Hauptwerk Organ Customization

Quite often, forum members ask if it is possible to change certain aspects of Hauptwerk organs by modifying the XML. I'm writing this post in order to find out if there is interest in a "Hauptwerk XML Customization Service." As both a Hauptwerk user and a graduate student who spends most of his time writing computer code, I am familiar with Hauptwerk XML code and would be interested in offering such a service for a reasonable price provided there is enough interest.

As you can imagine, the possibilities are endless. The list below is only a brief outline of what is possible and I'm sure you can think of more and better ideas:
1. Addition and/or modification of screen layouts. For instance, it is possible to introduce vertical stop jambs (if not already provided) or modify existing stop jambs into a more user friendly format.
2. Addition of new stops. For example, it is possible to add a 32' Resultantbass to the pedal using a single 16' pedal rank. Similarly, a high pitched (2' or 1') octave rank can be turned into a Sesquialter or other mixture. Even though the tuning for such mixtures will not be perfect, these additions do not require significant extra RAM and can add brilliance to an organ.
3. Addition of new ranks. Existing ranks in an organ can be used to create new ranks. For example, an organ that has only a Viola da Gamba can be expanded by loading this rank twice, once as a Viola da Gamba and once as a Vox Celeste (after some revoicing of course). Furthermore, it is also possible to incorporate ranks (or effects) from other organs. Note that such changes do require additional RAM.
4. Addition of enclosures/swell pedals. Expression can be added to any division.
5. Addition of new manuals. Some organs have beautiful solo and accompanying stops on the same division. Even though not commonly used on church organs (unlike theatre organs), it is possible to duplicate that manual in Hauptwerk such that it is possible to accompany a solo stop using stops from the same division. Such expansions are especially attractive if your console has more manuals than the sampleset being used.
6. Addition of couplers. It is possible to add supers, subs, unison offs, intermanual, and intramanual couplers. It is also possible to add non-octave (for example 3rds/5ths) or "trick couplers" as found on theatre organs.
7. Addition of thumb pistons for:
i) Turn off groups of stops, for example, "All Mixtures Off" or "All Reeds Off"
ii) Keyboard swap, for example, swap Choir and Great on your console. This can be convenient when playing on the Swell and Choir at the same time, as it brings the Choir keyboard physically closer to the Swell keyboard.
8. Addition of a pedal split point. This makes it possible to play a bass line with the left foot, and a solo line with the right foot.

There are also a few caveats to keep in mind:
1. Editing the XML is only possible if it is permitted by the organ supplier (which also implies that the XML can not be encrypted).
2. If the sampleset supplier provides a patch for a sampleset at a later date, it is likely not to work if the XML has been modified.
3. In order for me to modify an XML, I first need to purchase the sampleset myself (although I do already own a limited number of samplesets). There would have to be enough people interested in modifications of a specific sampleset before I can purchase that sampleset.
4. Of course, changing the XML can be somewhat controversial, as it impacts the organ's authenticity. However, it also can also drastically increase the flexibility of an organ and/or adapt it to a particular console.

Here are a few screenshots which show an example of an expansion done to the Utrecht sampleset from Sonus Paradisi. Note that this organ is not meant to be representative of any pipe organ, but rather it is intended to maximize the tonal possibilities of the Utrecht sampleset, particularly for the use of Dutch chorale music.
1. https://db.tt/5ft9CEvu -> Note the addition of the 4th manual, which is a unified copy of the 3rd manual.
2. https://db.tt/LScWb6Sx -> Left stop jamb which was added from scratch but maintains the style of the original organ. All stop names in italics are additions but based on existing stops on the organ.
3. https://db.tt/Vh8a5kNK -> Right stop jamb which was also added from scratch. Note that the "Bovenwerk" is duplicated, once for the third manual, and once for the fourth manual.
4. https://db.tt/6BOLOspZ -> A screen designed to aid in the transcription of a midi performance to sheetmusic.

I apologize for the rather long post. I look forward to any feedback and/or critique you may have! Feel free to reply on the forum or via private message.

Jake (Canada)

I, for one, would be very supportive of this service. I always yearn for a bells or chimes rank on most sets I have, but have been unable to integrate the separate samples I have into other sets.

You have your first supporter, my friend!

I would possibly be interested.
Matt

Would be there several people interested in having Pedal Stops (borrowed from Caen, for example) in St. Omer free demo? If so, the cost could be reduced.

I'm not sure if I am writing about the same thing as subbass 32 is referring to but most of what he is asking already exists in Hauptwerk's Version IV. Couplers galore are available above and beyond what was originally on the sample that is offered. Some of the old European organs have strange coupler arrangements on them and I wonder why they did it that way, but it is of no consequence since I set up my couplers ( using real moving rocker tablets across the top keyboard). I even went as far as to add 16' and 4' couplers for each manual on organs that originally didn't even have them. I don't always use them (16's and 4's ) but it is nice to have if needed.

