You know those big old pipe organs with 3 or more sets of keyboards? How does the organist know which one to play? I have sometimes seen where if you press a key on one manual, it depresses the same note on other ones simultaneously. What’s up with that?
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All organs are kind of ridiculously different. Some modern composers will specify exactly what they want. Sometimes you have to figure out the general gist of what the composer wanted. Sometimes you say to hell with all that I’m doing what I want.
There are four main types of pipes. All (I’m pretty sure all) pipe ranks fall within these categories so sometimes just the categories are specified. Past that the length of the pipe might be specified (the length of the lowest sounding pipe in the rank). Longer pipes are lower sounding notes, shorter pipes are higher sounding. So each key on a manual does not have to be inherently high or low sounding. You can control literally everything, depending on what’s available to you with a specific organ.
The complexity of what note sounds where and why is vast. But the options available make it fun.
This is all based on four years of organ lessons in college. I am by no means a professional, and the information professional organists acquire and use is deserving of the utmost awe and respect. They are incredible
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