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Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

Existing and forthcoming Hauptwerk instruments, recommendations, ...
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adri

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Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostFri Nov 03, 2017 5:28 am

Listen to sound samples on CBB but I recommend to skip the Jan Zwart piece which imho doesn't fit the instrument at all.
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organsRgreat

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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostFri Nov 03, 2017 5:44 am

Can you give us a direct link? I've used the Advanced Search on CBB and scrolled through all the SP organs, but can't find it. Thanks.
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lefranc22

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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

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anco111

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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostFri Nov 03, 2017 7:40 am

organsRgreat wrote:Can you give us a direct link? I've used the Advanced Search on CBB and scrolled through all the SP organs, but can't find it. Thanks.


Just go to ''browse'' and type ''Midwolda'' in the search-field (not advanced search)..
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organsRgreat

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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostFri Nov 03, 2017 9:39 am

Thanks for the usual lightning response from this forum – found it now :-)
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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostFri Nov 03, 2017 6:22 pm

adri wrote:Listen to sound samples on CBB but I recommend to skip the Jan Zwart piece which imho doesn't fit the instrument at all.


The Zwart sounds good to me. :-)
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adri

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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostTue Nov 07, 2017 3:25 am

The set is now announced on Sonus Paradisi but no price is given yet.
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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostTue Nov 07, 2017 4:22 am

I have the pleasure to introduce the Midwolda Surround Sample Set, a Hinsz instrument of the Dutch Baroque style. It was built by Albertus Antoni Hinsz in 1772 for a village church in Midwolda. Hinsz followed and further developed the Schnitger organbuilding tradition in Netherlands, especially in the Groningen province.

The instrument consists of 2 manuals and a pedal, alltogether 33 sounding stops. The sample set can be used in Hauptwerk version 4 and higher, the Advanced version is necessary due to the size of the virtual instrument. The sample set is encrypted using the proprietary Hauptwerk dongle based encryption. It is offered in a 6-channel surround format. The listening position of the surround variant can be varied via a built-in mixer. The result is achieved by blending the direct and diffuse virtual pipes in any desired ratio.

More details, including the specification and audio demo samples of the instrument may be found on the Sonus Paradisi web pages.

A small demo sample set featuring several stops of the instrument is available for free dowload.

The introductory discount period for the sample set ends on 30th November 2017.
Jiri Zurek,
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http://www.sonusparadisi.cz
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Uwe Mahnken

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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostWed Nov 08, 2017 3:48 am

Hello Zurek,

is it possible and does it makes sense to load only the stops for the front output? I am asking because I only have 8 GB RAM.
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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostWed Nov 08, 2017 4:33 am

Hello, Uwe! Thank you for your question. I realized, that similar questions appear from time to time, so I decided to write a small blog entry about it this morning. In short: yes, it does make sense to load only a selection of the recorded audio material if you need to achieve what you want.

You can find the blog entry about the usage of the 6-channel surround sample set on my web pages.
Last edited by zurek on Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jiri Zurek,
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http://www.sonusparadisi.cz
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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostWed Nov 08, 2017 5:39 am

Thanks Jiri, this makes it clear :-)
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lefranc22

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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostThu Nov 09, 2017 5:39 am

