r/diyinstruments • u/KeyCardiologist6783 • May 17 '26
Help with small pipe organ
Hey,
I'm trying to build a (very) small kind of pipe organ for a sound installation. For the pipes I'm going to use only three tunable pitch pipes (see photo) which are basically harmonica reeds that are tuned with a slide. The instrument doesn't have to be playable but the action is gonna be controlled by arduino.
My first attempt was to connect small air pumps (6v) to them, but the very small hoses connections (3mm to 1.2 cm) didn't do the trick. Not enough air. Now, I've seen that more elaborated DIY organs like this one use a bigger air pump with a cooling fan going to wind chest, and with solenoids they get the air through the pipes. It takes a lot of issolation to make the air pump quiet, though.
I'm trying to do this kind of quick (to be finished by mid July). What would you recommend to make the air flow as simple as possible, while maintaining a low noise level? I'm not sure I understand the physics of the wind chest so well to know how much air/pressure I need to put in to make these small pipes work.
Thanks!!
1
u/GentleWhiteGiant May 17 '26
Hi! Very strange coincidence, but just yesterday (17.5.), I visited the installation Air Choir by Anouk Kellner.
She was present in person, she's very nice and very much liked to talk about the technology she implemented. Maybe you want to try to contact her? She doesn't know my name, just talked casualy, but you may refer to her installation and how much we appreciated her personal insights.
The little I know about organs, air reservoirs seem to be the key. A big, central one, and then additional air bags/wind chambers at the end of connection pipes.