PAKHWAJ — Vibrating Membranes. India. A drum having a circular shell of wood and skin heads which are braced with strips of the skin laced back and forth between the two heads.

PA-CHIAO-KOU — Vibrating Membranes. China. A Chinese tambourine with an octagonal frame of wood and skin heads, metal discs being inserted in the sides.

P-AI-HSIAO — Vertical Flute. China. This was invented when the Chinese did not know that different tones could be got from one pipe by uncovering the holes made in it at different places. So they bound tubes of varying lengths together in the form of Pandean pipes. The first of these was made with ten tubes and bound with a silken cord. It now has sixteen tubes arranged in a carved and ornamented frame typifying a phoenix with spread wings. The sounds are supposed to represent the voice of this bird.

PAN BOMBA — Vibrating Membranes. Europe. An earthenware jar over the open end of which is stretched a membrane, through which are passed one or more sticks. These sticks are rough and the instrument is played by moving them rapidly backward and forward through the holes in the membrane. It was originally Spanish, but is also found in Italy. It is often of crudest construction, for the earthenware jar being substituted, for instance, a tin vessel. One shown in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is constructed from a common flower-pot. The tone it is needless to say, is very indefinite.

PANCHAMA OTTU -- Cup Mouthpiece. India. A trumpet over two feet in length and formed of thin metal tubing which terminates in a bell.

PANDEAN PIPES — See Pan pipes.

PANDEIRO —Sonorous Substances. Europe. Jingle ring. A circular framework of metal carrying discs of same and sometimes bells. It was used as an accompaniment to Spanish dances.

PANDORE, BANDOLA, BANDORA — Plucked Strings, Europe. An obsolete member of the cither family, being the largest of a group of three, the others being called orpharion and penorcon. The varied number of strings were either of steel or gut. See cither.

PANDURINA — Plucked Strings. Europe. One of the many instruments of the lute family found in Italy. The body is smaller and more shallow than that of the ordinary lute, the pandurina being in reality the treble of the family. See lute.

PANG KIANG — Sonorous Substances. Korea. A bell hung to the eaves of the houses, to be swung by the wind. The body is of metal. A thin sheet of brass, sometimes cut to represent some object of nature, is attached to the clapper to catch the breeze.

PANG-KU — Vibrating Membranes. China. A small, flat drum with a body of wood, the top covered with skin and the bottom hollow. It rests upon a wooden tripod when used in the popular orchestra where it serves to beat time and accompany songs and ballads.

PAN PIPES, PANDEAN PIPES — Vertical Flute. Ancient Greece. An instrument coming down to us in story and in fact from ancient Greece and Rome. Its counterpart is also found in Asiatic countries. It is considered as an ancestor of the pipe organ. Pan pipes consist of a series of vertical whistles which are sounded when a column of air is directed toward the edge of the only opening at the top of the pipes. The method corresponds to that of the flute. A series of notes can be obtained by moving the mouth along the top of the instrument. Early in the Nineteenth Century, it was used by traveling mendicants who went about in bands per-forming upon a series of these instruments which in pitch represented bass, tenor, alto and soprano. Each performer would fasten the pipes just beneath his neck, allowing his hands to be free for supplication while playing. The instrument was called syrinx by the Greeks and that is its present German name.

The story goes that the rough shepherd, Pan, wooed the pretty Syrinx and in her desire to be rid of him she sought refuge in a growth of reeds. The importunate lover was not deterred by this and sought to reach her even then. As a last resort, Syrinx was turned into a reed and the shepherd made a bamboo pipe, upon which he breathed his adoration for his lost love.

PAR DESSUS -- See quinton.

PAT-MAH-- Vibrating Membranes. Burmah. A barrel-shaped shell of wood with a head of skin, braced on the sides with strips of the same. Highly ornamented as to frame. In a specimen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the frame is as high as an ordinary man and almost square, making the instrument of imposing proportions.

PATTALA -- Sonorous Substances. Burmah. A hollow wooden frame which supports a number of bars of wood capable of producing about three octaves of tones when struck with beaters. It bears a resemblance to the xylophone. See xylophone.

PAWA — Transverse Flute. India. A flute played transversely and furnished with six or more finger-holes.

PEE — Double-beating Reed. Siam. The tube of this instrument is of rather singular construction. It bulges slightly at the center and flares at either end. The mouth-piece is fitted with a double-beating reed.

PEECHAWAR — Double-beating Reed. Siam. A conical tube expanding into a bell at the lower end and fitted with a double-beating reed mouthpiece.

PENORCON See pandore.

PRANG— Free Reed. Siam. An instrument formed of a hollow block of wood into which free reed pipes are inserted. Similar to the cheng of China. See cheng.

PHEK — Sonorous Substances. China. Five pieces of wood are fastened together with a silken cord and are used in the manner of castanets as time markers. See castanets.

