Camian Military Academy Chapel Organ
 | |
| Classification | Pipe organ |
|---|---|
| Playing range | |
| GGGGG – c8 | |
| Musicians | |
| Julio Kram (resident organist) | |
| Builders | |
| G. Tilby & Co. | |
The Camian Military Academy Chapel Organ is a large pipe organ located in the Camian Military Academy's chapel, in Harringdon, Camia. The instrument was built by Graham Tilby Co. between 1919 and 1921 for the academy's chapel that was completed during the same period. It possesses some 23,750 pipes, making it one of the largest in the world.
Background
Layout
Stops
Tonal design
The CMA organ was built with a tonal design in stride with the leading theories of its age, emphasizing the unison and sub-unison voices and suppressing treble ones.
42 2⁄3-foot stops
The CMA organ is unusual as its lowest is not an octave-sounding rank, but a fifth-sounding one at 42 2⁄3-foot, or GGGGG below 32-foot CCCC. This note has a fundamental frequency of 12.25 Hz, which is not as much heard by the human ear but felt as a vibration. There are two stops at this pitch, the Diaphone Profunda and Contra Trombone. It is often said that the chapel settled for a 42 2⁄3-foot stop over a 64-foot stop owing to want ofd space, though an extension to CCCCC had been considered on multiple occasions. Currently, that pitch is available on the instrument through the resultant 64-foot stop.
32-foot stops
To provide the desired grandeur in the pedal, the CMA organ was completed with six 32-foot stops (including the two 42 2⁄3-foot ones drawn at 32-foot) in 1921, believed to be unique at that time. A seventh, the Contra Bombardon, was added in 1974. In the major augmentation of 2005 – 10, two more stops at this pitch were added, the Contra Bassoon and Major Bass. Amongst themse stops, the 32-foot Military Trumpet is believed to be unique, as far as its en chamade positioning is concerned. This stop's full-length, polished-brass resonator is mounted horizontally and directly over the chapel's nave, and it is one of the organ's most renowned features.
| Stop | Division | Pressure |
|---|---|---|
| Sub Principal | Great | 10 |
| Military Trumpet | Swell | 25 |
| Double Diapason | Pedal | 10 |
| Contra Violone | Pedal | 6 |
| Diaphone Profunda | Pedal | 25 |
| Contra Bombarde | Pedal | 20 |
| Contra Trombone | Pedal | 10 |
| Contra Bombardon | Pedal | 10 |
| Major Bass | Pedal | 8 |
| Contra Bassoon | Pedal | 6 |
Culture
Size debate
The CMA organ is often mentioned in the context of its size relative to the City Hall Organ of Kien-k'ang, Themiclesia. At 23,750 pipes, it is the largest organ in Camia and slightly larger than the instrument in Kien-k'ang, which has 23,220 pipes. However, the CMA organ's pipes are organized into 327 ranks, while those at City Hall into 459 ranks. Part of this difference is attributable to CMA's longer compasses, with 61 and 32 notes in the manual and pedal compasses, which are 6 and 2 notes longer than City Hall's compasses.