The Barker lever is a
pneumatic
Pneumatics (from Greek 'wind, breath') is the use of gas or pressurized air in mechanical systems.
Pneumatic systems used in Industrial sector, industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located a ...
system which multiplies the force of a finger on the key of a
tracker pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...
. It employs the wind pressure of the organ to inflate small
bellows
A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...
called "pneumatics" to overcome the resistance of the pallets (
valves
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings, ...
) in the organ's wind-chest. This
lever
A lever is a simple machine consisting of a beam (structure), beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge, or '':wikt:fulcrum, fulcrum''. A lever is a rigid body capable of rotating on a point on itself. On the basis of the locations of fulcrum, l ...
allowed for the development of larger, more powerful organs still responsive to the human hand. These larger organs first flourished in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, e.g., the organ produced by
Cavaillé-Coll at
St. Sulpice. The first Barker lever was built in the
Cavaillé-Coll organ of the
Basilica of Saint-Denis
The Basilica of Saint-Denis (, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and archite ...
.
This "contrivance" was named after
Charles Spackman Barker (1804-79), engineer and
organ
Organ and organs may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function
* Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body.
Musical instruments
...
-builder. A similar lever was developed by David Hamilton in 1835, and there has been debate whether Barker stole the design.
Bibliography
* George Laing Miller: "The Recent Revolution in Organ Building", 1913, chapter III
*{{cite episode , title=Of Organs and Engines , series=The Engines of Our Ingenuity , series-link=The Engines of Our Ingenuity , credits=John H. Lienhard , network=NPR , station=KUHF-FM Houston , airdate=2005 , number=1973 , transcript=No 1973: Of Organs and Engines (transcript) , transcript-url=http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1973.htm Compares Barker-lever to similar devices in the
Corliss steam engine
A Corliss steam engine (or Corliss engine) is a steam engine, fitted with rotary valves and with variable valve timing patented in 1849, invented by and named after the US engineer George Henry Corliss of Providence, Rhode Island. Corliss assumed ...
. He cites the Grove's article below and other good web sources, e.g. Bridgeman-Sutton.
* David Bridgeman-Sutton
"Barker-lever" This is based on the following two print sources, Hinton suggesting Barker's copying & Thistlethwaite noting the differences in design.
* John William Hinton: The Story of the Electric Organ. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., 1909.
* Nicholas Thistlethwaite: The Making of the Victorian Organ. Cambridge Musical Texts and Monographs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Pp. 352–354.
* P. Williams: "Organ." The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians. (Stanley Sadie, ed.), vol. 13, New York: Macmillan, 1995, pp. 710–779.
* Hans Dieter Meyer: ''Buchholz und Haupt, oder: Wie der Barkerhebel nach Deutschland kam''. In: Ars organi 52 (2004). ISSN 0004-2919
* Duncan Mathews, ''Charles Barker's Wondrous Machines''. In: Organ builder 5 (2008), 17-20.
External links
Organs (music)