Largest organs in the world

The pipe organ is a musical instrument that creates sound by pushing air under pressure through pipes which corresponds to a particular keyboard called a manual. The pipes are placed in specific formations called ranks, each containing the same sound character. 

Pipe organs have a variety of pipe ranks of different tone, pitch, and volume that can be used on its own or in combination. For an instrument to qualify as a pipe organ, it should have at least one manual and one rank of pipes. In larger instruments it can have as many as seven manuals and hundreds of pipe ranks. Most organs have a pedal board which is operated by the feet, based on the same sound-producing principle as the manuals.

The the world’s largest organ, in the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium in Atlantic City, New Jersey (USA), has 33,114 pipes, only a few of them in the façade. Some façade pipes are only there for aesthetic effect and are referred to as “dummies”. Pipes are generally made from an alloy of tin and lead.