A comprehensive dictionary of organ stops - Allen Organ Studio of ...

IOO DICTIONARY OF ORGAN STOPS.
frequently due to acoustical influences. It may often be remedied by
causing the pipes to speak against a reflecting surface.
Major Flute—8 ft. ; 16 ft.
A powerful combinational 8 ft. Flute, usually found on the Great, Solo,
or Pedal organs. The name is sometimes applied to the Tibia Plena, and
occasionally to an open Flute Double.
Megalopente— iof ft. tone.
Megalophone— 32 ft. tone. (Gr.) fiiyas = great; myre = five; idvt)
= voice.
Two stops bearing these names occur on the Pedal organ at the
Coliseum, Boston, U.S.A. (Wilcox & Co.). They are fancy names for a
Quint and 32 ft. Acoustic Bass effect, respectively.
MELODIA—8 ft. ; also 16 ft. ; 4 ft.
A stop employed in America, corresponding either to our Waldflote or
Hohlflote. In tone it frequently resembles the Waldflote, as made so
excellently by Messrs. Walker.
IVTelodic— e.g., Melodic Flute, Melodic Diapason, Melodic Viol.
A prefix signifying that the stop so described speaks on a " Melody
Attachment." The latter is a device, the operation of which silences all
the notes of the chord played on the particular manual or stop to which it
is attached, with the exception of the treble one. In its inversion it may
be employed to silence all except the bass note of a stop or stops, and
thus render possible pedal bass effects from a manual. The melody
attachment, as applied to the harmonium, was invented by Dawes, and
patented by him under the name of Soprano Coupler in 1864. The
reverse effect, the double bass coupler, was patented by Dawes & Ramsden
in 1868. Similar contrivances were applied to the harmonium by Howard,
and Mason & Hamlin. The Melodic Coupler was first adapted to the
organ by Mr. Thomas Casson, whose " Positive " organs (of the larger
pattern) normally possess a double bass stop acting from the lowest note
struck, and also a melodic stop reinforcing the treble note. Devices of
this kind, which have since been largely employed by other builders, are
not merely valuable in small organs, but also serve to augment the
resources of instruments of greater size. Attached to the Solo organ, a
melodic coupler admits of many novel effects, particularly in music of the
"leit-motif" type, virtually endowing the performer with a third hand.
Thus a Tuba may be coupled melodically to another manual, both hands
being employed on the latter in accompaniment. It would be similarly-
useful in such a piece as Guilmant's " Hymn of the Seraphs," in which
the melody is taken by the right foot on the Pedal organ. Attached to
large instruments it may be seen at : London Organ School ; Cathcart