Physical Science, Measurement and Instrumentation, Management and Education, IEE Proceedings A

Pipe organs were developed over many centuries and some became so large that, early in the nineteenth century, they were difficult to play. Pneumatic systems gave organs a much lighter touch and, later, electropneumatic control was developed. Robert Hope-Jones realised that the electrical parameters of the early telephone exchanges matched the requirements to control organs, and he developed many revolutionary techniques, still in use, which were originally incorporated into the Wurlitzer organ, designed by him to become a status symbol for over two thousand cinemas.<>