PHILOMELE -- Bowed Strings. Europe. A form of the bowed zither. While in the shape of its sound-box and sound-holes it greatly resembles the violin, the finger-board is that of the zither. The strings are tuned as those of the violin, but G is the only one of the same substance as the violin, E and A being of steel, and D of brass.

The instrument is held while playing with the head upon the edge of a table and the body in the lap of the performer. A foot attached to the head holds it steady.

PHUNGA — Cup Mouthpiece. India. A trumpet with a long slender tube of thin metal expanding into a small bell at the end. The tube of a phunga at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is forty-nine inches long and has a diameter of two inches.

PIAI-PAN — Sonorous Substances. China. Castanets. These consist of two small slabs of a kind of red-wood attached with a silken cord, upon which a third slab of wood is struck to beat time. It is of common use in popular orchestras.

PIANOFORTE — Struck Strings. Europe. In the piano-forte, necessity has assuredly been the mother of invention. Since Cristofori's first instrument in 1710, each improvement has required another to counteract the change produced in the instrument's equilibrium. Cristofori's pianoforte was made entirely of wood, it was strung with poorly made wire, and the action and tone were weak and crude. The action consisted of a first or key lever depressed by the fingers and furnished with a pad which with an upward movement raised a second lever, pivoted near one end, and bearing a hopper at the other. As the first lever struck the second, the hopper was sent upward and came in contact with a projection connected with the hammer, near the circular butt upon which the hammer moved. The hammer-head was thereby sent against the string, causing it to vibrate. Beyond the point at which the second key lever was pivoted was a vertical stem, having at its extremity the damper, which rested against the string until the lever was struck, when the same motion which was transmitted to the hammer carried the damper away from the string. This is called single escapement; that is, it was necessary for all parts of the action to resume quiet before a second stroke upon the key lever would be effective.

Johann Andreas Stein, of Augsburg, was another successful maker of the Eighteenth Century. He produced what is known as the Viennese action. In Cristofori's action, the hammers were situated on a separate bar, but in the Viennese, they were attached to the rear of the key lever. The shank of the hammer worked in a brass socket, fastened by an iron pin in the lever. The hopper was placed in an upright position behind the key and as the lever was depressed the butt of the hammer was caught by a projection on the hopper and was lifted against the string, instantly allowing the hammer to resume its former position. The instruments of Stein were highly commended by Mozart, both as to the speed with which the dampers quieted the vibrations of the strings and as to the agility with which the action responded to the touch of the performer's fingers.

Stein was assisted in his work by his son, Andreas, and his daughter, Nanette. The daughter finished his piano-fortes and also became a prominent maker, Beethoven using her instruments whenever possible. She married Andreas Streicher, who possessed a profitable knowledge of music and who improved the action of Stein by causing the hammers to strike from above, thereby increasing the extreme lightness. By his advice the family removed to Vienna, whence the name by which the action is known.

About 1770, the principal scene of activity in pianoforte making was changed to England. In 1766, Johannes Zumpe carried the industry from Germany to London, where he set up a workshop. Meanwhile, the famous firm of Broadwood was founded. Thirty years before, Shudi (Tschudi), the harpsichord maker, had set himself up in business. One of his most valuable assistants was a Scotchman, John Broad-wood, who early evinced an inventive mind and who eventually succeeded Shudi in the business which has ever since been carried on by the Broadwoods with such success that their pianofortes are known throughout the musical world.

With the making of pianofortes in England came the English action, possessing great simplicity. It was the action used by Cristofori improved by English makers, among them Stodart and Broadwood. The hammer had a position of rest on a small rail immediately above the key. At the end of the key lever was situated an upright wire having a head of leather. Upon depressing the lever, this hopper struck the hammer, sending it against the string. At the end of each key was also a piece of whalebone which raised the damper from its normal position against the string with the same motion that acted upon the hammer. Pianofortes having' this action were fitted with three stops, two of which were capable of increasing the possibilities of sound by raising the dampers from the strings, the other, capable of softening the tone by bringing against the strings a movable bar of wood covered with felt.

Until 1771, no special attention had been paid to the pianoforte by composers. During this year, however, Mόthel, of Riga, composed a duet for two harpsichords or two fortepianos, as the pianoforte was at first interchangeably called. Three sonatas by Muzio Clementi, his Op. 2, which was published in 1773 in London, is considered as the first strictly pianoforte music. The first mention of the pianoforte as an accompanying instrument was made in 1767 on a 'play bill of " The Beggar's Opera." Between the first and second acts, " Miss Brickler " was announced to sing a popular song from Judith " accompanied upon the new instrument by " Mr. Dibdin." John Christian Bach in London, June 2, 1768, was heard in a pianoforte solo, the first of its kind.

In 1783, pedals were first adapted to the pianoforte by Broadwood. The loud pedal acted upon the dampers, removing them from the strings, while the soft pedal caused a piece of cloth to come in contact with the strings in order to mute them. This variety of soft pedal has gone out of use with the passing of the square pianofortes. That found in the grands shifts the hammer so that it cannot strike all of the unison strings and that found in the upright shortens the distance the hammer travels to reach the string and so weakens the force with which it strikes.

