Organ maintenance: How to correct ciphers and sticky notes in the mechanical action organ?
Isn’t it frustrating when you sit on the organ bench to practice and find that some of the notes are ringing all the time or coded? If the organ has mechanical action, this problem is usually fairly easy to fix. In this article, I will show you how to fix sticky notes and ciphers on the mechanical organ.
1. Locate the tracker that is getting stuck. To do this you will have to enter the organ. Check if you need a key to enter. If there is a second person nearby, ask them to press this ringing key several times so that you can locate the particular tracker.
If you have to do this step yourself, take a silent stop from this manual and try to locate this tracker on the skid by pulling multiple trackers and checking until the sound matches the sticky note.
2. If the key itself is lower or higher than others, please check and adjust the mechanics on the other side of the keyboard. This means that the tracker needs no adjustment, and only one particular key needs any regulation. This usually occurs during the fall and spring due to changes in humidity in the room.
3. If the key position is normal, but there is a constant sound tube, check and adjust the mechanics higher up (possibly under the wind chest). In this case, the key itself is fine, but the valves may be too tight. You just need to relax them a bit.
4. Be careful to make very small adjustments as the screws are very sensitive. If you are not precise in your movements and do large-scale regulation, the results can be quite shocking. The key can feel quite out of place, so adjust only in fine movements.
Use these steps the next time you discover figures on your organ. Usually, locating the particular sticky note tracker takes more time than the whole tuning process. Remember, that in order not to cause any damage to the instrument, you have to be very sure of what you are doing, otherwise, consult your organist or organist who is taking care of your organ.
