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Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

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zurek

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Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostTue Mar 07, 2017 7:51 am

I have the pleasure to introduce the Manuel Rosales, opus 11 sample set for Hauptwerk. The organ was built in 1984-1987 and it is installed in the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon (USA).

Manuel Rosales has the reputation of being one of the most inspired U.S. organbuilders today. The organ is built in an eclectic style, with a special character specific to the organs of Manuel Rosales. His signature is strongly felt in each voice as well as in choruses. Manuel Rosales was kind to review the sample set and he gave his approval to the release. Some changes compared to the real organ were done on his advice, for example the addition of a real Bombarde 32' samples in the pedal (the stop is acoustic only in reality).

The original instrument consists of 3 manuals and a pedal, alltogether 54 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. It is available in a surround (6-channels) 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. The two front direct channels alone can be used to form a semi-dry variant of the sample set.

More details, including the specification and audio demo samples of the instrument may be found on the Sonus Paradisi web pages.
Jiri Zurek,
Prague
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz
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zurek

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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostTue Mar 07, 2017 8:07 am

There is a small demo sample set available: http://www.sonusparadisi.cz/en/blog/ros ... ample-set/
Jiri Zurek,
Prague
http://www.sonusparadisi.cz
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IainStinson

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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostTue Mar 07, 2017 10:47 am

I’ve downloaded and tried the demo organ for a little while.

The demo stops provided are very interesting. They are GREAT Principal 8' Flute Harmonique 8' Gamba 8' Octave 4' Quinte 2 2/3' Superoctave 2' Mixture XI SWELL Bourdon 8' Flute Octaviante 4' Hautbois 8'

The 8ft stops are beautiful and full of character. The Principal is clear and bright and with the Octave gives a fine sound. The SuperOctave and Quinte develop the chorus nicely and the Mixture tops the sound out nicely. The Flute Harmonique is liquid and full of interest. The Gamba is not really to my liking – it is perhaps too keen. The two swell flutes provide a warm clear sound and the Hautbois is very fine (if perhaps a little lounder than I would expect). The recorded tremulanted versions of the stops are re very good.

The organ allows the HW master couplers to be used which was fun when using the demo set.
The console is well set out and works fine on the portrait touch screens I use with one minor complaint: when drawn the stops move and become lit – they are a little too bright and are not so clear to read.

The building’s acoustic helps the instrument and the mixer control allows some variations to the sound of the demo set. (The organ appears to always start with MIX 1 (you can store three mixer settings)).

Master couplers work with the instrument and the demo set includes the Etoile (Zimbelstern), Rossignol (Bird song).

I look forward to the comments of others and to perhaps acquiring the full version of the organ.

Iain
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CarsonCooman

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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostTue Mar 07, 2017 2:53 pm

Having been part of the testing group for this virtual version and having played a recital on the real organ itself within the last few years, I will weigh in to say that I think this is an exceptional organ. I believe Manuel Rosales to be one of the greatest voicers of the current time, and this instrument was a real landmark for him and for American organ building. The remarkable quality and unified character of the Great Principal chorus is uncommonly special.

The virtual realization also benefits from being able to have a far better listening position than at the console of the real organ. The result is a superb sound, with Sonus Paradisi's usual high standards. The instrument itself is tremendously powerful (in the real room almost overwhelmingly so) and by having a somewhat more distant recording position than the console in the mix, one is able to listen/play on the larger registrations for longer periods.

In my personal opinion, this is currently the best American organ sample set available for Hauptwerk. In terms of both the exceptional quality of the organ itself and the high quality of the sampling/use of current Hauptwerk version technology, this set vastly surpasses all others currently available, in my opinion. More American organs (in diverse styles) and some updated versions of old ones are assuredly on the horizon, but I believe this to be a particularly special release.
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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostTue Mar 07, 2017 5:37 pm

I have to say I am VERY excited by this one!!! I am intimately familiar with the Rosales organ at St James Cathedral in Seattle and it is a class act through and through! Well thought out and well executed, it fills the space with a clear sound that is nothing short of exuberant. Too bad it is relegated to be the secondary organ there.

I LOVE the French style stoplist! Well done Jiri!

~S
"Life is just a dream, it is in death that we truly awaken!"
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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostTue Mar 07, 2017 7:09 pm

Scrumptious sound. Beautiful graphics. Wow. The drawknobs are very cool. I just wish they had a line between divisions. Also, the simple stop jamb has the upside down (to Americans) stop layout. BUT, this is one fabulous sample set. Bravo!!!!!

Steve
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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostTue Mar 07, 2017 8:07 pm

I live in the Portland area and have played this organ for a few minutes and heard 3 recitals on it.

I agree with Carson that it is powerful - especially at the console - but it dies off quite a bit out in the room in my opinion. You shouldn't infer that it doesn't sound wonderful out in the room because it most certainly does.

At one recital I was sitting about 1/2 way back in the room and there was an ostinato pattern being played on the low pedal D which included the 32' flue stop. The low frequency was so powerful that it modulated the volume of the higher pitches being played on the manuals. Most impressive.

More recently I was privileged to hear Ken Cowan play a recital on this instrument where he finished with the Max Reger Chorale Fantasy on Wachet Auf. Incredible playing and incredible sound.