The gentle plucking of the strings in the harpsichord had made possible wires of light weight. With the use of hammers heavier wire was required to resist their action. Cristofori recognized the impossibility of the sounding-board withstanding the tension of the heavier wire if the hitch pins were placed immediately in it. Consequently, he inserted the hitch pins in a separate rail. The first metal to be employed in the construction of the pianoforte was used about 1785, in steel arches situated in the space between this wrest-plank and the sounding-board and designed to assist in with-standing the tension. The use of metal in the pianoforte was established in 1808, when James Broadwood first applied iron tension bars situated above the strings, an arrangement which exists even now.

In 1800, the upright piano was patented by John Isaac Hawkins of Bordentown, N. J. This was an original idea, as the upright instruments heretofore had merely been squares or grands turned on end with the keyboard attached at the lower end. Hawkins, however, had invented an entirely new instrument with strings extending below the keyboard. The growing tendency to economize space caused the upright case to be readily accepted by the public and today more uprights than grands are manufactured.

Sebastian Erard, whose action in the harp has remained unchanged for a century, in 1808 began developing a double escapement action, which he finally improved in 1821, when his nephew, Pierre Erard, procured a patent for it. By means of the invention, control for a second stroke could be regained over the key lever while the hammer was striking the string. The hopper, after putting the hammer into motion, was removed by a backward escapement and regained its position of rest. As the hammer was striking a string and escaping, a second impulse might be sent through the key lever to the hopper, so that the hopper might be in readiness to transmit the impulse to the hammer as soon as the latter resumed its position of rest. Erard's purpose was to combine the lightness and rapidity of the Viennese action with the greater strength of the English. As he patented it, the mechanism was very complicated and its manufacture and repair were extremely difficult. Therefore, the modern tendency is toward greater simplicity, although the principle is in use by all makers of any pretensions whatever.

As the weight of the wires was increased the problem of resistance constantly confronted the maker and to strengthen the frame of the pianoforte more metal was required. In the new wire, two metals, brass and iron, were employed and they presented difficulties in tuning because of the inequality of resistance to tension and to atmospheric changes manifested by them. To overcome this, an employee of Stodart named Allen, in connection with James Thom, on January 15, 1820, produced a patent for a compensating frame designed of plates of iron and brass and hollow tubes. The two metals were distributed in such a manner as to act in opposition to the changes liable to occur in the length of the strings.

The action had by this time assumed a comparative perfection, but the framing was still in a crude state. The compensating frame of Allen was gradually improved until Alpheus Babcock of Boston in 1825 patented a square piano-forte having an entire frame of cast iron. Babcock's idea assumed a more practicable form in the hands of Conrad Meyer of Philadelphia in 1833. Jonas Chickering of Boston, in 1840, applied the iron frame to the grand pianoforte.

Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach borrowed his method of playing from that of the organ upon which he was a renowned performer. The Bach method existed for many years. In it there was a marked absence of wrist movement in striking the keys. With Franz Liszt, born in 1811, came a new and much more powerful school of pianoforte playing.

Use of the wrist was acquired and consequently the fingers were converted into veritable hammers capable of striking the keys with much force, so that the more energetic per-formers were in danger of snapping the weak strings as they brought forth the melody. Attention was thus directed to the strings and the knowledge of metal composition and wire drawing has advanced in rapid strides during the past century. In 1775, blued steel strings had been adopted in preference to the imperfect wire formerly in use, as they did not rust as easily and were capable of producing a much fuller tone. Now the best wire is highly specialized and comes from Germany.

In 1833, overstringing was introduced in square and upright pianofortes. The bass strings were placed diagonally across the treble, affording them greater length and equalizing the strain produced by the tension. The bridge could also be placed nearer the center of the sounding-board, allowing a better tone. This system was in general use in America for fully two years before European makers adopted it. Jonas Chickering, about 1853, combined this over-stringing with the iron frame and the most essential features of the modern pianoforte had come into existence. Nevertheless, invention has in no wise ceased in connection with the instrument, for every maker is striving to further perfect some part in order that his pianoforte may excel all others, and commercialism is assisting art. Although every work-shop is equipped with massive machinery for sawing, clamping and casting, the pianoforte requires more hand work than perhaps any similar product of man's ingenuity..

The pianoforte stands as the instrument which is played upon most generally and the mechanism of which its player understands the least. The construction is complicated and each successive feature must be exactly mapped out by a draftsman before it reaches the workman The tonal qualities of the least important parts must be considered while the designing is in progress. The wood must be selected, the iron must be cast, and the few bolts placed to the best advantage in tone production. However, theory tends to carry the maker beyond the possible, when it must give way to practise, as is exemplified in the weights of the strings.

