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The art of sampling pipe organs

Sampling pipe organs and turning them into something you can play in Hauptwerk.
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Charles Braund

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The art of sampling pipe organs

PostThu Oct 28, 2010 9:46 pm

In addition to ongoing work on my many sample sets, I am currently putting together a guide as titled above.

Covering both wet and dry samples and their advantages and disadvantages, the guide seeks to point out some of the difficulties and techniques used. It does not attempt to delve into microphone techniques or the creation of HW CODM or ODF files as such since these are more than adequately covered elsewhere on the net or in the HW guides. Likewise it does not give instructions as to how to use any particular editing software as such but it does point out some overall guidelines which can achieve better results.

What it does provide is useful advice on how to avoid or get over some of the most frustrating problems that occur when trying to sample and prepare pipe organ samples for Hauptwerk etc.

Based on nearly 25 years experience of getting it wrong (or nearly right) then having to go back and do it all over again before I found the right answer or modus operandi, it could save many a considerable amount of wasted time, money and effort and might encourage more to get involved in this side of things.

Often as not, a good sample "grab" ends up being a waste of time and money because of either a lack of experience or knowledge. Sometimes there are no easy answers but often there are "work around's" to a many particular problems.

It won't be free (I have to pay my bills as well), but it won't be expensive.

Please show any interest either by email to me or as a reply here.

Perhaps someone who is a whizz at photography, graphics and so on might consider doing something similar for that field.
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OPUS1883

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostFri Oct 29, 2010 1:52 am

Hi, i may be interested... can you send me some morw info please.

Chris
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pwhodges

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostFri Oct 29, 2010 2:06 am

I'm interested.

Paul
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ggoode_sa

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostFri Oct 29, 2010 5:23 am

I'm also interested.

GrahamG
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Charles Braund

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostFri Oct 29, 2010 5:29 am

Some of the topics covered are as follows:-

CHOOSING AN INSTRUMENT
WET OR DRY SAMPLING
WET SAMPLING
DRY SAMPLING
CAPTURING THE SAMPLES THEMSELVES
RECORDING DEVICES
MICROPHONES and HEADPHONES etc.
THE ORGAN ITSELF
MECHANICAL ACTION INSTRUMENTS
PNEUMATIC ACTION INSTRUMENTS
ELECTRIC ACTION INSTRUMENTS
TREMULANTS
THE PIPES THEMSELVES
MULTIPLE RANKS
RATTLES & VIBRATIONS
PREPARATION OF SAMPLES
TO NORMALISE OR NOT TO NORMALISE
NOISE AND HISS REDUCTION
CUTTING SAMPLES TO SIZE
TUNING AND "ROUGHS"
LOOPING AND END MARKING
SCALING AND BALANCE
CREATING "NEW" STOPS FROM OLD
PITCH SHIFTING WHOLE STOPS
PITCH CHANGING WHOLE STOPS
PITCH CHANGING WHOLE STOPS WITH NON EXISTENT IN REAL LIFE ADDITIONS
CREATING NEW STOPS VIA ALTERATION OF THE ORIGINAL
CREATING MIXTURES FROM SCRATCH
CREATING GOOD STOPS FROM BAD

And several others.
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toplayer2

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostFri Oct 29, 2010 5:34 am

Charles Braund wrote:Based on nearly 25 years experience of getting it wrong (or nearly right) then having to go back and do it all over again before I found the right answer or modus operandi, it could save many a considerable amount of wasted time, money and effort and might encourage more to get involved in this side of things.

Charles,

Your paragraph almost exactly mirrors what 20 years of trial and error have taught me. Perhaps I could contribute to your project, for example a section on theatre/cinema organ sampling with its additional challenges such as significantly higher noise levels and heavy tremulants.

Joe Hardy
Paramount Organ Works
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imcg110

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostFri Oct 29, 2010 5:38 am

Equally interested - I belive one should learn from the mistakes of others - life does not give one enough time to make them all yourself!!
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Charles Braund

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostFri Oct 29, 2010 10:43 am

Depending on just how much interest there is in the above, I may go further than first anticipated.

Initially my idea was merely to offer a booklet either in download form or using processed dead trees. However, after some further thought, it may develop into a much more comprehensive project complete with example wav. files tied in with diagrams / screen shots of how the wave form changes after various stages of editing. Obviously much more work but possibly either as a download again or on a CD instead of in processed dead tree format.

Whilst I welcome the prospective offer from Paramount which warrants further discussion, I think that the cinema / theatre organ side of things is sufficiently different and comprehensive to warrant a separate parallel project by Paramount, especially due to the noisier tremulants, action and pipework which operates on considerably higher pressures. There is also the question of diaphones and some stops that have characteristics quite unlike the conventional ecclesiastical or hall organ which I hadn't even considered covering in my guide.

My earlier comment about some whizz with photography and graphics should be seriously considered by someone. OK, I can take a photograph - especially with the modern technology, I can play around with it in Photoshop and I can produce some sort of graphics for use in HW to an extent. However, there must be room for a complete guide by someone who really knows what he / she is doing as regards lighting, angles, flash, composition and the various pitfalls that can be avoided. Certainly, I would be more than happy to buy a guide covering this since I know that it would save me much time and effort.
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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostFri Nov 12, 2010 12:44 pm

Depending on price, I might purchase a digital copy...
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Charles Braund

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostFri Nov 12, 2010 1:44 pm

My original idea for the guide was a straight £5 assuming it wasn't in disk or book form. Obviously, if the the latter, it would entail postage and disk costs. However, if it was expanded beyond the basic topics outlined above, the price in either case would rise accordingly to how much work was put into it.
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OPUS1883

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostFri Nov 12, 2010 2:06 pm

i'm sure it will be worth every penny what ever price it is... experience is priceless.

Chris
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Franz64

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostMon Nov 15, 2010 9:15 am

Charles,
I'm interested too!

Regards,
Francesco
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cdekter

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostFri Dec 03, 2010 8:08 pm

I would be extremely interested in this as I'm planning to create a sample set of the organ on which I play every Sunday :D
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Mike 353

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostFri Dec 03, 2010 8:15 pm

When do we start?


Mike
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kaspencer

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Re: The art of sampling pipe organs

PostThu Jan 27, 2011 12:31 pm

Hello Charles ...

Of course a download is a very cost-effective method of distribution. But you might also consider selling it as hard copy via the http://www.lulu.com/ website. That way, you don't have to print it or post it - Lulu do that for you, and can usually leave sufficient margin for you to take reasonable recompense for your work.

Regards, and many thanks

Ken
Kenneth Spencer
Music Site: http://www.my-music.mywire.org
Project Page: http://www.my-music.mywire.org/opus_ii.htm
Books on Hauptwerk and Computing; Novation Launchpad overlays: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/kaspencer
YouTube Videos: http://www.youtube.com/kaspenceruk
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