Firstly, many thanks to all those who have posted such kind and enthusiastic comments regarding this sample set. They are certainly very much appreciated and provide a lot of encouragement. I'm also very keen to be able to play the complete instrument, so the release of volume 2 as quickly as possible is an absolute priority for me.
I value also the various suggestions for enhancements to the complete organ - they provide useful food for thought and all will be carefully considered.
If "enhancements" are to be made available I trust that it will be possible to NOT buy them! Or at least to keep them off the screen if the sample set must contain them.
I agree that this is important. There are a significant number of people who wish to play an organ very much as it is, rather than as it can be via the magic of Hauptwerk, so the Lavender Audio sets will always include an organ definition which presents the organ with no additions or enhancements. In the case of this set, separate standard and enhanced organ definitions (each with unique ID numbers) are provided.
However, I note that even in the extended set (not yet available, but there's a picture) there's no independent 2ft on the Great or Swell.
I guess this is a reflection of the philosophy of Schulze and other German contemporaries ... the twelfth is a harmonic part of the 16 foot and 8 foot chorus, so the convention at the time must always have been to draw both together. Interesting the mention of Ralph Downes as he specified a combined twelfth and fifteenth for St Albans Abbey, an organ I knew fairly well as a youngster. The two were separated during the most recent rebuild there, which does underline the benefits of being able to draw 8, 4 and 2 without any quint ranks.
1) A 32' pedal reed
2) Complete the Great reed chorus with a 4' Clarion
3) a 2' principal on the Great and a 2' flute on the swell
4) A celeste rank on the Echo
Not a stop: Potentially "enclose" the Echo with a second swell?
The Echo Vox Angelica is an undulating rank (it works well with the Echo Oboe which, despite its name, is a flue stop). Otherwise, all excellent suggestions and as volume 2 progresses I'll see what can be done. As Iain mentioned, the Echo is very quiet, so a virtual enclosure of the Choir might be a better option.
However, the L/R portraits on the Armley are FAB!!!!
Add an extra column, if needed, please.
Thanks!! Will try to fit everything in by preserving these graphics if I can.
And, although someone who has really build a sample set can correct me if I am wrong, I believe that they are a miniscule fraction of the overall time required to create a new set, so I don't see how they take away at all, only add.
By and large, yes, the enhancements and extensions don't take so much time, hence when there aren't too many of them it's often possible to include them with a sample set at no extra cost.
Thanks again for all the interest!