For about a year, my brother in law had been complaining about the "organ" in his bedroom of the house he rented with a couple other guys. I continuously blew it off, thinking it's probably nothing more than an old spinet Wurlitzer or something. Finally one day curiosity got the better of me and I told him to text me a pic of that so called organ. What he sent was worse than I imagined. It was not an organ, but rather a pile of organ parts, what looked like three old keyboards at various deformed angles sitting on a book shelf. I scoffed at the idea that this was ever going to be an organ again, if it ever was.
A couple days later something was continuing to spin in the back of my head about that photo. Those pistons were square. How old could they be if the pistons are square. I vaguely remember looking at these home-made organs I had heard of people building, something requiring at least a bachelor's degree in computer programming with a German name, something about twerking. I poked around the internet and sure enough, Hauptwerk. That was it. Shortly from there I was on Classic Midi Works website, looking at those same square pistons on their keyboards.
Well this changed my thinking just slightly. If I was ever going to jump off this cliff and try playing the organ through a computer, this was most likely the closest I was going to come to a turn-key solution.
As my brother in law prepared to move into a home of his own I knew that my time was running short so I made him an offer to give to his landlord for the whole lot and happily it was accepted. I was soon driving home with a load of organ parts in the back of the van and this adventure had begun. I built myself a simple console with poplar I purchased at Home Depot and stained it to match the key cheeks which came with the keyboards. I crafted a new music rack with oak and Lexan, not liking the way it was originally set up. I loaded the free version of HW on my wife's laptop and dug an old surround sound system out of storage and I was set.
Now almost a year later, after researching, and asking questions. Then more researching and more asking questions. I was ready to get more advanced, so I contacted Matt at Arnold Organs and asked him to build me a computer with HW Advanced on it. I also asked him to put Lavender's Hereford Cathedral, as well as Sonus Paradisi's Aeoline-Skinner Oakland and Cavaille Coll Caen. I also opted for Evensong's Schantz from St Phillips ECLA as I was not ready to commit to a true baroque organ. I also took Matt's advice on touch screens and picked up a pair of 23 inch Acer monitors.
20161127_185521 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161127_190242 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161127_191302 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161130_204238 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161130_204224 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161130_204203 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161130_212317 by sr0899, on Flickr
Whoops, broke a key there!!
20161201_220046 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161210_212224 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161212_142605 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161212_210407 by sr0899, on Flickr
20171126_151230 by sr0899, on Flickr
20171126_153609 by sr0899, on Flickr
20171126_153931 by sr0899, on Flickr
A couple days later something was continuing to spin in the back of my head about that photo. Those pistons were square. How old could they be if the pistons are square. I vaguely remember looking at these home-made organs I had heard of people building, something requiring at least a bachelor's degree in computer programming with a German name, something about twerking. I poked around the internet and sure enough, Hauptwerk. That was it. Shortly from there I was on Classic Midi Works website, looking at those same square pistons on their keyboards.
Well this changed my thinking just slightly. If I was ever going to jump off this cliff and try playing the organ through a computer, this was most likely the closest I was going to come to a turn-key solution.
As my brother in law prepared to move into a home of his own I knew that my time was running short so I made him an offer to give to his landlord for the whole lot and happily it was accepted. I was soon driving home with a load of organ parts in the back of the van and this adventure had begun. I built myself a simple console with poplar I purchased at Home Depot and stained it to match the key cheeks which came with the keyboards. I crafted a new music rack with oak and Lexan, not liking the way it was originally set up. I loaded the free version of HW on my wife's laptop and dug an old surround sound system out of storage and I was set.
Now almost a year later, after researching, and asking questions. Then more researching and more asking questions. I was ready to get more advanced, so I contacted Matt at Arnold Organs and asked him to build me a computer with HW Advanced on it. I also asked him to put Lavender's Hereford Cathedral, as well as Sonus Paradisi's Aeoline-Skinner Oakland and Cavaille Coll Caen. I also opted for Evensong's Schantz from St Phillips ECLA as I was not ready to commit to a true baroque organ. I also took Matt's advice on touch screens and picked up a pair of 23 inch Acer monitors.
20161127_185521 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161127_190242 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161127_191302 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161130_204238 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161130_204224 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161130_204203 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161130_212317 by sr0899, on Flickr
Whoops, broke a key there!!
20161201_220046 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161210_212224 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161212_142605 by sr0899, on Flickr
20161212_210407 by sr0899, on Flickr
20171126_151230 by sr0899, on Flickr
20171126_153609 by sr0899, on Flickr
20171126_153931 by sr0899, on Flickr