Regal

The regal is a small pipe organ with a single rank of pipes. Inside each pipe is a thin brass tongue (or reed) that produced a loud, nasal sound when air is pushed through the pipe. Although the pipes function as resonators, because on a regal they are very short they do little to moderate the reeds' aggressive tone. Usually used as a continuo instrument, the regal's louder tone made it of use in larger groups of musicians than a more typical chamber organ. Composers occasionally specified it, as Monteverdid did in Orfeo, for his scenes of the underworld.　

Technical description: Oblong case of stained wood containing a keyboard with dark wood naturals and white sharps. Back of the keys are a series of small wooden pipes fitted with beating reeds connecting with the bellows by means of a square wooden windway. The bellows are four-fold and are operated alternately by means of wooden handles at the opposite end from the keyboard. The whole instrument rests on a stand of natural wood.