Rohr Schalmei German Rohr Schalmey German? Rohrschalmei German

Maclean lists this stop with the following description:

This stop is not, as one may think from its name, a relic of the Baroque era, but is a twentieth century reed-stop made by the famous German firm of Laukhuff to the design of Herr Musikdirektor Seiz, a specialist in the field. It said to possess the great advantage of standing well in tune, a rare virtue indeed among short-length reed-stops! The tone is rather intriguing, being a kind of cross between Krummhorn and Schalmei, of moderate power, yet quietly insistent.

Irwin has this to say:

A veriety of the Schalmei, at 8' or 4' on manuals and pedals. This short-resonator Reed gives a covered variety of the nasal, somewhat acid, reedy tone quality heard in the Schalmei. Some of the Schalmei's higher overtones are dampened by this form of pipe. This is a very useful color Reed which can be added to either pedal or manual combinations. It lends a distinctive tone quality to any flue stops, but at the same time does not drown out their pitches. Each pipe consists of a short brass tube inserted in the boot, with a cylindrical portion of larger diameter set over each brass tube, the top of the larger pipe being capped. The sound is thus forced from the bottom of the pipe, losing on the way some of the reed's brilliance, but not its pungent, nasal timbre.

Sumner lists it as “a low-pressure reed with intense, pungent and hollow sound”.

Examples

Osiris lists about five dozen examples, of which about two dozen are at 8', about three dozen are at 4', three are at 2', and one at 16'. The earliest date from the 1920's.

Rohrschalmei 16', Choir; St. George, New York City, New York, USA; Moller 1958.

Sound Clips

See the Sound Files appendix for general information.

Bibliography