Say goodbye to Center City Macy's this weekend with Wanamaker Organ concert

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8. The touch of an organ keyboard are as varied as keyboards get.

That can be for many reasons. There are different types of actions. The 3 main ones are electro-pneumatic where, when the key is pushed it connects a DC current to a magnet that lifts a small metal disk which equalizes the pressure between the outside air and the inside of a stopper causing it to be blown aside so air can flow from the pressurized wind chest up into the pipe. This is probably the most common action. The second is called a tracker action where the finger that pushes the key is the force that actually pulls the stopper under the pipe open by way of a long wooden track that goes from the key directly to it. That is the best action, in my opinion but is more problematic to make work properly for the player and every stop or coupler added puts more weight on the key. The third is the cheapest and least satisfactory called an electric action. Push the key and a solenoid activates a valve on the pipe. It rarely feels right. So, to answer your question, it all depends on the design, but that design can be good or bad. It's complicated but it makes each pipe organ unique. Believe it or not, that's the short answer.