence that he is considered the king of wind musical instruments, "enslaver human souls". People from neighboring cities and countries come here to listen to it.
Passau is located near the border with Austria on an elongated stretch of land, washed by water on both sides. This is the confluence of three rivers: the Danube, the Inna and the Ilts. Therefore, the city is also called "Bavarian Venice", "Floating ship", "Gate of the East". It arose in the 1st century on the site of the settlement of the ancient Romans, who built two fortresses Boetro and Batavia in the interfluve on a hill. From the latter came the name Passau.
Historically, it so happened that in the era early medieval Passau turned into the residence of bishops and has remained so to this day. The rule of the prince-bishops in it also determined the presence in Pascay of an appropriate church institution. In the 16th century, it was the then built St. Stephen's Cathedral, which is still the main attraction of the city.
The cathedral of the episcopal city needed a corresponding large organ. The first appeared in late XVI century. However, the fires of the 17th century that raged in the city destroyed the cathedral and the organ. Master builders invited from Italy rebuilt Passau, the city had two architectural style- Italian baroque and the former late Gothic. At the same time, 8 multi-ton bells were hung in the renovated cathedral, and a new organ, more powerful and sonorous, was installed in a special aisle.
At the same time, a musical artel was born in Passau, bringing together master organists who were engaged in the repair and creation of new musical instruments. By the way, Artel has now turned into a world-famous company, its highly qualified specialists continue to manufacture new organs on orders from other countries already with electronic elements.
The largest mechanical organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral was installed in 1928. Since then, the organ has been repeatedly restored, improved, and updated. At the end of the 20th century, the last cardinal alteration of the instrument was carried out. It took several years to make and test it. The cost of all work performed is not disclosed, but it is assumed that the manufacture and installation of this keyboard wind instrument it took several million euros ...
The organ appeared around the 3rd century BC. Its creation is credited to the Greek mechanic-inventor Ctesibius, who lived in Alexandria, who made a small sounding hydraulics with wind pipes. The pressure of the air entering the pipes was maintained by a water column. The Greeks, followed by the Romans, used hydraulics during mass entertainment events, on hippodromes, in circuses. The sound of the hydraulics was strong, piercing - this made an impression on the audience. Later, the water pump was replaced with more compact air bellows, which made it possible to increase the number and size of sounding pipes.
In 666, Pope Vitalius by his decree introduced an organ into the conduct of liturgical rites. catholic church. Since then, Italy began to create its own organs. From the 9th century they began to be sent to France, later to the lands of Germany. But the organ received the greatest distribution in XV-XVII centuries. It was his Golden time". He became essential attribute Catholic cathedrals.
Medieval organs were rough, heavy, and only physically strong people could play them, because they had to beat the wide keys with their fists, and press the pedals with their feet. The organists were paid little, most often in food. It was believed that for church liturgies, the organist should play not for money, but according to the call of the heart. The most famous organist and composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, was forced not only to play the organ in the Leipzig church, but also to teach those who wished to play it and write musical works.
The modern organ is a complex and very expensive musical wind instrument. It consists of many metal pipes and tubes of various sizes, into which air is forced with the help of bellows. The number of tubes reaches several thousand. They are made of tin with the addition of other metals for fullness of sound, for shine and durability.
In front of the organist there are several keyboards for hands, they can reach up to 7, and below is a pedal keyboard, which consists of 5 pedals, in some organs their number reaches 32. They are designed to extract low sounds.
In modern organs, air is forced into the pipes with the help of electric motors. At present, the "facades" of the organ are often made fake - this is a decor, and the main pipes are hidden in the inside of the chapel. Every organ making workshop has its own secrets.
The largest in the world today is a concert organ created in Atlantic City (USA), it has 33,112 pipes. The instrument has two pulpits, one of which has seven keyboards. To serve such a giant, the organist needs assistants.
But the desire to create big organ did not improve the sound quality. And at present, organs of medium traditional sizes are more often made, which can be controlled by one person. It is believed that today in all of Europe there is no more beautiful, more sonorous organ than in catholic cathedral St. Stephen in Passau.
This organ was created in 1608, it has gone through many repairs in its lifetime, but its basis is still the same, made 400 years ago by conscientious masters of the Middle Ages. The members of the numerous Fugger dynasty, the richest family of local merchants, are buried in the cathedral.
It is known that the largest musical instruments are organs, but among them there are the most impressive in size. Known champions in size among drums, pianos, grand pianos and double basses.
large organs
The largest, loudest and most complex musical instrument in the world is the organ. The largest of famous organs located in the US city of Boardwalk. It is known that its construction was carried out for four years, and was completed in 1932. It has thirty-three thousand pipes. This huge instrument served faithfully for sixty-five years. It has been silent since 1998, as it needs restoration. Due to the necessary large financial costs The organ has not yet been restored. Fundraising is carried out by residents of the city.The leader in terms of size among the operating bodies in the world is located in the USA in Philadelphia. It has twenty-eight thousand four hundred and eighty-two trumpets. It is installed in mall and sounds daily.
The largest organ in Europe is located in the German city of Passau. It is installed in the Cathedral of St. Stephen. It has seventeen thousand seven hundred and seventy-four trumpets. An organ consisting of eight thousand five hundred pipes sounds in the Kaliningrad Cathedral.
