In General

8. Use ECONOMY of means; add a stop only if it actually contributes to the ensemble. Celestes, for example, are not effective for congregational accompaniment.

Each rank of pipes that is drawn into the ensemble contributes its unique characteristics:

• a unique tone quality,
• added volume, and
• individually-tuned pipes.

Even soon after tuning, organ pipes can drift out of tune. This means that every rank brings in a few more out-of-tune pipes. Ranks that offer little to the combination in the way of tone quality or volume may simply bring the ensemble further out of tune. For this reason, it is best to simply leave out unnecessary ranks.