Aeolian Skinner voiced that particular reed on 10" of wind and is an extension of the 16' Bombarde in the floating Bombarde division. They're also metal resonators which give them a more powerful tone, much like the one at St. Ouen.
Ahh i figured, However i also noticed, As having played the Cavaillé-Coll at St. Ouen, It has a more powerful tone than the Aeolian Skinner, But has alot more overtone, Meaning that it sounds more powerful, But doesn't quite reach down as far as the Skinner, This being apparent with the low C's of both stops.
That's interesting that Cavaille Coll would've added overtones to the 32' Bombarde, I thought he just voiced it perfectly without compromising harmonics and tone quality.
I was quite surprised by that, But then the music director of the Abbey told me that the Organ needs maintenence, He said that the low C is not running on the full 20" of wind pressure, Which would explain why it sounds almost a sharp note.
I'm not surprised the organ needs maintenance....20" of wind is a lot for an organ like Cavaille-Coll, it must have been necessary because of the incredible acoustics of the Abbey and the shear size of the instrument.
The lowest octave of the 32' Contre Ophicleide is disconnected due to the instability of the pipes (The organ curator told me that they are leaning against the wall and are not stable enough to speak.)
I have no idea what's going to happen with it. It's a very powerful stop and would fit it very well there. I'll ask Doug Hunt, the organ curator, about it.
