5
The combination action of the T967 is comprised of
pistons
, each of which can store a
combination of stops, couplers and other settings. These pistons are located beneath the manuals
of the organ (commonly referred to as
thumb pistons
) or on the kneeboard to the left and right
of the expression shoes (commonly referred to as
toe pistons
).
Pressing a piston with your thumb or foot will cause its stored registration to be recalled
instantly.
Your Rodgers organ has factory-set registrations on many pistons – try them!
However, each of the available pistons in the Rodgers combination action can be easily changed
to suit your particular needs and tastes. The next section introduces this extremely useful system
and illustrates how to make use of its many features.
About General and Divisional Pistons
The T967 has two different types of pistons,
general
and
divisional
pistons. General pistons
affect the entire organ, while divisional pistons affect a single division. For example, you
could use a single
general
piston to recall stops, couplers and MIDI settings on every
division at once, or you could use a Swell
divisional
piston to change the Swell alone.
General pistons, numbered 1 to 12, are located on thumb pistons under the left-hand side of
the Great and Swell manual. In addition, they are duplicated on toe pistons to the left of the
expression shoes.
To recall a registration stored on a general piston, you could press either the corresponding
thumb piston or toe piston; in other words, to select general piston 7, you could either press
thumb piston 7 under the Swell manual or toe piston 7 on the kneeboard. This duplication of
pistons allows you to use either your thumb or foot to recall the same registration, depending
on what is most convenient.
There are six divisional pistons for the Great, Swell and Choir; these pistons are numbered 1
to 6 and are located under the corresponding manual. For example, Great divisional pistons
are located underneath the Great manual near the middle of the keyboard; likewise, Swell
divisional pistons are under the Swell manual and Choir divisional pistons are under the
Choir.
Pedal divisional pistons are located on the toe pistons to the right of the expression shoes.
General pistons are commonly used to make changes which affect the entire instrument. Use
these pistons when you want to affect all stops and couplers with a single control.
Divisional pistons work well when you want to affect only a single division. For example, if
you want to change stops in the Swell without affecting the rest of the instrument, you could
use a Swell divisional to change only the Swell registration.
Refer to Figure 2 for the location of general and divisional pistons.