The wood, which is such an important factor in the pianoforte, is selected with almost as much care as was used by the violin makers of Cremona in their search for the backs and bellies of their instruments. Those who are entrusted with this work are capable of distinguishing favorably between the tones emitted by blocks of wood when struck. In the pianoforte the strings have such a meager vibrating surface that the sound vibrations produced by them alone could not reach the ear of the listener with any reason-able force. Therefore, the strings are carried across a bridge by which the vibrations are transmitted to the sounding-board, which, with its greater expanse: of surface, repeats and increases them and at last transmits them to the air. Spruce, pine, maple, oak, mahogany and other varieties of wood are used. After it has been sawed into strips it is weather-seasoned from three to ten years, the length of time depending upon the use to which it will be put. It is then taken to the drying room and submitted to extreme artificial heat for a number of weeks, when it is placed in a dry atmosphere until used. After the long process is completed. the wood is sawed into widths, all less than six inches, which are glued together to form the wooden parts of the piano-forte. The wood is cut with the grain running vertically and horizontally and in the parts needing strength the strips are glued together with the grain alternating to make them more substantial and less likely to warp. On the other hand, in those parts designed for the transmission of vibrations the strips are glued together with the grain exactly matched, so that the vibrations can follow the grain without interruption.

The foundation of the entire pianoforte is the frame or more technically the rast. In the upright instruments, the rectangular frame is strengthened with cross-pieces, while in the grand, strips of wood emanate from a common center and are bent to fill out the rounded outline of the cases.

Everything else is attached to the frame, which shares with the metal plate in resisting the strain of the strings, and to it is glued the wrest-plank, in which are inserted the tuning pegs. The under side of the grand case and the back of the upright, which is the sounding-board, is built up of strips of spruce, three to four inches wide, running diagonally, and is one-fourth of an inch thick under the bass strings and about three-eighths of an inch thick under the treble strings, the difference in thickness causing the surface to be undulating. The grain runs from the lower bass corner to the upper treble and the strips are so arranged that those having wide grain lie opposite the bass strings, while those of finer grain are grouped with the treble strings. Much of the tonal excellence of a pianoforte depends upon the grain of the sounding-board, and pine bars varying from nine to six-teen in number are glued to the back in a diagonal direction and serve in retaining the necessary curve, without which the tone is tinny.

The iron plate is a casting which holds the entire structure in line. It is bolted to the sounding-board and contains the hitch pins. Its casting is a delicate task and the dimensions called for in the pattern must be accurately carried out or the pianoforte will be a failure. The plate is cast from an iron mold which is one-eighth of an inch larger than the finished plate, allowance having been made for the shrinkage of the cooling metal. In turn the mold was cast from a wooden pattern which for the same reason is one-eighth of an inch larger than the plate.

The strings, to withstand whose tension the plate has been so carefully fashioned, vary in length and weight but never in the degree of tension to which they are drawn. The number of their vibrations per second required for the tones of the scale, varies from 26 in the lowest bass string to 4136 in the highest treble. As the vibrating length of the string producing the highest treble tone is 2.145 inches in length, theoretically the deepest bass would require a length of thirty-two feet. However, this impossibility is overcome by making the wire heavier, having the steel wound with copper or soft iron wire, the increase in weight offsetting the discrepancy in length. Each note, except in the lower bass is furnished with three strings tuned in unison. Following these, as the wire grows heavier and needs more room for vibrating, there are from ten to eighteen strings in pairs, and in the last octave or so each note has but one very heavy string. Together they offer tension varying from twenty-five tons in poorly strung instruments to forty tons in the best grands.

Under the term action, is included the entire complicated system of levers and rods and hammers that meets the eye when the cover of a piano is lifted and which must act in perfect unison in producing correct vibrations in the strings. The different parts of the action are fashioned, assembled and secured in place with extreme nicety. Each key lever, hopper and hammer must be individually perfect and should act in such unison that, with the least possible resistance, the hammer will come in contact with the string with the greatest possible force, for there are three prominent qualities to be desired in an action, viz.: lightness, elasticity of touch, and sensitiveness to degrees of attack. The hammer is not driven positively against the string, but throughout the action momentum is being gathered by which the hammer makes the final stage of its journey. Naturally, the greater the distance at which the hammer rests from the string, the stronger will be the tone produced. This fact has been recognized in the soft pedal of the upright instrument which brings the hammer nearer. Basswood, ash, cherry and cedar have been used in the action, but best results have come from American rock maple. Much attention must be paid to the direction in which the grain runs and in those parts that work close together the grain runs across, preventing the wood from expanding under certain atmospheric conditions.

The hammers are furnished with a round shank and a pear-shaped head. The wedge-shaped center of the head is wood, which is covered with two layers of felt, the second of a heavier quality made in Germany. The covering of the hammers acting upon the treble strings is not as thick as that which is used on those acting upon the bass. The ordinary piano has a compass of seven octaves and three notes, for which eighty-eight hammers are needed. A single strip of wood is covered with the felt and is then cut into the required number of sections.

