Haverhill OIC Extended version - NOW RELEASED

Member · by **David Butcher** on Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:41 pm

Hello all,

Here, finally, is a link to the provisional specification and some demos of the upcoming Haverhill OIC extended sample set.

http://www.lavenderaudio.co.uk/oic/extended/

I will try to keep this page updated as work progresses and will add extra demos from time to time as well.

The release date is scheduled to be at the end of April, although this may slip slightly into the first part of May.

Thanks,
David

Moderator · by **Stefanussen** on Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:05 pm

Sounds great David! I'm off to listen to the demos...

Moderator · by **Stefanussen** on Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:31 pm

David, the spec of the extended version look spot on. The demos sound great as well. I noticed that you mentioned you might make the tuba a bit louder. We've only heard it in chords so far, but it sounded nice and beefy. I'd like to hear how it sounds as a solo stop. It needs to be able to be heard loud and clear against a full chorus on a piece like C. S. Lang's Tuba Tune or Alfred Hollins' Trumpet Minuet. Also it needs to be able to tango with the chamade. I'd say err on the loud side with that stop ;)

Member · by **Anton Heger** on Thu Mar 26, 2009 2:47 am

Hello David,

The Sesquialtera is a reworking of the original Swell mixture, pitched at 17.19.22 in the bass and 12.15.17 in the treble.

Where can I find the meaning of these numbers?

Anton

Member · by **IanPounder** on Thu Mar 26, 2009 5:02 am

Hello Anton

They are simply the musical intervals, the "starting note" being at 8' pitch.
So 12 is a twelfth (8ve+5th) above the 8' note and so on.
Eg., at bottom C, the pitch of the 19th would be G, two and a half octaves higher. At bottom G, the 22 would be G three octaves higher.
The 17th is a tierce (3rd), and gives a different effect compared with a mixture that only uses octaves and 5ths.

Ian

Member · by **imcg110** on Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:30 am

Very nice!

I like the improved mixtures/cornet - the originals were a bit undecided on what they should be.

The tuba is looking good - I would agree with Rob, make it a blue light stop. The organ has the resources to carry it. If anyone wants to castrate it, they can use the voicing facility. I doubt that the fat tuba has a conceptual place in this anti-Willis ensemble in any case. (FYI the big Lewis at my university had blue warning lights on the solo reeds to say this is NOT a tutti ensemble stop!)

I love the new bigger choir strings (you could lend them to Brett for Salisbury)

You may be well beyond suggestions for the ODF, but:

1.It would be a shame to lose the choir dolce at unison. Could it be reworked to complement rather than replace. (I am a great fan of using the very quietest stops - so many instruments lack this luxury)

2. An independant 4' clarion on the pedal could be stolen from the great allowing greater flexibility without the need for couplers

3. I suppose a little chorus trumpet and a 16 cor anglais on the choir is completely out of the question :-) I suppose we are beginning to get into the realms of having a choir organ and orchestral division played from manual I. This is a setup I have grown very fond of in some of the organs I often play.

Member · by **David Butcher** on Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:13 am

Thanks to you all for the thoughts so far ... one of the great things about this forum is the excellent feedback and ideas we get.

First off, the Tuba. It definitely did need to be louder. I've increased the volume by about 4 dB and added the Hollins Trumpet Minuet to the list of demos. I've also re-recorded the Whitlock Exultemus and the Tuba stands out more as I believe Whitlock intended. The blue light is a thought for the graphics .... !

It would be a shame to lose the choir dolce at unison.

I'll see if I can reinstate it in the set.

An independant 4' clarion on the pedal could be stolen from the great

Again, I'll look into doing this.

I suppose a little chorus trumpet and a 16 cor anglais on the choir is completely out of the question

Probably ! Certainly a Cor Anglais would be very difficult as there's no basis for that sort of distinctive tone on the organ as it stands. However, the suggestion has started me thinking so leave it with me for now ...

Where can I find the meaning of these numbers?

Ian's reply is spot on. Basically, the sesquialtera is pitched at 1 3/5, 1 1/3 and 1 foot in the bass and 2 2/3, 2, and 1 3/5 in the treble. Although the break may seem a bit drastic, it's quite common to find this sort of composition on an English Sesquialtera and in practice works quite well when used as a chorus stop in conjunction with swell 8, 4 and 2.

David

Member · by **telemanr** on Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:49 am

I suppose by now you realize that some of the divisions have the footage shifted down by 1 in the stop diagram for the extended.

Moderator · by **Stefanussen** on Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:53 am

Hi David,

I'm sure everyone appreciates your taking input from the community. Perhaps you could try this on your end to see how it sounds. I've found that when increasing the volume of a stop, I get the best results by splitting the dB increase between amplitude and brightness. For example on the PAB, the Tuba is voiced like a beefy chorus reed rather than a solo stop. When I need to do either of the pieces I previously mentioned, I go into the voicing screen and voice the Tuba like this: +2 amplitude, +2 brightness. Of course, your ear has to be the final judge, but maybe you'd prefer this result after hearing it, who knows.

Member · by **dhm** on Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:12 pm

Thanks, David - it just gets better & better.

David Butcher wrote:...the Tuba stands out more as I believe Whitlock intended.

I'm guessing Percy will have written those pieces with the Rochester Tuba in mind, which he will have heard as a chorister and used as Assistant Organist (and with which I've been acquainted for 40+ years).
Looking forward to April.....

Douglas.

Member · by **David Butcher** on Fri Mar 27, 2009 9:44 am

... some of the divisions have the footage shifted down by 1 ...

Thanks Rob, now corrected.

I've found that when increasing the volume of a stop, I get the best results by splitting the dB increase between amplitude and brightness.

Hi Rob S.
It's a good suggestion and one that I've found very useful in the past. In fact, the situation with the Tuba is a bit more complex as, uniquely in this sample set, each note is comprised of two different samples which are pitch-locked and layered (in the full ODF, the voicing of each layer can be individually adjusted). The original Tuba samples were nice but didn't quite cut through as I wished, hence this approach.
I will continue to refine this stop as the extended set progresses.

Member · by **Dutch Brad** on Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:42 pm

Just one little question. Is it possible to adapt the tremulants so they sound less theatre organ like? Otherwise the extended set is looking very nice.

Thanks.

Brad

Member · by **bcollins** on Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:04 pm

This is looking awfully nice.

Member · by **Nate1693** on Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:54 pm

Is it possible to adapt the tremulants so they sound less theatre organ like?

I agree, the tremulants are a bit fast...but otherwise an outstanding organ!

Member · by **David Butcher** on Fri Mar 27, 2009 6:23 pm

Hi Brad,

Yes, the tremulants are a bit fast and one or two others have commented on this. I do occasionally enjoy trying to make the organ sound like a Wurli, but for more serious music, well, yes, they aren't ideal even though that's how they are on the real thing.

On my list of enhancements for this set I had already noted to try to set a slower speed for the tremulants ... I've not tried this yet, so I don't know how well it would work. I will give it a go though.

Thanks again to all for comments, support and encouragement.

David

Haverhill OIC Extended version - NOW RELEASED

Haverhill OIC Extended version - NOW RELEASED

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