The Addition of thumb pistons for i) Turn off groups of stops, for example, "All Mixtures Off" or "All Reeds Off" can easily be set up via the auto detect feature and selecting a thumb piston.

The Keyboard swap, for example, swap Choir and Great on your console is easy to do as well when you set up the keyboards. Just make the Great the bottom manual if you want by selecting the Great from the keyboard drop down menu and auto-detecting the bottom keyboard ( if you have three keyboards and you want the bottom manual to be the great rather than the choir).

I am not good at all with computers or fooling around with software, etc. but Version IV makes adding couplers and swapping keyboards very easy.

It would be nice to be able to select stops from all the organs that I have purchased and create my own custom organ. There are several organs that I have that are either incomplete or could benefit from additional stops. I know that it has been done already by someone who uses the Sonus Paradisi stops from a few organs (you can download the custom organ if you have already purchased the separate organs) and combines them to make a bigger one.

I don't care if the reverb times are not all the same as I think it may give the impression that those added stops may be from a different division further or closer to the console.

But I have a question and it is about saving preferences. Many times I experiment with tunings, individual stop volumes, etc. and would like to save them just in case I want to revert to the "original" tuning. How do you save the above ?

Antoni

HW is an incredibly detailed program but inevitably there are times when a specific user might want a feature that is not available. Oftentimes there are workarounds which might be possible from within HW xml and which might require third party software. I have wondered about the merits of a HW subforum in which (just as the Free version forum is officially unsupported) people can post solutions, code and links to resources that achieve workarounds that others in the HW community might appreciate.

Whilst I've mentioned on a number of occasions the success I've had using j-organ to create stopjambs that are customised to my console for sample sets that don't have two native portrait screens, there are plenty of other examples. I have a MIDI toe piston that sends a signal to Adobe Acrobat to turn the page of whatever piece I'm playing on my music display screen. Equally there has been recent discussion about a certain sample set crashing when trying within HW to close it and load a different sample set. Using almost the same mechanism as I have done to turn pages, it would be quite straightforward to program a MIDI piston so that, instead of closing one sample and opening another (that risks crashing HW for a few users), instead it closes HW and reopens it with the second sample set already loading). In fact, I'm so used to running a little script that can be triggered from a MIDI control or from a Start menu shortcut, which closes HW and reopens it with another organ, that I had all but forgotten that you don't have to close HW when you switch organs. I always close HW then reopen it with another organ, as that's what my one-click solution does.

If you are going to charge to make customised changes to xml you might want to consider how you would (or whether you could even) protect the change in intellectural property rights to avoid others freeloading off your work.

[mdyde]

But I have a question and it is about saving preferences. Many times I experiment with tunings, individual stop volumes, etc. and would like to save them just in case I want to revert to the "original" tuning. How do you save the above ?

Hello Antoni,

(This is perhaps getting a bit off-topic.) All voicing for an organ is saved as part of the settings for that organ, alongside its MIDI assignments, etc. It isn't currently possible to save/export/import/revert/compare voicing except by backing up and restoring all settings for all organs (via Hauptwerk's backup/restore mechanism). However, adding a means to save/export/import/revert/compare voicing has been logged previously as an enhancement request.

hello,for me the most important i to have the organs with portrait screen too...

I recall, back in the old Windows Vista based Hauptwerk days (around 2009) , my friend set up some icon on my desk-top where I could load the same organ but without any preset controls. I found this "tool" to be useful because I could experiment with voicing options and not affect the original organ. When I logged off it remembered those voicing changes but did not affect the original organ. Basically I two organs that were the same organ but with different characteristics. It was a very useful option.

When Apple came out with their 64 bit operating system that option was no longer available.

Antoni

You can use one of the alternate HWs to achieve the same effect can't you?

Many thanks for the kind comments and advice, both on the forum and via private messages! There already have been some very interesting proposals.

I'm certainly interested in offering this service to interested Hauptwerk users. If you have a particular project in mind, feel free to send me a message and I'll give you a price estimate. As Luis has already implied, if multiple people are interested in the same modifications, then the price can be split among several users. Within the next week I'll work on a free example modification of St. Omer Demo as a demonstration of what some of the possibilities are.

As Antoni has pointed out, some of the modifications I list are already possible thanks to the versatility of Hauptwerk. Of course, if one is comfortable using these features in Hauptwerk, then there is no need to make changes to the organ definition file (ODF). However, for people who use touch screens, it can be convenient to have all buttons integrated into the organ's stop jambs rather than using the separate HW panels. This is potentially easier to use and looks cleaner. In addition, modifying the ODF offers far more flexibility than the built-in Hauptwerk panels. For example, a "Unison Off" is not included in the Hauptwerk couplers panel, but it is possible to program this in the ODF.

