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Mostly Complete HW Console

Share photos of your Hauptwerk consoles, installations, audio systems, ...
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yursanity1

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Mostly Complete HW Console

PostThu Jun 25, 2015 11:17 am

Hi all, here are some photos of a DIY console.

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The keyboards are equipped with Peterson contacts, and midiboutique reed switches for the pedalboard. There are a few projects yet to be completed, namely a home-made rollschweller to fit to the left of the swell shoes.
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brooke.benfield

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Re: Mostly Complete HW Console

PostThu Jun 25, 2015 11:43 am

Very Nice!

What sort of keyboards are those?
Brooke Benfield
Organist, Gethsemane Lutheran Church
Portland OR
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yursanity1

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Re: Mostly Complete HW Console

PostThu Jun 25, 2015 3:56 pm

Thanks. The keyboards came out of an old tracker organ. They were in terrible shape and had been stuck in storage for a number of years, but we picked them up for 50 dollars. We then went through a number of midification dead ends... (reed switches). We eventually decided on contact boards which were a little tedious to install and solder, but they work the best by far. The next issue was resistance. Again, after months of trial and error, I taped pennies to the back of each key along with a row of magnets underneath each manual in order to replicate a tracker action. Of course you can't really come close, but its good enough for practice during the week. Plus, not having to pay 6000 dollars for them, makes them feel just a little bit better.
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ChangedForever

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Re: Mostly Complete HW Console

PostThu Jun 25, 2015 6:25 pm

Cool beans!! Very nice looking!! Have fun!!
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murph

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Re: Mostly Complete HW Console

PostThu Jun 25, 2015 6:30 pm

Sounds good!
Any pics of contacts, magnets and any springs used?
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ppytprs

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Re: Mostly Complete HW Console

PostFri Jun 26, 2015 4:26 am

Yes, how did you do the springs?
I've got a set of keyboards out of a pneumatic action organ that I've been playing with. Hard to spring convincingly!
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NickNelson

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Re: Mostly Complete HW Console

PostFri Jun 26, 2015 5:12 am

ppytprs wrote:Hard to spring convincingly!


The trick here is to use rather soft and long springs that are highly commpressed when installed. This minimises the difference in pressure between the top and bottom of the key travel and, in my view, gives the best feel. Personally, I think this is better than weighting the backs of the keys which achieves the same aim to some extent but also increases the inertia which makes them heavier for fast depressions and can compromise the maximum repetition rate.

I make my own springs using piano wire and a lathe; this allows for quite a lot of experimentation but assumes you have lathe to start with. It would be an expensive route otherwise.

Given the lengths of the keys each side of the balance rail, and the desired pressure it should be possible to calculate the required rate and uncompressed length of suitable springs.

Nick
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yursanity1

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Re: Mostly Complete HW Console

PostFri Jun 26, 2015 9:56 pm

NickNelson wrote:
ppytprs wrote:Hard to spring convincingly!


Personally, I think this is better than weighting the backs of the keys which achieves the same aim to some extent but also increases the inertia which makes them heavier for fast depressions and can compromise the maximum repetition rate.

Nick


True, I think if you know what you're doing, springs would probably give the best result. Although, repetition is not an issue with my setup. Each key has a screw drilled into the back, which is attracted to a magnet placed on a metal beam beneath each keyboard. This speeds up the return a great deal.

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