Likewise the keys are in one section at first. White pine is used, strips of which with the grain running in the direction of the finished key, are glued together. They are then carefuly spaced off into the proper widths for the keys and the ivory and ebony coverings are glued in place. As the hammers must strike the strings in diverging lines, the key levers cannot lie entirely parallel within the case, but must be bent in the correct directions.

The tuning is the last process which the pianoforte undergoes. The strings are subjected to sixteen tunings before they are drawn to the correct tension which is just short of the breaking point and when this standard has been reached and the desired result is still lacking, attention is turned to the hammers. Each tone is built up of a number of harmonics which accompany the fundamental, and some of the hammers cause their strings to create too many. This defect is overcome by pricking the felt of the hammers to soften it at the point where it comes in contact with the strings, thus damping the unnecessary harmonics.

The pianoforte is second to the orchestra in the possibilities it presents to the composer and to the performer. In many instances it takes the place of the orchestra in accompanying and nearly all selections for the body of musicians is in time arranged for the pianoforte. Since the latter part of the Eighteenth Century, composers have recognized it as worthy of some of their best efforts. Years of application are necessary to acquire the art of playing, popular though it is, and there are hosts of inferior per-formers as there are hosts of inferior instruments. The routine of, practice soon palls upon the student and he loses interest because what will take several years is not accomplished in several months. Others who may strongly desire to learn cannot devote sufficient time and the invention of practicable pianoforte players in 1895 lias been heralded as the beginning of a new era in music. They have made it possible for the music-lover who has been denied the privilege of learning the art, to interpret the best compositions with perfect accuracy. The tone is somewhat mechanical but with a good musical ear and a thorough acquaintance with the method, the performer on the player can acquire expression.

A detailed account of the player would be uninteresting and unintelligible to the general reader. It has appeared under many names, but in principle the varieties are alike. The first patent applied for covered a player placed within the case of the pianoforte. However the large number of instruments without players already manufactured made the construction of the new instruments impracticable and a detached player was devised. It was inclosed in a case of its own and was placed immediately in front of the piano-forte when used. Gradually instruments with the player enclosed have appeared until their use has become general.

A vacuum is created by foot bellows and from it tubes lead to an opening in a path over which a perforated sheet of paper passes. The perforations are so arranged that, as they cross the opening in the path, the outer air rushes into the vacuum, and, directed by the position of the holes, strikes the rear of corresponding key levers. The force of the suction depresses the lever and the action responds in the same manner as when the fingers 'strike the keys. In the separate players, the air acts upon hammers which strike the visible keys of the piano and in reality two actions are necessary. The length of the perforations determines the length of the tones produced.

Not only have the players assumed prominence from their use in music rooms, but conservatories and music teachers are employing them in demonstrating difficult passages which the student can learn much more easily after hearing them accurately played.

PIANO-VIOLIN — A curious instrument, invented in 1837. It was a common piano, containing a violin arrangement, which was set in motion by a pedal. When this instrument was played upon it gave the sound of both violin and piano.

PIBGORN — Single-beating Reeds. A rustic instrument used mainly among the Welsh and Celtic peoples. The name is thought to have come from " Pib " or " piob " meaning pipe and " corn " meaning horn. It was often constructed from the shin bone of an animal combined with a bell of horn though more often of hollow wood. It is supposed to have been used to accompany the hornpipe. It is also called the cornicyll and cornepype.

PIN — Plucked Strings. Siam. This instrument of the lute family has the usual pear-shaped body of wood, terminating in a narrow neck. The body is only a few inches in width, however, and the instrument averages about forty inches in length.

PINA — Vertical Flute. China. A flute of bamboo with five finger-holes.

PINAKA — Plucked Strings. India. The body is a narrow strip of wood, at times highly polished, and deco-rated. It is mounted with a single string which is plucked with the fingers or with a plectrum.

PIPE — Vertical Flute. Europe. This name is applied to the wind instrument which the English peasants used with the tabor in accompanying their dances. The instrument was extremely simple in construction and was a little larger than the flageolet. It was played with the left hand while the tabor was played with the right. See flageolet. See tabor.

PIPE ORGAN — Whistles and Beating and Free Reeds. Europe. The accepted origin of the pipe organ is in the Pan pipes. The same principle underlies both, that of directing air against a group of pipes capable of giving tones of various pitches and, in the organ, of various qualities. Pan pipes in the most primitive form were passed back and forth before the lips of the player. An improvement upon this arduous method appeared in a wind-box, into which the base of the pipes was inserted and which was furnished with a single mouthpiece. Air can be furnished from the lungs with only moderate force and pairs of hand bellows were adapted to perform this duty. An instrument of this sort with pipes, sound chest and bellows is readily recognized as the organ in embryo and a knowledge of it can be traced to a date several centuries before Christ.

