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Organ Update

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GDay

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Organ Update

PostThu Feb 23, 2006 2:24 am

hello all,

Tonight I successfully re-wired my pedal board. Fortunately I had wired in colour sequence, so it was easy to see that I had swapped two sequences of six wires - an easy re-wire in the end. More problematic was the fact that the first pin connection in every group of eight (4 notes total) did not relay a midi signal. It seems that my initial incorrect wiring "confused" the midi. After trying this a that with no luck, I shut the unit down, disconnected every pedal wire, turned the unit back on, let the midi unit reboot to zero (in a manner of speaking), then shut it off again, reconnected the wires, and rebooted. Somewhere in the back of my cranium I remembered that the unit scans for it's last setting, and boots in that configuration, so removing the wires allowed the unit to boot to it's default setting. Well that was the theory anyway, and viola! it worked!

I'm in business! Now to re-assemble all the circuit boards for the fourth manual (which I took apart 2 years ago) and on to the Stops, which I hope will be a walk in the park compared to the difficulties I've faced so far.

Beauty part is, I don't really know what the heck I'm doing, but I'm doing it anyway. And succeeding! Thank you Martin for compelling me to go way outside my envelope.

G'Day
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stenberg

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PostThu Feb 23, 2006 4:01 pm

As someone who has never had the courage to venture into the unexplored realms of soldering and electronics - let alone the combination of the two - I stand in awe of anyone successfully completing any venture of that sort. Congratulations Gday, may your efforts result in many hours of musical enjoyment.

P.S. I hope for your own sake, that you have already finished the kitchen.
Best regards,
Stenberg
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GDay

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PostSat Feb 25, 2006 4:10 pm

Hello all,

Yesterday I re-assembled the wires, circuit boards etc for my fourth manual, and joy of joys, it all worked. Now, along with having a four manual organ, I will be able to add some really good sounds from my D-50 and Alesis QS7.

I plan to write a four manual ODF for the Skinner, plus have the ability to include some beautiful solo horns from the synths.

Today the plan is to chop and channel the circuit boards and permanently mount the fourth manual.

G'Day
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GDay

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PostTue May 02, 2006 1:47 am

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GDay

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PostTue May 02, 2006 2:02 am

Hello all,
Well that seemed to work! with the help of my son, I can now upload photos to the net so as to link them to this forum . . .

that photo is my grand organ project about a year ago. You can see seven tiers of Stop rails which can accomodate four stops per level per side, for a total of 56 Stops.

That used to be a two manual organ, rebuilt to four manuals. The section above the manuals will accomodate 29 rocker tab couplers (rendered necessary by the fact that the Skinner Organ requires couplers to be used on an equal footing with the Stops), and 10 rocker tab Stops for the fourth manual. The coupler rail hinges up to access wiring etc.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i60/g ... hstops.jpg

This photo shows my Grand Organ Project a few months ago. Here the stops are all in (and working!) I've progressed far beyond that now, but no current photos to display . . .

G'Day
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Morse

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PostTue May 02, 2006 8:18 am

Hello G'Day,

Your "Grand Organ Project" is very impressive! Please share some of the construction details, such as what manuals you are using and how you construct the stop knob assemblies. I have a considerably "Less Grand" organ project underway, details of which can be found on my web site under the "Organ Building" menu tab. I am considering adding more stop knobs along side of the manuals as you have done. If you have a better way of constructing them I'd be very interested.
Al Morse
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GDay

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PostTue May 02, 2006 7:56 pm

Hi Al, hi all,

I've added four more photos:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i60/g ... ntview.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i60/g ... arview.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i60/g ... omrear.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i60/g ... wstops.jpg

The first two manuals (great and swell) are from the original GEM console, and the third manual (choir) is from an Alpha Juno 2 synth which I chopped up, retaining only the MIDI controls and interface. the fourth manual (solo) is from a Roland D-50 which I chopped up, but retained everything so I can incorporate synth sounds. You can see a bit of the chopped D-50 located above the solo manual.

