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E.M.Skinner, opus 497 sample set by Sonus Paradisi

Existing and forthcoming Hauptwerk instruments, recommendations, ...
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david515mi

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Re: E.M.Skinner, opus 497 sample set by Sonus Paradisi

PostSat Mar 12, 2022 8:35 pm

To my ears, the one that really captures the sound of a Skinner is Immanuel Presbyterian, Los Angeles, from Evensong. I’m extremely happy with it.
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profeluisegarcia

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Re: E.M.Skinner, opus 497 sample set by Sonus Paradisi

PostTue Mar 15, 2022 11:10 am

Thanks Jiri very much for this gift. With appropriate registration and some voicing I now can enjoy the Skinner´s sound at home with the demo (I lack of room in my Mac for the entire set).
Best regards,
Luis
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scshull119

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Re: E.M.Skinner, opus 497 sample set by Sonus Paradisi

PostTue Mar 15, 2022 10:13 pm

I'll happily put in a good word for this instrument, not as an authentic representation of an unmodified E.M. Skinner organ (which it most definitely is not), but as a very nice example of twentieth-century American organ building as it once existed in hundreds if not thousands of houses of worship and civic buildings across the North American continent. In my (only somewhat educated) opinion, the principal stops, reeds and strings on this organ are quite lovely. The flutes, though perhaps not the standouts, are very nice as well. With the exception of a couple of solo stops (French Horn, English Horn), very little seems unmistakably Skinner to me, but the specification still offers a whole lot of color and the ensemble isn't bad either. Add in the harp, chimes, and celesta and you have a fine organ that can stand in for any number of "lovingly modified" Skinners, Austins, Kimballs, Casavants, etc from this time period.

The demo set should be more than sufficient to judge the character and quality of this organ. The sampling quality, to my ears anyway, meets or exceeds the bar set by Sonus Paradisi's other recent sample sets and is generally first rate. With a good pair of headphones the organ sounds as real and present as any other Hauptwerk sample set I've played, complete with a few flaws here and there.

So while it's not the landmark Skinner I've been waiting for (yes, please to Woolsey Hall or Girard College if they ever happen), I'm very much enjoying this set in the meantime.

A couple of additional thoughts:
* The sampled acoustic is just right for my taste. Warmly reverberant but not so wet that detail starts to get lost.
* The pedal matrix with assignable presets is a wonderful addition for organists with only 1-2 swell shoes available. This should be a built in feature in Hauptwerk IMO. Much more useful than tying the swell shoe assignments to the floating division manual assignments.
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mnailor

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Re: E.M.Skinner, opus 497 sample set by Sonus Paradisi

PostWed Mar 16, 2022 2:33 pm

After some of the comments above, I reinstalled the Immanuel Skinner, re-leveled my amps, and had another go at finding a good (for me) balance of the 3 perspectives and among the divisions, and added a quiet but longer reverb to the Direct ranks. Now I have to admit I was wrong (the last time was 1967 unless you ask my family).

San Francisco and Immanuel both have a lot going for them, and I won't give up so quickly on making adjustments to match my audio and room in the future. It's usually not been that necessary.
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MikeDC

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Re: E.M.Skinner, opus 497 sample set by Sonus Paradisi

PostWed Mar 16, 2022 5:36 pm

david515mi wrote:To my ears, the one that really captures the sound of a Skinner is Immanuel Presbyterian, Los Angeles, from Evensong. I’m extremely happy with it.


I concur. I have done quite a bit of "leveling out" of the ranks, but overall the sound is glorious.

P.S. I have all the Skinner sets, except for this latest from S.P. which I do not plan on purchasing. I also have the Arboretum A/S that is no longer available.
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