The bellows appeared in one or several pairs, and were compressed alternately, in order that the wind supply might remain uniform. The hand bellows were superseded by those compressed by the weight of human bodies. Men stood upon them and compressed them alternately by treading. There exist numerous pictorial representations of this method. In a later method, the bellows had weights of lead or stone attached which were regularly raised and let fall. At as late a date as 1890, the four blowers of the organ in the Nicolai Church in Leipsic, ran up a stairs and jumped from a height upon the bellows below. Any of these methods explain the prevailing tendency in the older organs toward an unsteady tone due to a non-uniform supply of wind.

Ctesibius, an Egyptian barber living about 200 B. C., applied the principle of hydraulic pressure to the organ in an attempt to equalize the wind supply. From a cylinder having a piston on the order of that in the common bicycle pump, air was forced into a tank containing water. The compression of the water regulated the bulk of the air and the amount which entered the pipes. The hydraulic organ was made as late as 826 A. D., although it is hard to reconcile the probable presence of damp due to the use of water, with the constant effort on the part of modern organ makers to exclude it. A prejudice against the hydraulic instrument finally arose and the pneumatic organ superseded it.

In very primitive organs — those blown with the mouth — holes in the pipes were closed by the fingers when the pipes were not required for use. Later, each pipe was fitted with a slider, a strip of wood through which a hole had been bored. The sliders, or linguae as they are called, were pulled in and out at the base of the pipes allowing the air to enter when the perforation corresponded with the aperture of the pipe. Owing to the great resistance which always accompanies a pull, an easier and quicker method was devised and the key, depressed by a blow which offers less resistance than a pull, was adopted. The name key was given because it unlocked the sound within the pipe. The first keys were of an extraordinary size, having a width of from three to five inches and a length of several feet. Players were called organ beaters and struck the keys with their fists or elbows. The first keyboard to be credibly recorded belonged to an organ built about the end of the Eleventh Century at Magdeburg. It had sixteen keys, each one forty inches long and three inches wide. The distance to which each key was depressed was proportional to the length and size of the pipe it served and the action was naturally slow.

At first each key was placed just beneath the pipe which it operated and the reaching capacity of the human arms made it impossible to enlarge the number of pipes. This was done away with by the introduction of a method for arranging in the shape of a fan the backfalls, or wooden levers conveying the action of each key to its pipe. Another system employed rollers compactly arranged above each other and transmitting the motion from the key levers to the valves of the pipes. Each method made it possible for a pipe to be out of line with its key lever. Following these inventions, the pipes were arranged in much the same order in which they now appear. In the center are the short ones which give the high tones and to the right and left, in the form of wings, are the longer ones which give the deeper tones. Following the new arrangement, the keys became narrower and, about the Twelfth Century, five keys occupied the space of eight of the present size and one key operated upon more than one pipe.

The early organs were indeed curious. The bellows required vast amounts of leather and in itemized statements of the expenses of their construction, mention is made in one case of the use of a horse's hide for each bellows and in another of seventy cow hides for twenty-one bellows. The tone was much lustier than at present, for time and again writers speak of organs whose music could be heard throughout the town and whose voices were so strong that listeners could not venture near with uncovered ears. An instrument of Arabian make is recorded to have had a tone of such " softness " as to cause the death of a female.

Organ building appeared first in the East and was carried by way of Greece through Europe. The first mention of the use of organs in churches is by Julianus, a Spanish bishop living about 450, who refers to their existence in his dominion, but not until the Seventh Century did Pope Vitalian of Rome introduce the instruments into congregational singing. The Greek church has always refused to recognize them.

The swell, by which expression is gained, was invented in 1712 and was used immediately in England, although it has been only slowly accepted by German makers. A German writer in 1890 decries the crescendo made possible by its use on the ground that " it would rob the organ tone of its majestic passionlessness and tend to a sentimental or pathetic mode of playing."

The great wind pressure when many pipes were in use caused the keys to offer several pounds resistance when depressed. This was overcome in 1832 by what was termed the pneumatic lever. Under each key was situated a small bellows which by means of compressed air could be adjusted so as to impart any degree of elasticity. Pneumatics have since been still more successfully applied.

In its entirety the organ has a most complicated structure, but as it is studied it resolves into sections, which add interest and assist the student to comprehend. These sections make possible a system of development dissimilar to that found in other instruments. There is no limit to the individual characteristics which an organ may possess. Modern ingenuity has led the makers so far that musicians have often decried the newer instruments because of the attention which the organist must devote to the various mechanical adjuncts.

The organ may be regarded as a piece of furniture or preferably as a part of the building in which it is to be used. Many of the finest effects obtainable by good organs are often lost because of the cramped condition of some of the sections or because of its inappropriate position, due to the fact that its requirements have not been considered when building the place to be its home. When a new organ is to be built, the advice of an organ architect is as necessary as are the specifications of the makers. However, the ornamental work may be designed by the building decorator irrespective of the organ maker.

The vast internal mechanism must be noiseless, hence felt is used in some instances to deaden sound. Rollers must travel in stocks, shutters must open and close, and leathern bellows must expand and contract without adding a single sound to those produced by the pipes. The organ is termed the king of instruments and the accuracy with which some of its pipes bearing corresponding names can imitate such orchestral instruments as the violin, the flute, the oboe and the clarinet makes it the combination of many instruments in one — a veritable orchestra. Its voice is majestic and can create effects impossible to anything else, unless it be the new telharmonium of Dr. Cahill.

