What's the difference between an organ and a harpsichord?

Question:My wife and I were watching "The Tudors", and she noticed that the keyboard was different. So she asked,

"What's the difference between an organ and a harpsichord?"

I was a trumpet player, so I really don't know. Can anyone out there help us out?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: My wife and I were watching "The Tudors", and she noticed that the keyboard was different. So she asked,

"What's the difference between an organ and a harpsichord?"

I was a trumpet player, so I really don't know. Can anyone out there help us out?

Besides the differences mentioned above, the organ has several ranks of pipes which allow it to produce a wide range of sounds (from flute-like tones to trumpet blasts), while the harpsichord has far less flexibility in what sounds it can make (it is generally limited to thin-plucked-tinny-sound and thick-plucked-tinny-sound.)

Also, the organ has a pedal (called the swell pedal) which allows the player to control to volume (soft or loud), while the harpsichord has no such pedal (the harpsichordist is very limited with what can be done to play loud vs. soft.)

Finally, an organ is massive- it will typically have a hundred (or more) metal pipes, so once an organ is in place (like in a church), it will stay there and not be moved. A harpsichord will typically be made out of wood, weigh about 200 pounds, and thus will be more commonly found in private homes (where it can be moved around like a piece of furniture.)

An organ is air powered or electric powered and a harpsichord is a string interment like a piano but plucked by quills.

An organ produces sound by blowing air through pipes of carefully selected length. A harpsichord produces sound by plucking strings of carefully selected length. Unlike a piano, which just hits the strings.

an organ is wind driven and a harpsichord is electronic or hammer touch.