Only the first rank is sounding for a reference pipe.

[oleg68]

If a pipe is specified as REF:Manual:Stop:Pipe, then only the pipe from the first rank of this stop sounds.

This restriction is docummented in the help but looks very strange, so it is better to remove it.

[larspalo]

@oleg68 And what is your suggested alternative? All referenced ranks pipes should sound for that pipe? I have used the REF many times and always taken care to never use it for any stop that has more than one rank (mostly only the stop internal) - so a change in behavior should not affect any of my sample sets, I think, but others might be affected.

[oleg68]

I'd make all ranks sounding from the referenced stop.

[oleg68]

Another alternative - referencing to a rank, not to a stop.

[larspalo]

@oleg68 That the REF is referencing to a stop is something we should not change, I think. If you want to include all ranks in the stop instead of only the first, I'm not going to object really - just pointing out that it's a change in behavior that might affect some sample sets (I don't know if it's significant or not). The REF is a legacy way of borrowing pipes (stems back to the time when there were no separate ranks - only one internal rank to each stop).

Referencing to a rank (from a stop), or even just parts of one, can already be done just in the same way as referencing to many ranks from a stop.

The idea that a rank could reference another rank somewhat contradicts the rank as pipe organ term. (A rank is a collection of pipes with supposedly the same sound qualities, and most of the time having the same manner of construction - but here things can indeed vary a lot). Ranks should be unique. Stops on the other hand can freely combine ranks, or only use one.

The fact that a rank in GO indeed "can" reference to a stop (by using REF) for its pipes is again a result of the old legacy and the decision to try to keep newer features of GO backwards compatible. To be true to a real world pipe organ model the [Rank999] "should" not really use REF... When some ranks "share" parts of another rank, that is actually happening not on the rank level itself but in the windchest by grooving, and in the end it's the stops that control which ranks should receive wind and sound. Besides, it's usually done so that one of the ranks is complete, while the other is not from the organ building perspective of having the same way of construction and sound qualities. It's mostly done to save space and money...

[kerkovits]

Reading @larspalo's arguments, I think that it should be noted in the manual, whether REF pipes are deprecated, and state the alternative, intended method.