The banks of keys, sometimes five in number, appear sadly confusing to the novice, as do the hundreds, some-times thousands of pipes above. The pipes are arranged in groups termed stops, capable of imitating some orchestral instrument or of producing a special effect, while the diapasons give the individual organ tones, such as no other instrument gives.

Each keyboard connects with a separate row of pipes and usually possesses a compass of fifty-six notes, although the tendency is to extend this to the complete five octaves. The range of an organ computed in the number of vibrations of the tones produced, is from 16 to 8272, which may be compared with that of the pianoforte, 27 to 4136, and that of the violin, 82 to 1044. Draw-straps on the keyboard also bring into use couplers which connect the different key-boards. For instance, when the " swell" to "great" is drawn and keys on the " great " are depressed, the corresponding keys on the " swell " will act also. - The sliders of both stops having been drawn the combined pipes create a greatly increased sound. By using all the couplers, the entire range of pipes may sound, producing a mammoth effect.

The principal keyboard or manual is known as the " great " organ. The one above is called the " swell " and connects with a series of pipes enclosed in a box, which can be opened by a shutter like a Venetian blind and which is manipulated by means of a pedal. When the box is closed, the tones are subdued but when crescendo is desired the box is opened. The manual below the "great " is the " choir," connecting also some flute and reed solo stops. In larger organs the fourth or " solo " manual is above the " swell " and connects with pipes on heavy pressure designed for especially loud effects, and above it at times is placed the " echo " keyboard connecting with pipes in another part of the building.

With the hands so completely employed, the organist must also be expert in performing upon the pedals, which are larger keys played with the feet and having a compass of about thirty notes. To play upon them is difficult as the organist must find the pedals entirely by instinct.

The pipes are of metal or of wood. The cheapest metal and that most commonly used is composed of one part tin and three parts lead. When the proportion of tin is increased to half it appears on the surface in scintillating spots and the alloy is termed spotted metal. The increased use of tin adds brilliancy and power to the tone and durability to the pipes. Lead in larger quantities on the other hand makes inferior pipes. Zinc has a limited use. The metal is cast in sheets, which are planed to the exact thickness of the finished pipes and are cut into sections, having a width the same as the circumference of the needed pipe. The smaller sheets are then formed into cylinders, having the edges soldered together. Each pipe in every stop varies in thickness, length and diameter. One side of the cylinder or body of the pipe is flattened to form what is known as the lip. The foot is a metal cone whose base has the same diameter as the body and whose smaller end or toe is rounded until almost closed. One side of the base is made flat. The air enters the narrow end, but is checked by an inner projection and, rushing through a slit which gives it a flat form, is cut by the upper lip and then passes up the pipe which may be open or stopped. Pipes termed open allow the air vibrations to escape at the top. Those which are stopped are fitted with a plug at the upper end and in order to escape, the vibrations are caused to travel the length of the pipe twice and consequently to produce a tone just an octave lower than it would in an open pipe of the same length.

Wood pipes are made from well seasoned, perfect pine and are rectangular in outline. Their walls vary in thickness from two and a half inches to less than one-eighth inch and as in the metal pipes, there are open and stopped varieties.

Reed pipes are grouped together forming the stops which produce the imitations of the orchestral instruments and other special effects. A cylindrical brass tube, termed the reed and to which is attached a brass tongue, is enclosed at the base of the pipe and the passage of the air causes the tongue to vibrate, producing the tone. There are three varieties of reeds, the open, the closed, and the free. In the first class, the opening in which the reed vibrates extends the entire distance up; in the second, the opening is partly closed ; and in the third, the tongue does not strike in vibrating.

Foundation stops are groups of pipes giving tones of unison pitch and their octaves, further variations being made possible by groups of pipes in which the members are not of unison pitch, but often tuned in fifths. Beneath the feet of the pipes of each stop is a slider, a long, flat piece of wood pierced with holes, which can be moved in and out by means of mechanism. By pulling out a draw stop rod in the front of the organ, a corresponding slider is withdrawn until its perforations correspond with the lower openings in the pipes. However, these openings are individually closed by pallets, which are pulled away by the action of the key lever, allowing the wind which has been stored in the wind-chest to enter the pipes.

The bellows, which occupy nearly the entire ground space of the instrument, are filled by feeders which work alternately, one giving up its contents to the air reservoir above it while the other is being filled. Weights of cast iron are arranged at the top of the reservoir, and by a wind-gauge the pressure of the air is visibly registered so that the force of blowing may be regulated. In carefully constructed organs, separate reservoirs are placed beneath the wind-chests of the different stops and tend to do away with the unsteady tone which might result from sudden changes from very soft to very loud passages.