The method of constructing the stops is founded on the principle that poverty is the mother of invention. I could not afford solenoids, so I have foregone automatic extending and retracting drawknobs from piston control (although I still have that function in the HW screen). Each stop is a light switch with it's housing removed and fastened horizontally behind the stop rail, instead of vertically on a wall. The drawknob ends are cabinet knobs purchased from Lee valley Tools. A dowel connects the knob to the switch (a drawknob is, after all, only an on/off switch), and the switch is wired to my Classic Organ Works MIDI control unit which in turn runs through a MIDIsport 4x4 to my dedicated HW computer. The draw has 5/8" travel, a little short, as I think a regular draw knob travels about 1- 1/4" but it feels just fine. And! do you see a computer screen anywhere? No? That's because the organ is completely controled manually (er, except for combination action, but I don't use that anyway, and I can use my mini keyboard if I desire). Hey! wait til you see the full set-up, I'll try to post a photo tomorrow, if not, I'm out of town for a week.

Yes Gunnar, my kitchen is finished.
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Morse

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PostWed May 03, 2006 8:03 am

Hi G'Day,

Thanks for the excellent photos. They show some very creative ideas. I was afraid try chopping up cheap keyboards as you did, so I opted for the rather expensive units from Classic Organs. But that's done now and they do work very well.

I really like your drawknob implementation. I considered using microswitches but discarded that idea because they would be too fragile to withstand yanking on them by the drawknob. Wall switches are certainly strong enough. It occurs to me that if you slot the hole at the end of the dowel you could easily get more drawknob travel distance.

Happy Organ Building,
Al Morse
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GDay

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PostFri May 26, 2006 11:38 pm

Hello fellow Hauptwerkians,

Here they are! Thanks to my son who took the photos and posted them here for me. The first photo is a close up of the console, still without couplers, but they'll go just under the music rest.

Image

The second photo shows the whole facade or buffet, or whatever it's called. Immediately above the music rest is a suede grill hiding my Rogers speakers, the upper cabinet to the right holds the amp, mixer, MIDI bay, and synth modules, I will mount (montre!) two decorative pipes in the two niches between the speakers and the cabinets.

Image

The lower right cabinet houses the computer, it's vented at the back so it doesn't get hot with the door closed. And it's QUIET! The lower left cabinet has two filing drawers for my sheet music. You can just see the computer screen lurking in the shadows to the right. Out of sight!

Image

I don't play standing up, I just didn't include the bench.

Image

So there you have it, what's been keeping me busy for a few years. Now that these photos are finally posted, I intend to sit for the next few years at this console and PLAY, YAHOO!

G'Day

P.S. Although I've taken great pains to hide all wiring, electronics, etc, it's all there, and the project was only completed with the encouragement and help from many of you over the last long whole. So thank you, thank you!
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BachsFugue

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PostSat May 27, 2006 1:53 am

G'Day,

That is absolutely stunning! Congratulations on a well-done project.
Cole Votaw -- Springfield, Ohio, USA
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CHRIS 037

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WOW!!!

PostSat May 27, 2006 11:34 am

G'Day,

Magnificent!!!

My congratulations too,

Leo Chris.
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claire

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PostSun May 28, 2006 7:55 am

Hi Rob,

I printed out your pictures to add to my "Hauptwerk binder," as an incredible example of what can be done with Hauptwerk. It looks as beautiful as it must sound. Congratulations. Great job!

Claire
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claire

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PostSun May 28, 2006 8:05 am

Sorry! I meant "Dear GDAY",

It's morning here and I haven't had enough caffeine yet.

Claire
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GDay

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PostMon May 29, 2006 9:58 am

Hello Claire,
I'm quite thrilled to hear that my project has found it's way into your photo collection. I've posted those photos, and various other posts over time, not only to excite myself, and get encouragement from others, but also to encourage others as well. I knew nothing about how to go about doing this in the beginning. I was constantly scanning the web to see what other folks were up to (and there is a lot going on home organ biulding wise). Every bit helped. As well, I was google imaging for consoles 'til the design concept came through. Cavaiile-Coll style tiers was my first decision, then I came upon an organ console whose tiers were raked back at an angle. This looked cool, but also allowed for one extra tier to be placed in my confined parameters. The whole facade is more 'generic' you might say, meant represent a small installtion in style. Again that was after much web scanning. In fact this project was made possible entirely through the information available on the web - right from Hauptwerk getgo.

. . .from the Artist formally known as Rob

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