Barker lever
Leva Barker
- Date
- 1839-1841 · confidence high
- Place
- Saint-Denis, France
- Credited to
- Charles Spackmann Barker
- Field
- Tools
What it is
The Barker lever is a pneumatic system that multiplies the force of a finger on the key of a mechanical pipe organ, using the organ's own wind pressure to inflate small bellows that overcome valve resistance. It allowed larger, more powerful organs without losing touch responsiveness. It was devised by engineer and organ builder Charles Spackman Barker and first installed in a Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
What it led to
- Construction of larger, more powerful pipe organs
- Adoption by French organ builder Cavaillé-Coll
- Precedent for later electric and electro-pneumatic organ actions