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New sample set: Tonally unaltered Henry Willis 1894

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Charles Braund

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New sample set: Tonally unaltered Henry Willis 1894

PostTue Jan 18, 2022 9:27 pm

I am pleased to announce the release of a completely original Father Willis organ dating from 1894.
Unlike some other FW instruments which used pipes or stops from an older instrument, this organ was built completely new from scratch for a church completed in 1888. Apart from the provision of a balanced swell pedal to replace the original along with a replacement pedalboard and an electric blower some years ago, the instrument was left untouched over the years apart from tuning.
The organ was restored in 2002 which likewise did not make any changes. Work included re-leathering the pneumatics and other wear and tear repairs from a hundred years plus of use as well as a thorough cleaning throughout. However, no tonal changes or additions were made and the original pneumatic action was retained.
The instrument is from the late period of FW (seven years before his death) and has a typical specification from the time including a swell celeste (generally absent from earlier instruments). Although no additional stops have been added to the HW version we have increased the couplers and playing aids, added tremulants to the swell and choir and enclosed the choir for flexibility. The manual compass has also been extended to 61 notes and the pedal to 32 notes..
The Mk 1 release is presented dry with a choice of either the basic HW graphics or as a photo realistic version developed by Olivia Nagioff.
The Mk 2 version will be wet and is currently nearing completion. This may be released as a stand alone alternative or it may be included as a second perspective addition to the original Mk 1 version.

Details of the new release including sound demos can be found at:
Silver Octopus Studios
https://www.silveroctopus.co.uk/henry-willis-1894
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seh52

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Re: New sample set: Tonally unaltered Henry Willis 1894

PostWed Jan 19, 2022 1:02 am

Thanks for offering this beautiful organ!
Will it work in HW 4.2?
What computer resources are needed?
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Charles Braund

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Re: New sample set: Tonally unaltered Henry Willis 1894

PostWed Jan 19, 2022 1:30 am

Currently, the only upload on my cloud server is for the V, VI (and VII) versions. However, the short answer is "yes". At the moment, I am not running a HW IV machine but I think that Olivia who developed the graphics has it up and running on both. If you are interested, I'll see whether she has the IV version or I may indeed already have it myself. Of course, once the library is run on a HWV machine and above it will not "backload" to a IV machine as it stands. However, it's really just a case of uploading a separate HWIV compatible version to the server.
Otherwise, it's not a particularly demanding library in terms of memory and computer power and should run on 4Gb though 8Gb would be better to allow for other applications.
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IainStinson

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Re: New sample set: Tonally unaltered Henry Willis 1894

PostWed Jan 19, 2022 4:25 am

I think this is the NPOR record for this instrument. https://www.npor.org.uk/NPORView.html?RI=S00052. Lancashire Longridge, St. Paul, Church StreetI. There photographs of the main case and console in the record.
It has a grade 1 historic organ certificate from BIOS.
Should be an interesting addition to the Hauptwerk set of samples.


Iain

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