Cavaillé-Coll replica Belgium

My new console is a replica of the one from the Cavaillé-Coll organ in the Jesuit house in Heverlee, Belgium.
I had to make some minor modifications because of 2 reasons: I wanted the new console to accommodate all the parts of my former Johannus console and I wanted to put the pedalboard more forwards compared to the one in the original console.
I use a touchscreen, making expensive drawknobs redundant.
As I am using the Metz sampleset, you will hopefully agree that the sound matches the look.
It took a lot of planning, measuring (I have spent several hours taking all the measures of the original console), drawing and designing.
A skillful and enthusiastic carpenter did the job.
After many years of dreaming this dream finally has come true!

Very lovely! The cabinetry is splendid

Joris - nice work!! Just as handsome from the back as it is from the front!! Thanks for sharing the pix!!

-Mark

Thanks for the kind compliments.
I include here some pictures of the original console:





Joris

Some pictures taken during the construction:

The very beginning:


And from here it started to look like an organ console:



And even more:


The frame is built from solid French oak. Panels are made from laminated oak.

Joris;

Truly beautiful.

I'm sure you will have many years of enjoyment from it.

Joris,

Splendid pix!! Thank you for sharing!! What a nice organ to sit at and play!

Regards,
Mark

Yes, indeed!

And I was also thinking, what a nice workshop in which to build a console
No doubt there's a CNC machine near by?

Graham

Thank you all for your kind comments!

Another detail that I didn't mention so far, is that the console can be split into two parts, so that we could move it into the house, to the the first floor, without the help of a moving company.

The workshop where it was manufactured has a large CNC machine, indeed, but it was only used for this support:



All the rest was made with classical woodworking machinery.

The consoles of Cavaillé-Coll have undergone some evolution during his life as an organ builder. Unfortunately there is little known about the craftsmen who made the casings and the consoles. I recently had a discussion about this topic with Gilbert Huybens, who made the first inventory of Cavaillé-Coll's instruments.
This console (the orginal one) dates from 1880. By that time, all his consoles were constructed in the same way. Only the details of the mouldings and the frames of the panels could be slightly different.

Even though this may be a modest organ (by stops count), everything looks very proportional and indeed a close replica, I would say with flying colors you have pulled it off! And I can tell some real attention to detail went into that woodwork

It is still a project 'under construction'. The footrests are the next item to be added. Having pedals for couplers and especially the 'pédales de combinaisons' would be very convenient but I haven't decided yet how to do it.
As for the tilting stop tabs : I do not use them. They belong to the Johannus organ, which is still working, but hardly ever used.

The upper lid can be removed by lifting it.


Underneath is the heart of the Johannus organ:


The lower central panel can easily be removed in order to get access to the Hauptwerk computer. And yes, that's where I go to turn it on ...


The speaker in the middle is the woofer from the Johannus organ. I also use it with Hauptwerk. Works very well, considering that the organ stands in a room of only 16 m2.

I currently don't use the speakers built into my Johannus but I've been tempted to revive them. I don't enjoy the Johannus sounds, but I do enjoy the sub firing right into my legs. It makes the whole thing a little more visceral; you get a great effect and don't have to turn it up too loudly. Also, my particular model is a 3m and has upward firing speakers right behind the 3rd manual inside the case (sound leaks out through the keyboards) and I've been tempted to cut them loose and give them their own amp so they can take a whole organ mix down. It would make the sound more present right in front of me. The problem is I've run out of 'outs' on my interface! I did, for a while, feed an organ mix-down to the analogue audio in of the Johannus, but by doing so, I couldn't use the stop tabs for midi without activating the Johannus sounds and frankly, the built-in Johannus amp on mine is very very loud. The hum is outright obnoxious. So, by the time I get a new amp involved, I might as well just cut the speakers loose and use them for my own devices!

Hi Romanos,

I routed the lower 18 notes of all 16 and 32 foot flue stops to a separate channel on the sound card and connected it directly to the (Johannus) amp of the woofer. A friendly representative from Johannus told me where to connect it. It works fine here. The major part of the sound is routed to 2 Yamaha monitors, which are placed somewhere in the room. I didn’t like the sound from an organ to arise from somewhere between my knees. and there is much more clarity in the sound from the monitors. If it worked for me, it should work for you too, I think.

Joris

Yes, I don't care much for manual sounds coming from down by my legs. The manual division mix-down idea I mentioned was mostly to provide the clarity that comes from having the sound a little closer and to have the sounds be coming from more than one place (making a "broader" sound which is a little more realistic, at least in one way). I have 6 primary studio monitors off to either side in my room (See the most recent update on "Building a dream in Oklahoma" in the post pics of your instruments section). My ultimate dream is to do something like the Noorlander or Mixtuur custom consoles that have larger cases (some even with small facades) and to have a speaker array up over my head with each channel firing through two speakers, one forward, one up, to create a more realistic sound. I just have to win the lotto first!

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