The windchest is the part of an organ which connects the pipes with the keys and stops. It contains the valves that control the wind to the pipes.
On the windchest the pipes are arranged by their timbre (one behind the other) and their pitch (one beside the other) in an rectangular array. The control of the pipes usually happens by two levels: The stop action (or rank action) controls the wind for all pipes of one timbre, the key action controls the wind for all pipes of one pitch. By combination of both actions only pipes are able to sound that have an open stop plus the key pressed down.
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