What is "flue pipe"

Flue pipe \Flue pipe\ (Music) A pipe, esp. an organ pipe, whose tone is produced by the impinging of a current of air upon an edge, or lip, causing a wave motion in the air within; a mouth pipe; -- distinguished from reed pipe. Flue pipes are either open or closed (stopped at the distant end). The flute and flageolet are open pipes; a bottle acts as a closed pipe when one blows across the neck. The organ has both open and closed flue pipes, those of metal being usually round in section, and those of wood triangular or square.

n. An organ pipe that produces sound through the vibration of air molecules, contrasted with (term reed pipe English).

n. organ pipe whose tone is produced by air passing across the sharp edge of a fissure or lip [syn: flue, labial pipe]

A flue pipe (also referred to as a labial pipe) is an organ pipe that produces sound through the vibration of air molecules, in the same manner as a recorder or a whistle. Air under pressure (called wind) is driven down a flue and against a sharp lip called a Labium, causing the column of air in the pipe to resonate at a frequency determined by the pipe length. (See wind instrument.) Thus, there are no moving parts in a flue pipe. This is in contrast to reed pipes, whose sound is driven by beating reeds, as in a clarinet. Flue pipes are common components of pipe organs.