Best regards,

Jake
(I'm currently travelling so my responses might be somewhat slow, I'll be faster towards the end of the week)

A while back I promised a sample organ to demonstrate some of the possibilities with modifying Hauptwerk organ definition files (ODFs). I'm sharing a relatively simple extension of St. Omer demo as an example. Thanks to Jiri for the original St. Omer demo, and thanks to Luis for the initial idea and beta testing.

I've posted the extended St. Omer demo on Dropbox (it's approximately 0.5 GB). Note that Dropbox does have a bandwidth limit, so if the link below gives a "404 Error", please try again tomorrow. This update should be installed on Hauptwerk like any other organ using the Hauptwerk installer and can be found here:
https://db.tt/Bwfn0guD

This organ is not meant to be a complete organ, but a rather a demonstration of a few ways in which an organ can be expanded by modifying the ODF. In order to use this extension, you first need to have the St. Omer demo sample set from Sonus Paradisi installed on your Hauptwerk system.

After installing the organ, you can see that the original demo St. Omer is left intact as much as possible, and it can still be used as originally supplied by Jiri. However, there is a new tab labeled “Extension” which only includes the working new and old stops (non-working old ones are removed from this screen). The layout is color-coded and is based on one of Jiri's simplified stop layouts.

The extended version includes the following modifications with respect to the original demo:
1. Postif Cornet range is extended down to tenor G
2. A Cornet Douce V is added to Positif which is constructed using the Flute Douce 4' on the Positif
3. Recit-Positif 8' coupler added
4. Bourdon 16' and Montre 16' added to the Grand Orgue. They are unified with the Bourdon 8' and Montre 8' on the Grand Orgue respectively. Note that the lowest octaves of these 16' ranks are added by repitching the lowest octave of the two 8' ranks.
5. The Vox Celeste 8' was added on the Recit by revoicing a second instance of the Viola di Gamba 8'.
6. The Bombarde 16' and Clairon 4' were added to the Recit by unifying them with the Trompete 8'. The missing octaves at the top and bottom were not added in this case. Note these reeds are quite loud, but I left them as is in order to not change the original organ.
7. The Flute 16', Flute 8', and Flute 4' were added to the Pedale using the Positif Bourdon 16' in the demo sample for Caen.
8. The Contrebasse 16' is also taken from the Caen demo. It is also combined with the Bourdon 16' to form the Resultantbass 32' on the Pedale.
9. The Bombarde 16', Trompete 8', and Clairon 4' on the Pedale are unified using the Bombarde 16' from the Caen demo.
10. Montre 8' from the Grand Orgue is also added to the pedal
11. Positif-Pedale and Recit-Pedale couplers added.

Thanks, and hope you enjoy!

Jake

All:
Technically , if one buys a sample set, they own it and therefore can do what ever they want with it. One thing that I realized after buying 20 organs is that every sample set that I buy has something missing, or better said, something that I wished it had. One sample set may have a pedal division that is a tad incomplete, or another may have too few stops on a particular manual. One organ may have splendid acoustics, too few stops, only two manuals when you preferred three, or the registers are incomplete.

What Subbas is suggesting is that if we own several sample sets , we can pick and choose what stops we want on a "custom" organ. There is no need to buy yet another larger sample set that will have the right number of manuals and stops but possibly have poor acoustics, etc.

What Subbas has to offer is an excellent idea and I would support him in his idea.
Antoni

I got a message from Dropbox saying that the public link (for St. Omer Demo Extension) is suspended due to "generating excessive traffic." I just bought an upgrade to my Dropbox account, so that should fix the issue. Let me know if there are problems downloading the installation file.

When I have some spare time, I'll prepare an update to this extended organ based on feedback I have received so far.

Thanks,

Jake

Hello,

I've posted an updated version of the St. Omer DEMO Extension on DropBox implementing a few suggestions received mostly via private messages:
https://db.tt/Ioa8qxKt

A few notes:
1) Before installing this update, you need have both the original St. Omer DEMO from Sonus Paradisi and the version 1 extension installed (https://db.tt/Bwfn0guD).
2) When loading the organ, ensure that the “Front” ranks are being directed to “Front”, and “Rear” to “Rear". Of course, if you're using stereo, then there is no need to load the “Rear” ranks. For some people, the new ranks in version 1 were too loud, because both “Front” and “Rear” were being loaded to “Front” only.
3) As was mentioned before, this organ is a demonstration of the possibilities in modifying the ODF rather than a “finished” organ, but of course feel free to critique any aspect of it .

Let me know if there are problems with the installation.

A few more details on the update:
Version 2 of the extension adds the following to the additions of version 1:
1) A new voicing page called “Intonation” was added which allows one to adjust the tone and volume of all ranks, and the pitch for the strings of the Recit.
2) A new 7 rank mixture was added to the Grand Orgue. It is a copy of the 5 rank Plein Jeu on the Postif with two additional ranks added.
3) A new organ ID of 801710 is used instead of the former 1710.
4) Some minor re-voicing.

I'm currently working on a few other customized organs...more updates to follow in the future!

Thanks,

Jake