The organ Hinsz de Leens (by Sygsoft) being one of my favorite, for several years, I am interested in the comparison of these two instruments, the same builder and the same region. They are not of the same time: the organ of Leens is the first big instrument constructed by Albertus Anthoni Hinz, in 1733/34, when it was still young. Midwolda is from 1772, about forty years later, and Hinz certainly had more maturity and experience. The organ of Midwolda, with its 33 stops, is also larger than Leens, which has only 27; but the composition of both organs is very similar.
Having not bought Midwolda yet, my comparison remains approximate. It is based on the Sonus Paradisi demo and the same 6 stops used with Leens. There are also many demos on contrebombarde, which allow to form an opinion.
The Sonus Paradisi sample-set is surround, with all the possibilities offered by Hauptwerk and a magnificent presentation. But this is paid by a use of the computer RAM which is, in my opinion, disproportionate. Only wealthy and well-equipped users will be able to appreciate its richness. That of Sygsoft is only stereo and its presentation a little outdated, though very clear. It can be opened easily by any average computer. It’s an important criterion of choice; is it better to listen to a complete sample-set, in 21-4-bit stereo, or a 16-bit sample-set with less releases?
I must admit that by listening to the demo version of Sonus Paradisi by comparing it to the same stops of Sygsoft, my old ears do not perceive any difference. I recognize that the possibilities of the surround are interesting but the gain of quality seems to me unrelated to the increase of necessary RAM.
The comparison of the demos in contrebombarde is no more convincing. One feels like hearing the same instrument and the differences are minimal. They seem, to me essentially related to the interpreter and the registration. The separation of the divisions seems to me more obvious for Leens than for Midwolda. Leens also seems better tuned (but it should be able to test every note of every stop to have a fair verdict).
The price difference is without appeal. Even the introduction price for Midwolda is close to double Leens.
In conclusion, these two beautiful sample-sets seem to me of quite close quality, but they are addressed to a different audience. For those who can afford the luxury of a very powerful equipment, Midwolda will fill them with joy. The others will probably prefer Leens. But why not both? The beautiful sample-sets of the Netherlands are scarce and Fred (Sygsoft) told me recently how difficult it was to find in this country interesting organs to sample, in quiet churches and whose organist is not an obstacle ... « But that’s another story », as Rudyard Kipling said.
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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostThu Nov 09, 2017 11:39 am

Interesting observations, lefranc22, thanks.

A crucial question is: what is the weakest link in the chain? I have noticed that many people have suboptimal audio setups. If the audio setup is the weakest link (or some component of it, speaker placement and uncorrected room acoustics often being the main culprits), then it might be hard to hear the differences in quality of sample sets. In that case, it will perhaps not be very rewarding to buy the latest very expensive sample sets.

Personally, I am confident my set-up is quite good, at least sufficient to detect many strengths and weaknesses in the quality of sample sets. For example, commercial sample sets are generally much much better than free ones, although the gap is closing. Over the years, average quality seems to increase. Also, Sonus Paradisi is one of the top quality producers.

I don't have the Leens sample set, but I would be much surprised if it would really be on par with the Midwolda sample set. Perhaps it is, but in that case I guess the audiophiles among us would like to know exactly under what conditions the comparison has been made.
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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostThu Nov 09, 2017 1:30 pm

Also, Paradisi is one of the top quality producers.

Yes it is, and he generally produces very good sample-sets. It was not my intention to criticize Sonus Paradisi. I just wanted to draw a parallel between two sample-sets of very similar organs, whose realization comes from two very different philosophies. I wonder if the current trend to impose surround as a standard is, or not, real progress and that justifies a big price difference, for equipments that are often not able to take advantage of it.
commercial sample sets are generally much much better than free ones

Generally, may be, but not always. The 2 last Piotr Grabowski sample-sets (Giubiasco and Azzio) are free and much better than some expensive sample-sets that I would not want to quote to avoid controversy. And yes over the years, average quality seems to increase. But do not throw the baby with the bathwater.
I guess the audiophiles among us would like to know exactly under what conditions the comparison has been made.

As I wrote in my post, my comparison is based only on the elements I have and is therefore only an approximation. I own the Leens sample-set, but not yet the Midwolda. So I can not be very objective, just give a first impression based on what is available. And over all add some personal reflections on the idea I have of a really useful sample-set.
A crucial question is: what is the weakest link in the chain?

It's perfectly correct and I agree. But even if I'm joking about my "old ears", I think I still have a well exercised hearing and audio material that I have at home is rather high-end.
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Re: Hinsch organ of Midwolda coming from SP

PostThu Nov 09, 2017 2:13 pm

The main difference is in the mixtures between Leens and Midwolda.

Leens is still very north German baroque. No tierces in the mixture.

The Midwolda mixture is a tierce mixture aimed at accompanying congregational singing and is not that suited for the playing of literature.

The well known organist and organ expert Stef Tuinstra made a very nice CD of this instrument and uses more chamber music registrations which in the not very wet acoustics work extremely well.

The tierce mixture has a low composition and therefore also sounds a bit unusual. It's most advisable to avoid using it in polyphonic music and use it only in chordal and march music.

When I find the cd which is now in storage I will reveal the registrations used by Stef for the music played. I have an English version if his notes and will share when I get it out of storage.

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