Walnut Console
Walnut Console
Here is my Hauptwerk organ, which I built last year with the help of a friend:
Re: Walnut Console
That's right up there with a piece of treasured art. You certainly can be very proud. Assume the lack of expression pedals and thumb pistons was done on purpose. Thanks for sharing.
Rgds,
Ed
Rgds,
Ed
Re: Walnut Console
I think this is Andre Knevel ( http://www.andreknevel.com/ )?
Re: Walnut Console
Unbelievable, that is pretty stunning! 
I agree with Ed, pretty much a work of art.
How do you feel about using the dual touchscreens? Is there a big transition / learning curve? Do you miss the feedback of actually touching something "real" when pulling out stops?
I love the padded bench too, think I will have to copy that idea for my organ.
I agree with Ed, pretty much a work of art. How do you feel about using the dual touchscreens? Is there a big transition / learning curve? Do you miss the feedback of actually touching something "real" when pulling out stops?
I love the padded bench too, think I will have to copy that idea for my organ.
Re: Walnut Console
Are you considering giving home concerts / tours (20 people or so up close to the console etc)? I would be there in a heartbeat, and I know others who would love to listen to a pure organ concert from you again... 
Re: Walnut Console
You’re right, that is André playing. He came over last year, right after I installed Kampen on it. He had lessons from Willem Hendrik Zwart back in the day on the very organ itself, and plays it still almost yearly, so he is very familiar with it. He absolutely loved it!
And yes, expression pedals and thumb pistons were left off intentionally. I want it to feel very much like the real thing. Notice the short vertical distance from the top of bench to the Rugwerk keys, the fact that the bench is padded, and the overall massiveness of the organ (it’s over 8 feet wide and 7 feet high!). These are all general traits of the real organ and they were done intentionally to mimic it. Now if I could just find true tracker-touch keyboards (I’m thinking wooden keys 2 feet long or so...one day ).
The dual touchscreens work great. I contemplated drawstops, but since so many organs have different stop layout configurations and color schemes, I went with touchscreens. Having a photo of the stops for a background is great. Also, the touchscreens are both 23 inch, so I never have an issue with hitting the wrong stop due to small size.
The touchscreens were very easy to get used to. A gentle tap is sure much easier to do while playing than pulling the heavy stops. I’ve had the privilege of playing the actual organ in Kampen several times, and it always requires the help of a registration assistant or two, mostly due to the reach required to grab the outside stops. So, the way I look at it, touchscreens make it possible to do your own registration changes while playing, and yet allow you to feel a bit of that reach required of the real organ.
The closer I can get it to feel and sound like the real organ, the more inspired I am to play it!
Sorry for misleading you into thinking I was André. I’m just a friend and former student.
Thanks for the compliments!
And yes, expression pedals and thumb pistons were left off intentionally. I want it to feel very much like the real thing. Notice the short vertical distance from the top of bench to the Rugwerk keys, the fact that the bench is padded, and the overall massiveness of the organ (it’s over 8 feet wide and 7 feet high!). These are all general traits of the real organ and they were done intentionally to mimic it. Now if I could just find true tracker-touch keyboards (I’m thinking wooden keys 2 feet long or so...one day
). The dual touchscreens work great. I contemplated drawstops, but since so many organs have different stop layout configurations and color schemes, I went with touchscreens. Having a photo of the stops for a background is great. Also, the touchscreens are both 23 inch, so I never have an issue with hitting the wrong stop due to small size.
The touchscreens were very easy to get used to. A gentle tap is sure much easier to do while playing than pulling the heavy stops. I’ve had the privilege of playing the actual organ in Kampen several times, and it always requires the help of a registration assistant or two, mostly due to the reach required to grab the outside stops. So, the way I look at it, touchscreens make it possible to do your own registration changes while playing, and yet allow you to feel a bit of that reach required of the real organ.
The closer I can get it to feel and sound like the real organ, the more inspired I am to play it!
Sorry for misleading you into thinking I was André. I’m just a friend and former student.
Thanks for the compliments!
Re: Walnut Console
What are you using for speakers, etc?
Rgds,
Ed
Rgds,
Ed
Re: Walnut Console
I'm using Energy RC-30 towers, a 10" sub, Yamaha receiver, Focusrite Saffire soundcard, i7 24GB computer.