How do I know if my organ has MIDI?

I'm about to adopt a late 80's Rodgers Concord 755. I'm told by the pastor giving me the organ that it has MIDI which is mandatory for me as I plan to use it with Hauptwerk. The instrument is a long distance from my house, so it would be a hassle this week to go there and see for myself. I was hoping to next see the organ when I was actually there with the mover next week. (I only want the instrument if it has MIDI and if it doesn't, then obviously I'm not scheduling a mover to get it.)

So I've moved forward this far on faith that the pastor is correct and the 755 has MIDI. I downloaded the manual this evening and the MIDI page says this:

"MIDI is prepared for on your Rodgers organ. Should the MIDI adaptor be added to or ordered with your organ, you will be able to communicate with other musical devices from your Rodgers organ."


Now I'm confused. What on earth is "preparing for" MIDI? Either keyboards and pedals have MIDI contacts or they don't. Either an organ *has* MIDI or it doesn't.

Now I'm concerned that there is a possibility that, over the years of that church owning the 755, that the ability to add MIDI might have conversationally morphed into it actually HAS midi. (I don't think that they ever actually used the MIDI on the organ, if in fact it has it. So we're just going on the pastor's stated belief at this moment, not proven history.)

Never heard of "preparing for" MIDI. That has me confused enough to wonder not just what goes into "preparing" an instrument for MIDI without actually having it, but could an instrument of that era possibly even have a MIDI jack on the back and still not have MIDI? ie, the jack is there, but the instrument is only "prepared" for MIDI - you still need to pay to have it installed.

And ultimately, is there a way to know *now* - rather than driving all the way there with a MIDI module and cable under my arm to know if I'm getting an organ with MIDI?

Can somebody save me a long trip here?

Perhaps a request for a photo of any connectors and midi buttons on the organ might help. My Hammond has buttons to press that disengages the in-built sounds and the keyboards then transmit only midi signals through midi in and out connectors.
Keith

MIDI was an option at that time. There was a kit that could be added to provide rudimentary features. I believe that keyboards and pedals would accept MIDI signals, but have no idea if Pistons, expression, or stop controls would. That might be worth clarifying.

I know that it is some work, but there are after market products that are not too difficult to install that will make the console do what you want it to.

The owner's manual for the 755 is available for free download at the Rodgers web site. It verifies that this organ was "prepared" for MIDI. I believe that it has stop tabs or pistons labeled for MIDI already. The first thing to do is check to see if it has MIDI connectors - there should be three of these (IN, OUT, and THRU.) They are likely located in the front of the console to the left or right below the bottom keyboard. If these are present, chances are you have MIDI.

Adding MIDI to a console is doable but non-trivial. If you do not have MIDI, you might first check to see if your local Rodgers dealer can get you one of these old MIDI kits, since they would be easy to install and would not inter fear at all with the Rodgers electronics (assuming you want to save them.)

Les

The first thing to do is check to see if it has MIDI connectors - there should be three of these (IN, OUT, and THRU.) ..... If these are present, chances are you have MIDI.

This is the kind of phrasing that has me concerned now. A "chance" that I have MIDI is not enough to make me want this organ. If I'm going to add MIDI to an organ, I would hold out for something like a three manual with pull stops (I had one offered to me last year). I don't want to do that (add MIDI to an instrument) and I already own a 40 year old non-MIDI two manual, so acquiring this one - only to have to add MIDI - makes no sense.

I'm starting to think that, even if I see MIDI jacks, the only way to know for sure what I have is to go there with a sound moduce, hook it up, and see if it plays.

Has anyone ever actually heard of or seen an organ that has MIDI jacks but which does not have MIDI?

Does anyone know if the stop tabs, pistons, and presents on a 755 are MIDI?

Also, the three expression pedals ... are they MIDI on a 755?

Photos would help track down if there were MIDI sockets though they could be anywhere - front, back of case, under the keyboard stack - in other words out of sight somewhere.

I suppose it's possible if you have the sockets for MIDI that they might not be connected to anything but that would be bad luck. To be sure it will do what you need, you would really have to go to the church with a laptop with Hauptwerk installed, and a MIDI to USB convertor cable.

And you might be disappointed with the result if you had expected stops and expression pedals to effect changes in Hauptwerk. My old Johannus has MIDI out (at the back) and the MIDI has to be activated on each keyboard with a MIDI stop (MIDI on Great, MIDI on Swell etc). But MIDI doesn't control stops or expression pedals so I can't control stops or swellbox except via touchscreen when using that console.

I went to the Rodgers tech site and found out that the 755 was MIDI II. Here is the description from the literature.

Allows the same number of channels on two- and three-manual organs as MIDI I.
Allows an organist to select instruments in sound modules via program changes and store these selections in their combination action. This means that organists can access both organ registrations and MIDI sounds with the press of a button.
Full record-and-playback control is possible, with all divisions, stops and expression recorded and recreated during playback.
The Great Manual can send on any of the 16 MIDI channels.
The pistons of the organ can be accessed by another MIDI keyboard through program changes.
The memory pistons of the organ can be saved to a sequencer and restored back into the organ later.

I hope that this helps.

I have determined that there are MIDI jacks on the organ. So assuming they are in fact connected to something, the organ is almost certain to have MIDI.

But MIDI doesn't control stops or expression pedals so I can't control stops or swellbox except via touchscreen when using that console.

Organorak, you're referring just to your organ, not MIDI in general, right?

Full record-and-playback control is possible, with all divisions, stops and expression recorded and recreated during playback.

So, I'm reading here that Organorak's specific Johannus does not control HW stops or expression pedals via MIDI, but that the Rodgers 755 in fact does?

Gerryo, your post makes it sound like the Rodgers Concord 755 is an ideal, downright perfect, HW controller. Stop tabs, presets, pistons, and expression pedals all work to control those features in a HW sample set.

Am I reading this correctly?

I am simply saying that my Johannus only had MIDI out from the keys and pedals, not the stop tabs or expression pedals, so could not be used as a fully working Hauptwerk console. Being of similar vintage it might be worth checking that your proposed console doesn't have the same limitations though the description does sound more optimistic. However, the only way to be sure would be to hitch it up to a PC and MIDI cable.