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Hauptwerk in school organ

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andrewmorley

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Hauptwerk in school organ

PostFri Sep 22, 2017 2:55 am

I am looking for some advice on trying to persuade senior management in my school to invest in a full licence version of Hauptwerk. I currently have the demo version and have been asked to set up a demo in the school hall. Currently we have an ageing Ahlborn which to my ear sounds pretty horrendous. So far I have successfully had Hauptwerk running off the existing console, MIDI mapped pistons and I am happy about how I can practically use it.
However on demonstrating to my Director of Music, it was pointed out to me that in comparison to the existing Ahlborn sounds which come across as very direct, the St. Anne on the demo comes across as very distant and very 'wet'. I have tried pushing gain controls on the hall sound system as far as I can go but at a volume level which even vaguely compares with what we have already I then get a lot of distortion.
My questions really are:
1. Is there a way of getting a 'dry' version of St. Annes on the demo?
2. What advice would people get about increasing volume levels?

And a separate question really:
Does anyone have any experience of disabling the internal speakers on an Ahlborn console without curring wires?

Andrew
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Arp

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Re: Hauptwerk in school organ

PostFri Sep 22, 2017 3:09 am

You must re-install St. Anne, truncating the reverb (release sample truncation, default is "normal full release sample", you can try dry or semi-dry) . To disable the internal speaker you can insert a jack without headphones.

Best regards
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mdyde

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Re: Hauptwerk in school organ

PostFri Sep 22, 2017 4:56 am

Hello Andrew,

Thanks very much for the interest in Hauptwerk.

[Topic moved here.]

andrewmorley wrote:However on demonstrating to my Director of Music, it was pointed out to me that in comparison to the existing Ahlborn sounds which come across as very direct, the St. Anne on the demo comes across as very distant and very 'wet'.
...
My questions really are:
1. Is there a way of getting a 'dry' version of St. Annes on the demo?


There is no truly 'dry' version of the St. Anne's sample set, I'm afraid. You can truncate its ranks' release samples by loading the organ via the 'Organ | Load organ, adjusting rank audio/memory options/routing' screen, which might (in moderation) help to some extent to give the impression that it's a bit less reverberant, but the reverb can't be removed the attack/sustain portions of the samples. (It isn't actually necessary to re-install the sample set.)

However, there are plenty of true dry sample sets available in Hauptwerk format: https://www.hauptwerk.com/instruments/ (although the filter criteria on that page don't include wet/dry, so they might not be so quick to locate).

We also host a few free/shareware/trial sample sets for download here, some of which are dry: https://www.hauptwerk.com/downloads/instrument-downloads/

Assuming that you're interested in classical (as opposed to theatre organ) sample sets:

Milan Digital Audio has only released one dry classical organ sample set so far, which is the American symphonic 1928 Mount Carmel E.M. Skinner organ, available in both wet and dry editions (the dry edition being named the 'MasterWorks' version):

https://www.milandigitalaudio.com/instruments/symphonic/1928-mt.-carmel-e.m.-skinner/?back=Instruments

We're not necessarily in the best position to be able to advise comprehensively on other sample set producers' products, but the following are some producers and products that spring to mind, whom you might want to investigate further (but there are others too, and this list isn't meant to imply any preferences):

Silver Octopus Studios has various dry and 'rank-library' style sample sets drawn from ranks from various English organs:

http://www.silveroctopus.co.uk/

Sonus Paradisi has a large number of European sample sets, many of which are available in dry versions (as well wet and surround versions):

http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/

Inspired Acoustics' Palace of the Arts Budapest (PAB) sample set has a (semi-dry) concert hall acoustic (although it's available in various versions, some of which have wet acoustics added artificially):

http://www.inspiredacoustics.com/en/products/pab/overview

You could also try searching the 'Hauptwerk instruments' section of our on-line forum:

http://forum.hauptwerk.com/

I hope that helps as a starting point.

andrewmorley wrote: I have tried pushing gain controls on the hall sound system as far as I can go but at a volume level which even vaguely compares with what we have already I then get a lot of distortion.
My questions really are:
...
2. What advice would people get about increasing volume levels?


The 'Performance tuning: Setting the audio output level' section in the main Hauptwerk user guide (pages 212-213 in the current v4.2.1 version) covers how to set levels optimally within Hauptwerk itself. In particular, you should set the 'Trim dB' setting on Hauptwerk's 'Audio, MIDI and Performance' large control panel ('View | Large floating control panels ...' from the menu) so that Hauptwerk's audio level meter occasionally just goes into the yellow, but never into the red, when playing the current organ (e.g. St. Anne's) in Hauptwerk on 'full organ' (with the largest registration that you expect to use with it).

Here are some forum topics that cover setting audio levels (both with Hauptwerk, and on the computer's audio interface and amplifiers and speakers) in more detail:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13819#p102235
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=16198

With the level set optimally in Hauptwerk, and on your audio interface, if the audio is still too quiet then perhaps your audio interface's analogue outputs are at the wrong signal levels for your amplifiers' inputs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_level
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.
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organassist

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Re: Hauptwerk in school organ

PostFri Sep 22, 2017 5:26 am

Another approach would be to do a demonstration of both systems using a good set of headphones. This would really highlight the difference between the two technologies! You could then look at amplification / selection of organ sample set(s) as a second issue.
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ArnoldOrgans

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Re: Hauptwerk in school organ

PostFri Sep 22, 2017 8:04 am

Hi Andrew,

What audio interface are you currently using?
Matt Arnold
http://www.customorganworks.com
info@customorganworks.com
Authorized reseller of Hauptwerk, Milan Digital Audio, Inspired Acoustics, CLR Resources and Sonus Paradisi.
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andrewmorley

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Re: Hauptwerk in school organ

PostFri Sep 22, 2017 9:51 am

I'm using a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4

Thanks for all the other advice, I will do some playing about!
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ArnoldOrgans

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Re: Hauptwerk in school organ

PostFri Sep 22, 2017 5:14 pm

andrewmorley wrote:I'm using a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4

Thanks for all the other advice, I will do some playing about!


I can't say for certain but the 2i4 1/4" outputs should be comparable to other 1/4" devices you are using. Make sure you are not using the RCA outputs as the signal output levels will likely be lower.
Matt Arnold
http://www.customorganworks.com
info@customorganworks.com
Authorized reseller of Hauptwerk, Milan Digital Audio, Inspired Acoustics, CLR Resources and Sonus Paradisi.

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