ted with the
swell pedal that the slightest urging of the key either upward or
downward by the finger will shift the swell pedal and cause it to close
or open as may be desired and to the desired extent. When an organ
possesses four or five swell boxes, and when these swell boxes (as in
the case of Hope-Jones' organs) modify the tone by many hundred per
cent., it becomes highly important that the organist shall at all times
have complete and instant control of the swell shutters and shall be
conscious of their position without having to look below the keyboards.
Hope-Jones also provides what he calls a general swell pedal. To this
general swell pedal (and its corresponding indicator key) any or all of
the other swell pedals may be coupled at will.

Hope-Jones has also recently invented a means of controlling the swell
shutters from the manual keys to a sufficient extent to produce certain
sforzando effects.

When this contrivance is brought into use upon any manual and when no
keys upon that manual are being played, the swell shutters assume a
position slightly more open than normal in relation to the position of
the swell pedal. Directly any key upon the manual in question is
depressed, the swell shutters again resume their normal position in
relation to the swell pedal. This results in a certain emphasis or
attack at the commencement of each phrase or note that is akin to the
effect obtained from many of the instruments of the orchestra.

These contrivances are applicable only to such organs as have the
balanced swell pedal.

SWELL BOXES.

The invention of the Swell is generally attributed to Abraham Jordan.
He exhibited what was known as the nag's head Swell in St. Magnus'
Church, London, England, in the year 1731.

The "nag's head" Swell, with its great sliding shutter, rapidly gave
place to the "Venetian" Swell shades, used almost universally to this
day. At the beginning of the period under consideration Swell boxes
were almost invariably made of thin boards and their effect upon the
strength of the tone was small. Willis was one of the first to realize
the artistic possibilities of the Swell organ and in almost all his
organs we find thick wooden boxes and carefully fitted shutters, and
often an inner swell box containing the delicate reeds, such as the Vox
Humana and Oboe.

Many of the leading organ builders now employ this thicker
construction, and it is no uncommon thing to find Swell boxes me