Inside the Hydra: Taking the Ancient Water Organ Seriously

Abstract

Although ancient sources describe the mechanism of the ancient water organ’s wind supply in considerable detail, modern attempts at recreating such a device have remained unsatisfactory. A study of the relations between the shape of the pressure chamber, its size, possible water levels and the ensuing usable air pressure and volume suggests that the true hydraulis played at much higher pressures than has been commonly assumed. Such pressures would support reed pipes much more readily than flue pipes; this, in turn, can explain the sound volume that we must expect from an instrument that was used in open spaces and inherently noisy environments.