The objective of this work is to study the acoustic behavior of chimney org
an pipes. The working hypothesis is that its role is to reinforce the fifth
harmonic of the tone of a stopped pipe. According to Helmholtz, the chimne
y should have the length of an open pipe resonating at the frequency of the
fifth harmonic, This design appears to be the least favorable one, except
if the chimney is placed half inside and half outside the main pipe, and sh
ould therefore be avoided. The ratio of the modulus of the admittance of th
e different harmonics appears to describe, for the chimney pipe used in thi
s study, the dependency of the ratio of the measured amplitude of the fifth
. third, and first harmonic with the geometry of the chimney. The admittanc
e curve can therefore be used to determine the effects of the geometry of t
he chimney on the timbre of the organ pipe. This result is used in order to
determine the optimal diameter of the chimney as a function of its length,
(C) 1999 Acoustical Society of America. [S0001-4966(99)01401-0].