Audsley and Wedgwood claim that this stop gets it name from supposedly resembling the human voice. However, the German word human translates as “humane” or “affable”. Audsley even quotes Seidel in a footnote (with misspellings that have been corrected here) which supports our interpretation: “Human heisst so viel als lieblich, das Humangedeckt: ein liebliches, angenehmes, gedecktes Register. Man findet es gewöhnlich zu 8 Fusston.” Translation: “‘Human’ means the same as ‘lieblich’, the Humangedeckt: a lovely, pleasant, covered register. One normally finds it at 8' pitch." Audsley describes the Humangedeckt as being of 8' pitch, having a soft, compound tone, and pipes similar to those of the LieblichGedeckt, but of smaller scale and voiced on lower pressure. Wedgwood lists it at 4' pitch, calling it “sweet-toned”. Adlung states that the Humangedackt is “made to imitate a flute”, and that it is the same as the Stillgedackt.
Copyright © 2001 Edward L. Stauff, all rights reserved.|
Humangedeckt.html - Last updated 12 April 2003.