fermata wrote:I am new to organ playing, which makes it hard for me to know how I will want to set up my pistons. How do people here generally use them? I'm especially curious to know what people, who have multiple keyboards, each sporting 20 pistons, put on them all.
Here's my own Piston Set-up, for three manuals each with 20 pistons.
Left-most Piston is a special function:
top = stop recording or MIDI playback.
middle = reset registration stepper to zero.
lower = SET
Next group of five gives general combinations (fifteen in total).
Next one couples that manual to the Pedal.
Next group of five gives divisionals (five for each of three manuals)
Next pair is special functions.
top = registration stepper down one and up one.
middle = start recording MIDI and Audio.
lower = general presets for Pianissimo and Fortissimo.
Next five...
Top = divisionals if the Sample Set has a fourth manual;
otherwise, special features like deep Pedal Reed on/off, Tremulant on/off, Toy Stops on/off, Reeds Reversible.
Middle = coupler for lower manual (choir or positif) to middle manual (great organ).
coupler for upper manual (swell or oberwerk) to middle manual (great organ).
and three to control floating divisions... to swap lower two manuals, and to allow
an alternate division (eg Solo or Recit) for the upper manual.
Lower = divisionals for Pedal.
Right-most Piston is a special function:
Top = Registration Home (restores a registration that was set by hand, after using a general combination).
Middle = Reeds Off (programmed with Scope, like a divisional but covering all divisions).
Lower = General Cancel.
Hoping this is a helpful overview.