Pipe Organs Piped over Web

An professor's online tutorial pulls out all the stops, with audio, pictures, and a rich history of an instrument that goes back to Bach.

A full-sized church organ may be the only musical instrument that one cannot get completely in one's sight – so much of the instrument is scattered around the room and, and much of its mechanisms are hidden by walls and floors.

James Cook, a professor at Birmingham Southern University, now helps people get their minds (if not hands) around this complex instrument and its complex history. His online organ history has won raves for its richness, completeness, and accuracy.

Major sections of the site cover how organs work, the history or organs, and a geographical tour of some of the great organs of the world. Many sections include audio samples and detailed images.

Cook uses the site, plus online discussion forums, to teach his own students about the instrument, which he feels is not adequately addressed by existing textbooks. Other faculty around the world apparently agree – already there are translations of Cook's site into Portuguese and Korean.

Explore Cook's online organ tutorial

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