Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:55 am
I vote for Rotterdam, and these are my reasons:
The instrument is big y powerful, allowing a great amount of combinations and a great dynamic range, from the softer stops to the strongest ones. The sampling is very balanced between clarity and the mystic that the reverb from a big space provides. I did not find that in Caen, despite many trials, particularly due to the lack of the presence of a large space in the original sampling (which is still present in the 4 manual extension). Metz is much better in that sense, but it is a small organ. That is why I did not choose them and chose the big Marcussen to record most of the work by Messian, who, besides the original French symphonic style, always asked for the extension of the Trinité into a more "modern" or "universal" instrument.
With just a few additions, that universality plus can be achieved in Rotterdam. Basicaly, a few colours are needed, in the Hauptwerk, Rugwerk, Borstwerk and Pedal. These can be obtained from the own stops, without needing other instruments. With these additions, the implementation of the expression pedal in the Rugwerk, the extension of the manuals to 61 notes and the pedal to 32, virtually any repertoire could be played in this organ.
Possible additions sugested:
Hauptwerk: Strong string 8’(like Violoncello) and stopped 16’ (Bourdon)
Rugwerk: Softs 2 2/3 and 1 3/5 to complete cornet, soft string (Salicional) and maybe a beating 8’.
Borstwerk: String 8’ to reinforce fonds and soft 1 3/5
Pedal: A soft 32’, which could be taken from Gedekt 16’ in the Bovenwerk. It would be very nice to accompany very soft passages. The Principal 32’ is too strong for that.
It would also be interesting to complete the chorus reeds (trumpets, no soloist) to 16, 8 and 4 both in the Hauptwerk and in the Rugwerk and increase the volume a little bit (both Bazuins of the Pedal too). Personally I do not like very much the sampling of the chamades (too much “at the face”, Caen style); that is why I do not find them usefull as the ending of a tutti as they do not match well with the rest, which does happen with the real organ.
One last suggestion: Still many sample makers design the left and right jambs in the 4:3 format for landscape and 16:9 (the reverse, in fact) for portrait. I think most people do no longer use 4:3 monitors as right and left jambs. Therefore there is a considerable amount of space wasted (as black vertical bands on both sides of each screen). If the jambs were redesign to 16:9 for landscape (for any, but specially for this instrument) there would be more space to add stops or just to enlarge or re distribute the existing one, to make them easier to read without the need of adding photos on the screen which do not help.