In 1833, an English maker introduced tubular pneumatic action. Small metal tubes about an eighth of an inch in diameter lead from the keys to the pallets which close the entrance to the pipes. The tubes are so slender that they can be bent to pass around many corners and can be carried to a great length. When the key lever is depressed a valve is opened allowing the wind to enter a tube situated at the tail of the key. At the other end of the tube is a valve which connects with another valve which imprisons the air in the wind-chest. This last valve when opened by the air allows the diminutive bellows holding the pallet shut to exhaust, bringing the pallet down and allowing the air to enter the pipes. The action is light, but not quick in returning and the tone lingers, presenting serious draw-backs when a rapid shake is attempted.

The more modern electric action is even more sensitive to the touch and is exceptionally quick. Upon depressing the key lever, an electric contact is effected and the current is sent over wires, charging a magnet drawing away a disc of iron, which is held in place at the opening of the pipe by the pressure of air.

Self-playing organs act on the same principle as do self-playing pianofortes. The player is enclosed within the case of the organ and, as in the pianoforte player, a vacuum is created by exhaust bellows operated by the feet. Tubes lead from the vacuum to the tracker board or path over which the perforated paper is drawn. The paper is perforated in the same manner as is the sheet used with the pianoforte. The arrangement of the holes is such that as they pass over the opening in the tracker board, the outer air is drawn through by suction and is directed through tubes against the valves leading to the reeds or pipes which are to be sounded.

Like the self-playing pianoforte, the self-playing organ is by no means a modern invention, but has been under-going improvements for many years. The player was first applied to the reed organ in' which the air, without passing through pipes, causes the reeds to produce sound vibrations. Later it was used in conjunction with the vocalion system, by which the tone of the reed organ is rendered much more like that of the pipe organ. The air, before or after reaching the reeds, is sent through pipes which add to the tones certain qualities which are not possible in the ordinary reed instrument. The newer instruments, which can also be played by means of the keyboard, are growing in use in music rooms and in churches. Although the pianoforte is primarily the instrument of the home and will remain so for some time to come, yet grander effects, especially in adaptations of orchestral selections, can be produced by the self-playing organ, which perhaps substantiates the claim of the makers that the instrument is much more satisfactory than the piano player.

The player has even been applied to the pipe organ, although owing to the great cost and the existence of so many large organs the combination is not in general use.

PO, HSING, SEAOU-PO — Sonorous Substances. China. These cymbals are made on quite the same principle as Occidental cymbals. They are said to have come originally from India. Their use is most conspicuous (and particularly disagreeable) to foreigners at theatrical performances. On numerous occasions such as after a quotation, a verse, or a command the cymbals are sounded ten to fifteen times in rapid succession, nearly drowning the voice of the actor.

POCHETTE — Bowed Strings. France. A miniature instrument having a body either boat-shaped or violin-shaped. From Kricher in 1650 is gained the idea that the first named is the older form. Its outlines give rise to the theory of its descent from an Arabian instrument. It was easily portable and was looked upon as a boon by dancing masters, for it could be played while displaying the steps. Pochettes have gone out of use, but the beauties lavished upon them by the makers render them dear to the heart of the collector, the date of their favor being the Seventeenth and early Eighteenth Century.

POCHETTE D'AMOUR — Bowed. Europe. Pochette with sympathetic strings. See pochette.

POET'S VIOL — See rebab esh sha'er.

POMMER — Double-beating Reeds. Europe. This was known before the Sixteenth Century. The bass instrument was a forerunner of the oboe and bassoon. It consisted of a double-beating reed fitted into a conical tube. In the contrabass it attained to great length, being sometimes ten feet long. Some of the longer pommers were furnished with a long brass crook which was curved in such a manner as to bring the keys within reach of the performer. The keys which were often applied to the instrument worked under a pierced cover of wood, only the heads extending above for accessibility to the fingers.

A family consisted of contrabass in FF, bass in deep C, tenor in C, alto in F, treble in C and high treble in F.

Po-FU — Vibrating Membranes. China. This small drum rests upon a table a foot high and is prominent in religious ceremonies.

POSTILION'S HORN — See hunting horn.

PRILLARHORN - See bukkehorn.

PSALTERY -- Plucked Strings. Europe. An instrument first used by the Greeks. It has a sound-box like a dulcimer, but differs from it in that it is plucked with the fingers or a plectrum. In the latter part of the Seventeenth Century it was considered second to no other instrument when played by a skilled hand. It is considered as the predecessor of keyboard instruments with plucked strings. It is still made. The psaltery was usually trapeze-shaped or triangular and was portable, being often carried by means of a ribbon about the neck of the performer and deposited upon a table when it was to be played. In its outlines Praetorius found a likeness to a pig's head, referring to it in his writings as " instromento di porco." In German the name is Schweins-kopf. It is mentioned by Chaucer and from several con-temporary sculptures an idea of the original instrument may be found.

PULOAY — Vertical Flute. Burmah. A small flute often of wood and fitted with finger-holes. Top of Page