Yangang Xing had never thought much about organ-tuning books until his colleague Andrew Knight shared his experiences from childhood. Knight used to play the pipe organ at churches, where he often found himself flipping through a little red book filled with tuning notes during quiet moments between services. It was these books that sparked Xing’s interest.
When they began researching how the environment around these church organs had shifted over the years, they discovered that these worn notebooks were packed with years of valuable data. “We said, ‘Oh, this is a goldmine,’” Xing recalls.
Organ tuners typically jot down brief notes during their visits, documenting conditions like temperature and humidity. These factors matter because variations in climate can throw these majestic instruments out of tune.
Recently, Xing, Knight, and their colleague Bruno Bingley published a study based on 18 organ-tuning books from churches in London, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire. Ranging back to 1966, the data showed a notable rise in average temperatures inside these churches. Data indicates that, since the 1960s, the summer indoor temperature in urban churches has jumped from 17.2°C to 19.8°C by the 2020s.
Andrew Scott, managing director of Harrison & Harrison, a company that builds and services pipe organs, highlighted this trend, noting, “A rise of internal ambient temperature through the unheated summer months due to rising temperatures outside.” He links this rise to broader climate changes, raising concerns about heat impacts on these iconic structures.
Notably, Neil Macdonald, a geography professor at the University of Liverpool, finds the use of organ-tuning records fascinating for understanding climate changes. “I’ve never come across this,” he noted, emphasizing that while temperature increases could stem from climate change, other factors like airflow could also play a role.
Humidity is another crucial factor. Organ materials, such as wood and metal, expand or contract with temperature changes. This means that a slight increase—just one degree Celsius—can alter the pitch of an organ by 0.8 hertz. If tuned at 16°C, a shift to 20°C can make the notes noticeably different.
Churches, often made of large stone and hard to heat, can be practical during heatwaves, but they face challenges from rising temperatures. Scott, whose company tunes organs globally—even in warmer climates like Nigeria and India—points out that climate change complicates an already difficult task.
Xing and his team plan to dive deeper into organ-tuning books in search of older records, hoping to gather more data. He emphasized the unique value of these tuning books in tracking climate changes over decades.
The blending of musical heritage with climate studies offers a new lens through which to view our changing environment—one note at a time. For anyone who has access to historical organ-tuning records, connecting with researchers like Xing could unveil even more insights into our planet’s climate history.
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