Vox Humana

The vox humana (Latin for "human voice") is a stop on the pipe organ so-named because of its supposed resemblance to the human voice.

Related Topics:
Latin - Stop - Pipe organ - Human

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There are two types:

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• A reed pipe with a nasal tone that was commonly used with a tremulant. The Vox Humana is one of the oldest organ stops, dating back at least as far as the late 1500's. It is a reed stop of the Regal class and has been made in a wide variety of forms. It is most often constructed with cylindrical resonators, usually 1/4 or 1/8 length, and usually partially or fully capped.
• An important Italian stop of the 16th century onwards; it had Principal-scaled pipes in the treble mistuned with the Principale 8' and thus producing an undulating effect when the two stops were used together, called "voce umana" in Italian or Piffaro).