Huge pianos
The "King of Instruments" is called the piano. It has a wide range and impressive size. Among orchestral instruments only this one can be proud of such a rich sound range. Tool sizes can vary greatly. 
Challen Concert Grand is the name of the largest piano in the world. Its length is three and a half meters, the string tension is total over thirty tons. The piano itself weighs over a ton.
In 2010, the Guinness Book of Records received an application from Stolëmòwi Klawér for recognition of their concert grand piano as the largest in the world. The commission recorded the following dimensions: length - six meters four centimeters, width - two meters fifty-two centimeters, height - one meter eighty-seven centimeters. The weight of the giant piano was one ton eight hundred kilograms.
The biggest drums
It is believed that the first human musical instruments were percussion instruments. The largest drums are called "taiko". This term is translated as pot-bellied drum. In the Guinness Book of Records, the following dimensions of the world's largest drum are recorded: diameter - four meters fifty-two centimeters, weight - three and a half tons. This giant is located in Japan at the Big Drum Museum. Another huge drum is also stored there, which is slightly inferior in size to the leader. The diameter of the second "taiko" is three meters seventy-one centimeters in diameter, its weight is three tons. The museum is located in the city of Tsuzureko. In addition to these two giants, the museum has one hundred and fifty different drums brought from all over the world. 
It is known about huge drum kits. The world record, marked by the Guinness Book of Records, was set by the priest Mark Temparato. There are eight hundred and thirteen instruments in his installation. He collected it for twenty years. Some instruments are at a height of two to two and a half meters. A priest spends about seventeen hours a week maintaining a giant drum set in proper condition.
The highest shock drum set appeared in Vienna in the BigBoom amusement park in 2012. In addition to the huge size of the drum, it includes a barrel, two cymbals, two volumes and a hi-head. Installation height - six and a half meters with a weight of one and a half tons. You might think that this is a props, but the tools there are real. Once a week, a group of drummers play on this kit.
The largest double bass
Among bowed instruments the largest is the contrabass. To play it, you must either stand or sit on a high stool. Without this large musical instrument, it is difficult to imagine a real orchestra. 
The history of the emergence of double basses has more than one century. Either the double bass was made small, or the number of strings was changed. Today, the standard instrument length is one meter and eighty centimeters. In the process of creation and some experiments with the size and sound, a four-meter double bass was made. Its author is master J. William.
The largest basses are called octobass, subcontrabass or octave doublebass. In England, in one of the museums, a double bass is kept, the size of which is two meters and sixty centimeters. They call him "Goliath". An octobas, three meters long and forty-eight centimeters, has been preserved in the Parisian museum.
In the city of Cincinnati, master John Geyer made a double bass two meters wide and four meters and fifty centimeters long.
The largest musical instrument in the world
The leader in size among all musical instruments is an organ located in the city of Boardwalk (USA). Its construction took four years. It has thirty-three thousand pipes. About half a million dollars were spent on the construction, which in the thirties of the twentieth century was considered a huge amount. 
Over the past sixteen years, the instrument has been under reconstruction. This organ is not only the largest, but also the loudest musical instrument.
But guitars are rarely made big. But quite often expensive. For example, the Fender Broadcaster (Telecaster) prototype sold for $375,000. .
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The historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City is the city's most important convention center. All the big events in Atlantic City are held there. Boardwalk Hall has hosted numerous sports events(boxing, basketball, football, wrestling, figure skating, etc.), music concerts(Beatles, Rolling Stones, Madonna and Lady Gaga just a few of the celebrities), political conventions, and even the Miss America pageant. This entertainment complex occupies 7 acres of land with its own power plant, radio station, kitchens and telephone network. At the time of its opening in 1929, the building was incredible feat developers. Another outstanding feature of the Boardwalk Hall is the largest organ in the world, which will be discussed in this article.
In those days, organs were standard equipment for any entertainment complex, used mainly for musical accompaniment films (the technology of film dubbing had not yet been developed by that time). In those times average theater could seat 2,000 to 3,000 people, but the Boardwalk Hall's capacity was a whopping 42,000 spectators. The closed space of the hall reached 5.5 million cubic feet in area and it was a big technical problem to fill this huge volume with music. 
The task of building the organ was given to Midmer-Losh Inc. from New York. They created a gigantic instrument that broke all possible records. Hall Hall is still the proud owner of the largest organ in the world and one of the most unique musical instruments on Earth. Made with 33,000 pipes, this gigantic instrument handles a huge hall area with ease and sounds louder than the loudest train. To produce such a deafening sound, the organ uses a 600 horsepower electric drive capable of blowing 36,400 cubic feet of air per minute. The organ's main console is also the world's largest console. It took three years to build the organ - all work took place directly inside the building. The highest pipe reaches 20 meters in height. 
Another large antique organ is located in Brooklyn's forgotten Theater Royal. It was created by Robert Morton and named after him.
Unfortunately, the organ rarely functioned after the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944, although it still continued to play for some shows, like the Miss America Pageant, political conventions and sport competitions. Long years inaction spoiled the organ so much that only 15-20% of the instrument remained in working condition. It was then further damaged when careless workers broke several pipes during repairs in 2000-2001. The Boardwalk Hall organ is currently undergoing a major restoration. Restoration work is expected to take another 8 years.
