Sixteen foot

As Printed on a Score

Printed as 16 ft, 16′ or 16' over an organ staff or in a registration, meaning stops that sound an octave below written pitch; it holds until a new registration is named.

Abbreviations: 16 ft, 16′, 16'

How Composers Use It

Sixteen-foot stops add depth and gravity, especially in the pedals, where they form the normal bass and sound the written line an octave down. Under a manual line they add weight without a separate lower part. In fast passages with low notes they can blur, and in quiet music a heavy sixteen-foot can swamp a small ensemble, so choose the stop’s weight to suit the texture.

Example

Holst, The Planets, “Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age”, organ, m. 124: “16 ft and 32 ft”, a bar before the tubular bells play at pp with a “soft felt striker”.

Related Terms