Old German organ-builders sometimes used the prefix Aequal to indicate a stop of unison (8') pitch. When used alone, it indicated an 8' Principal. Wedgwood lists the name Chormass as a synonym for Aequal; Adlung writes: “[Principal] is also called Aequalprincipal because it matches the range of the human voice. It is likewise called Chormassprincipal” and “Chormass is probably understood to be the same as 8' because it has the same pitch as the human voice”.

Examples

No examples of the prefix Chormass are known; only one example of Aequal is known. Contributions welcome.

Aequalprincipal 8', Great; Chapel of the Resurrection, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana, USA; Schlicker 1959.

Bibliography