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Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

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Morse

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Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

PostWed Jul 22, 2015 9:16 am

We have recently completed a rather ambitious project to add Hauptwerk digital extensions to our church pipe organ. It started as a modest desire to add a Trumpet en Chamade to the rear balcony. That worked well, but things snowballed from there and, in the end, we have almost doubled the stop list of what was already a quite capable pipe organ.

Here is the stop list:
http://almorse.net/Moller%20CUMC%20Extended%20Organ.pdf

There are many unique considerations when Hauptwerk is added to a working pipe organ. It's certainly quite different than building a purely digital organ for home or Church. Although much of the design is unique to this particular installation and it's problems, some of the techniques might be of interest to the Hauptwerk community. Detailed information is available here:

http://almorse.net/content_OrganUpgrade.html
Al Morse
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sjkartchner

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Re: Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

PostWed Jul 22, 2015 11:54 am

Very impressive. What is the source of the sample set being used?
Stan Kartchner, Tucson, AZ USA
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IainStinson

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Re: Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

PostWed Jul 22, 2015 12:35 pm

Very interesting and most impressive.

I've looked at the detailed documentation you've kindly post and have a few questions which I would be grateful if you could answer.

How do the couplers operate? Is the keying for the digital extensions effectively "post coupling", that is the Moller action generates the keys to be sounded with the currently active couplers and this appears on the "key action pin board", or does drawing the couplers engage a coupler within the HW sample set which mirrors the couplers drawn on the pipe part of the console or do you do something else?

Are the combination piston pushes also transmitted to HW to operate the digital stops which are only on the touch screen? I would assume that the digital stops on the real console are operated by the Moller piston action, is that correct? How do you synchronise the selection of different piston "memory banks" between HW and the Moller?

Do you have the ability to delay the operation of the digital stops and sounds so that they are synchronised with the Moller pipe draw stop action and pallet operation otherwise there is the risk that the digital extensions speak in advance of the pipework?

Many thanks, in advance.

Iain
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Morse

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Re: Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

PostWed Jul 22, 2015 4:17 pm

Hi Stan and Iain. Thanks for the complements.

Stan:
We don't use any particular sample set since we are just trying to fill in the holes of our specific pipe organ specification. Most samples come from various Sonus Paradisi organs, but we also locally recorded some ranks. Almost all have been heavily revoiced in some way and then further modified to complement our particular speaker configuration. For example, the Trumpet en Chamade is essentially the Rotterdam Trompeta de Batalla, and the Erzahler Celeste is a digital copy of our pipe Erzahler which is detuned by 6 to 10 cents across the compass.

Iain:
There are no software couplers except those that couple the digital antiphonal stops to the manuals. So I guess it's what you call "post coupling". The Moller couplers do all the work and the result is picked up automatically on the pin board.

The Moller console pistons are coupled to virtual pistons which don't show on the touchscreen. So the only pistons that are actuated by the organist are the mechanical ones. The Hauptwerk pistons and stored digital registration follow automatically. There is a seven position rotary switch on the Moller console which was installed by Peterson for their combination action system. The position of this switch chooses which Hauptwerk registration bank is active.

I haven't measured it, but I assume the console drawknobs take a few milliseconds to change. The digital stops certainly switch faster, but that doesn't seem a problem to anyone here. We have not noticed the digital sounds to precede the real pipes. Perhaps we should listen more carefully for that. If someone complains (I'm not the principal organist) I could just add a small delay at the start of each sample.
Al Morse
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IainStinson

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Re: Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

PostWed Jul 22, 2015 5:04 pm

Thanks for the detailed response.

Iain
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sjkartchner

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Re: Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

PostWed Jul 22, 2015 8:13 pm

Fascinating. Thanks for the response.
Stan Kartchner, Tucson, AZ USA
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steve till

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Re: Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

PostWed Jul 22, 2015 11:37 pm

I played that organ! Many years ago, probably about 1970. Not regularly, just visited.
My organ teacher knew the organist there, the organ was still pretty new, I got invited.
Not to be too picky, but I think there was also a 4' Principal in the Pedal.
Not listed on the stoplist, but there are 14 knobs in the Pedal in the picture of the console.
I don't remember if it was independent or an extension. The rest I remember ok.
And maybe there were some Pedal Principals in the display pipes, maybe on the Swell side.
I even remember the lack of a Pedal 16' Principal, and independent Pedal reeds.

Thanks for the update! I am sure it is fabulous!

Steve.
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RichardW

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Re: Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

PostThu Jul 23, 2015 4:45 am

The Audio Interlock Assembly looks like an interesting project in its own right :)
Richard
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Morse

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Re: Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

PostThu Jul 23, 2015 8:30 am

Hi Steve,
Thanks for correcting my stoplist from 45 years and 3000 miles away! Yes, there is a 4' pedal principal which is a 12 note extension. And yes, there are some pedal principals on the Swell side. Your memory is remarkable! I didn't play that organ until about 1980 when we joined the church.

Here's a photo to jog your memory. I took this from a front pew while Don Fries, the current Director of Music, was at the console trying out a few of the new stops.
Image
Al Morse
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johnh

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Re: Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

PostTue Aug 04, 2015 10:49 pm

Are any of your circuit designs available for general use? Any extra boards for the temperature model for example? Thanks.

---john.
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Morse

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Re: Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

PostWed Aug 05, 2015 12:07 pm

Hi John,

I certainly don't care if anyone uses the designs themselves, and I could supply more information on the parts list if you want.

I got the printed circuit boards from expresspcb.com. They are somewhere in California - Santa Barbara, I think. I used them several times for this project. The design software is free, easy to use, and I've been very happy with the board price, quality and turn-around time. I could send you the design file if you like.

I actually do have a spare board for the autotune circuit. I used their "Miniboard" service which is three standard sized boards for $51. I can't imagine I will ever need another board myself.

One caveat: After installing the system I discovered that I needed to slow the circuit with the feedback capacitor C3. I just tacked it on the back of the board. Certainly not Mil-Spec! but if you want to do it right and correct the board design it will cost you another $51.

As for useage, If you read the "Software" section you see that this temperature compensation method requires some minor additions to the ODF as well as an analog MIDI input port somewhere in your setup. Essentially, it's a voltage controlled expression pedal that changes pitch instead of volume.
Al Morse
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Antoni Scott

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Re: Hauptwerk additions to a Moller Pipe Organ

PostThu Sep 28, 2017 6:49 am

Several years ago I had the experience to visit a friend that had a Wick's pipe organ(probably about ten ranks of pipes) with many Hauptwerk additions. The combination was very acceptable.

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