A pipe organ contains one or more sets of pipes, a wind system, and one or more keyboards.

The
pipes produce sound when pressurized air produced by the wind system passes through them. An
action connects the keyboards to the pipes. Stops allow the organist to control which ranks of pipes
sound at a given time. The organist operates the stops and the keyboards from the console.
(Wikipedia)

The range of the keyboards has varied widely across time and between countries. Most current
specifications call for two or more manuals with sixty-one notes (five octaves, from C to c) and a
pedalboard with thirty or thirty-two notes (two and a half octaves, from C to f or g). (Wikipedia)

Air under pressure (called wind) is driven down a flue and against a sharp lip called a Labium,
causing the column of air in the pipe to resonate at a frequency determined by the pipe length.(ibid)

Flue pipes generally belong to one of three tonal families: flutes, diapasons (or principals), and
strings. the tone of a flue pipe is affected by the size and shape of the pipes as well as the material
out of which it is made. A pipe with a wide diameter will tend to produce a flute tone, a pipe with a
medium diameter a diapason tone, and a pipe with a narrow diameter a string tone. A large diameter
pipe will favor the fundamental tone and restrict high frequency harmonics, while a narrower
diameter favors the high harmonics and suppresses the fundamental. The science of measuring and
deciding upon pipe diameters is referred to as pipe scaling, and the resulting measurements are
referred to as the scale of the pipe. (ibid)

A reed pipe (also referred to as a lingual pipe) is an organ pipe that is sounded by a vibrating brass
strip known as a reed. Air under pressure (referred to as wind) is directed towards the reed, which
vibrates at a specific pitch. (ibid)

There are generally two main types of reed stops: chorus reeds (such as the Trumpet, Clairon and
Bombarde), whose main function is to blend with the flue stops and reinforce the full organ; and solo
reeds or orchestral reeds (such as the Clarinet, the Oboe, and the Cor Anglais), which often (but not
always) imitate orchestral instruments, and are used for quieter, solo passages (similar to
woodwinds in an orchestra). (ibid)

Generally speaking, cannot alter the volume of a pipe when playing.

Repertoire
Before the Baroque era, keyboard music generally was not written for one instrument or another, but
rather was written to be played on any keyboard instrument. For this reason, much of the organ's
repertoire through the Renaissance period is the same as that of the harpsichord.

Technique
http://music.stackexchange.com/questions/4951/organ-technique-for-pianists
Pedal Point - Derived from the foot pedals