风琴的声音是由吹过不同尺寸的管子的恒定气流产生的。声音是由空气通过一个狭窄的缝隙吹到边缘上而发出的，同录音机原理；或者像单簧管一样，由管子里的振动簧片发出。
直到大约一个世纪以前，风琴演奏所需的压缩空气气流还是通过脚踏风箱产生的。大型风琴需要多达 12 个人来完成这项艰巨的任务。直至电的出现，建造风琴才更多地使用电动风箱。与脚踏风箱相比，电动风箱产生非常恒定且安静的气流。但是如何设计电动的气流发生器使其在安静的音乐片段中也不被听到始终是一个挑战。
然而，当涉及到修复旧乐器时，风琴制造商都尽可能保留原来的风箱，以保持风琴的原始声音。电机经常用来上下移动风箱，所以风琴的风是自动生成的，而非人工生成的。雷根斯堡天主教堂音乐与音乐教育学院的古老风琴正是这样修复的 — 安装了一个自动风箱装置，这台风琴是由博洛尼亚的 Antonio Pilotti 于 1752 年以典型的意大利风格制造。
The sophisticated wiring and layout of the controller ensures operation is completely silent and the musical enjoyment is not diminished even during the quietest sounds. The Festo solution also enables a dynamic switch between those parts in the music requiring low air consumption and those needing a full blast of air. The required air pressure of 4.5 millibar remains constant, as one of the two bellows always retains enough reserve air.
The restored instrument with the automated bellows lifting unit has successfully been in action at the college premises in Regensburg since the end of July 2014. The organ has been used in lessons for authentically playing Italian music from the 18th century. Modern technology from Festo has helped to keep a piece of historical music culture alive.