I'm surprised that Zurek says the 32' reed is "acoustic". I was told it is a 32' Magnaton taken from an old Austin organ and refurbished. It is mitered 360° fairly close to the boots and I think 1/2 length. I also believe that these pipes make up only the bottom octave of the stop and recall that there is a bit of a change in timbre below the 16' pitch level. This may be what Zurek is referring to.

This instrument is the crown jewel of organs in the state of Oregon without a doubt.
Brooke Benfield
Organist, Gethsemane Lutheran Church
Portland OR
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CarsonCooman

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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostTue Mar 07, 2017 8:30 pm

brooke.benfield wrote:I'm surprised that Zurek says the 32' reed is "acoustic". I was told it is a 32' Magnaton taken from an old Austin organ and refurbished. It is mitered 360° fairly close to the boots and I think 1/2 length. I also believe that these pipes make up only the bottom octave of the stop and recall that there is a bit of a change in timbre below the 16' pitch level. This may be what Zurek is referring to.


There are two 32 reed stops. The Contra Trombone 32 bottom octave is indeed all normal pipes—the re-worked Austin Magnaton. However, on the real organ the Contre Bombarde 32 bottom octave is derived (in the manner of a cornet/resultant) from the Bombarde 16. That is what JZ means by "acoustic." For the sample set (at Rosales's suggestion), that bottom octave was replaced with (presumably re-pitched) samples.
Last edited by CarsonCooman on Tue Mar 07, 2017 9:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostTue Mar 07, 2017 8:53 pm

brooke.benfield wrote:It is mitered 360° fairly close to the boots and I think 1/2 length. I also believe that these pipes make up only the bottom octave of the stop and recall that there is a bit of a change in timbre below the 16' pitch level.


The stop is full length throughout the compass. It is correct that the magnaton is just the bottom octave, and from there the trombone 16 takes over. There is something of a character change between the two, which is preserved in the model.

The two acoustic 32' stops were added during an upgrade of the original capture action, which had 28 levels, to a system with 128 levels. The two stops don't have physical drawknobs on the console, but occupy thumb pistons that were originally assigned to two blind combinations for "Fonds" and "Plein Jeu". The third blind combination for "Grand Jeu" still exists and is in the model. It is settable by combination level on the actual organ, but is rarely used since the update to so many combination levels.

I joined Trinity back in 1989 when the instrument was just two years old. Since then, I've heard it regularly in various services and recitals, and when my job permitted it over a couple of years, practiced on it for a couple of hours each weekday in the early morning. I've had the chance to do a few evensong programs and a recital over the years, and I've helped with several of the (numerous) CDs done on the organ to date. The thing that impresses me most about this organ is that, despite all that time and experience listening to it over 28 years, it can still raise the hair on the back of my neck. It's that good.

The model is exceptionally accurate. This is the first time I've heard a model of an organ I'm so familiar with, and the result is quite something.
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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostWed Mar 08, 2017 3:18 pm

The Rosales sampleset is stunning, and the organ is really versatile. I never expected Boyvin, Stanley, and Vierne to sound reasonably convincing on the same instrument.

I had heard a smaller Rosales at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal in Atlanta a few years ago and loved it, and now I have one in my house. Very exciting.

Now if Jiri were to have an old 19th century American organ in the pre-Victorian English tradition sitting in his queue, my stable of samplesets would be complete. But I guess that's not so likely on the West coast.
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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostThu Mar 09, 2017 5:03 pm

I know that Jiri recorded at least one more American organ which will be published in the future.
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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostFri Mar 10, 2017 8:43 am

Definitely looking forward to that. Thanks!
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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostFri Mar 10, 2017 12:36 pm

Has anyone done a 20 or 24bit install 6 channel but no tremmed ranks? I'm trying to figure out if I can sensibly fit this instrument onto my "mere" 32GB iMac.

Brad
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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostFri Mar 10, 2017 1:23 pm

162_Ranks wrote:Has anyone done a 20 or 24bit install 6 channel but no tremmed ranks? I'm trying to figure out if I can sensibly fit this instrument onto my "mere" 32GB iMac.

Brad


Hi Brad,

I tried out the demo version this morning, like another 6 channel SP set I have, but this one in particular, I really don't care for the 'direct' sound of the instrument and much prefer the 'diffuse' sound instead. If you're in the same camp, you might want to leave the direct part out and not even load it, and instead try loading the 'diffuse' @ 20 bit and you might luck out and get the 'surround' part included @ 16 bit to fit within your 32 GB, worth a try, I highly doubt you'd get both @ 20 bit to fit within 32 GB. The demo loaded 6 channel this morning @ 20 bit all the way around for me gobbled up over 6 GB of memory alone per the HW GB un-obtanium meter. :mrgreen:

Marc
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Re: Manuel Rosales, opus 11 - sample set for Hauptwerk

PostFri Mar 10, 2017 1:46 pm

I loaded 6 channels 24 bit compressed, leaving out tremmed pedal stops, upperwork, and reeds other than Vox Humana, and got 22 GB free on a 64 GB Windows machine.

If you did that and also omitted 2 of the 6 channels, it should fit in 32 GB. I use very little Direct so could leave them out.
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