Parts of a Pipe Organ – Console, Pipes, Windchest, Stops

All 13 parts on the diagram

Show the list

The organ 8

Console The organist plays from here: keyboards, pedals and stops.
Flue pipe It sounds like a whistle or a recorder: no moving parts.
Reed pipe A brass reed beats inside its foot; the cone strengthens the sound.
Windchest A box of air under pressure. The pipes stand on it.
Swell box A box around some pipes, to make them louder or softer.
Swell shutters Slats that open like a blind to let more sound out.
Blower An electric fan that supplies the organ's wind.
Reservoir A bellows that stores wind and keeps its pressure steady.

The console 5

Manuals The keyboards played with the hands.
Stop knobs Pull one to bring a set of pipes into use.
Pistons Buttons that change a whole group of stops at once.
Swell pedal Rock it with a foot to open the swell shutters.
Pedalboard A keyboard played with the feet.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it. (1) Wikipedia, text only: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_organ (console, manuals, pedalboard, stop knobs drawn toward the player, pistons, windchest, electric blowers, wind stored at constant pressure, swell box, swell shades, case and facade), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_console (manuals, pedals, stop knobs, pistons and toe pistons, the swell box with a side of flaps opened from the console, the balanced expression pedal above the center of the pedalboard) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_pipe (flue pipes sound like a recorder or whistle with no moving parts; reed pipes have a beating brass reed and a resonator). (2) Ernest M. Skinner, The Modern Organ (1917), public domain, https://archive.org/details/modernorgan00skin (console, manuals, pedal keyboard, draw stops, combination pistons, swell pedals, swell-box and shutters, wind chest, blower, bellows and reservoirs, flue pipes and reed pipes). (3) Noel Bonavia-Hunt, The Modern British Organ, read as full text at https://archive.org/details/modernbritishorg00huntuoft (console, manuals, pedalboard, stop-knobs, thumb pistons and toe pistons, swell pedal, swell box and shutters, soundboard for the windchest, blower, reservoir, flue pipes and reed pipes). No builder is named in the copy or drawn. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

The parts of a pipe organ come in three groups: the pipes that sound, the wind system that feeds them, and the console where the organist plays. The first view shows the organ; the second shows the console.

Read the full guide

The organ, case left off

Numbers 1 to 8: the console, a flue pipe and a reed pipe, the windchest they stand on, the swell box with its shutters, and the blower and reservoir that supply the wind.

The console

Numbers 9 to 13: the manuals for the hands, the stop knobs and the pistons, the swell pedal and the pedalboard for the feet. Each stop knob brings one set of pipes into use, and a key then lets wind into the pipe for its note.

Flue pipes and reed pipes look different: a flue pipe is a plain tube with a mouth, a reed pipe widens like a cone.

Questions and answers

What are the main parts of a pipe organ?

Pipes, a wind system and a console. The pipes make the sound. The blower, reservoir and windchest bring them air under pressure. At the console the organist plays the manuals and the pedalboard and chooses the pipes with the stops.

What is the difference between a flue pipe and a reed pipe?

A flue pipe has no moving parts: wind strikes a lip at its mouth, as in a recorder or a whistle. In a reed pipe the wind makes a brass reed beat, and the pipe above it strengthens the sound.

What does a stop do on an organ?

A stop brings a set of pipes, called a rank, into use. Until its stop is drawn, a rank stays silent whatever keys are pressed. Pulling every knob makes all the pipes ready, which is where the saying pull out all the stops comes from.

How does an organ get louder and softer?

By adding or taking off stops, or with the swell box. Some pipes stand inside a box with shutters on one side. The swell pedal opens the shutters to let more sound out and closes them to hold it in.