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

I have the pleasure to introduce the Ernest M. Skinner, op. 497 sample set for Hauptwerk. The organ was built in 1924 and it is installed in the Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco. An example of the E.M.Skinner fine organ design in the twenties.

The organ has 4 manuals and a pedal (incl. 32' Contrebombarde). The organ's main divisions are located in chambers surrounding the main altar. An echo division is located in a separate chamber at the back of the room. When built, the organ contained 58 ranks. Not much can be tracked reliably about its history, but a few facts are known: In 1926, Skinner himself changed two stops, swapping the Swell Gamba for an Aeoline, and replacing the Gross Bourdon on the Solo for a Flauto Mirabilis. Sometime in the 1960s, the organ was rebuilt and enlarged by Swain & Kates. In 1993, a new console was supplied by Schoenstein. Over its history, the instrument has grown to almost 90 ranks and 88 sounding stops.

The sample set can be used in Hauptwerk version 4.2 and higher, it will work equally well in Hauptwerk 5, 6, or 7. the Advanced version is necessary due to the size of the virtual instrument. It is available in a surround (6-channels) format.

The vol. 1 of the Skinner, op. 497 sample set is given for free to everyone. It cannot be called a "demo" sample set properly, because it features an instrument of 41 speaking stops on 4 manuals and pedal. The disposition of this free sample set was chosen carefuly to make the result similar to existing smaller Skinner organs. It is, therefore, a stand-alone Skinner organ on its own.

Everyone is invited to download and use this vol. 1, and then, perhaps, upgrade to the full Skinner opus 497 by acquiring also the vol. 2. More details are found on the web pages dedicated to this sample set.

Such a welcome set!
Started with the demo - big files! Then immediately purchased. More big files
All downloaded fairly quickly with no issues.
Demo is fully functional, but you can't see what works and what doesn't.

Only complaint, keyboards are numbered and not named.
Terrible idea. Seems some foreign vendors like that.
Makes Floating Division screen and LCDs ugly - doesn't affect functionality.

Great vintage Skinner, great visuals. Excellent job!
Love the Pedal matrix!!!

Thank you,

Steve

Smfrank wrote:

some foreign vendors

I think this is an international forum - so it is hard to decide who is a "foreign vendor".

Iain

I think this is an international forum - so it is hard to decide who is a "foreign vendor".

You're right. European vendors.
Still wish they'd used names rather than numbers!!!!
Steve

I know where I am when a sampleset provider numbers the keyboards as the standard is that you count upwards from the bottom. There is no international standard for naming keyboards or for arranging them in any particular order, and if you look at the organs available for Hauptwerk you will find that they vary a great deal.

Very interesting! Looks like HW7 can wait for a while.

I know where I am when a sampleset provider numbers the keyboards as the standard is that you count upwards from the bottom. There is no international standard for naming keyboards or for arranging them in any particular order, and if you look at the organs available for Hauptwerk you will find that they vary a great deal.

Except that E.M. Skinner used names. The sample set should, also.
Steve

The sampleset uses names or abbreviations like CH, GT, ... on every screen it supplies. The manuals are numbered in one-time configuration windows like MIDI learn, but they are numbered the way we do it in the US. I don't use LCDs, but isn't 1 for CH, 2 for GT, 3 for SW, and 4 for SO+EC just what we'd expect? Some US consoles use Roman numerals instead of division names in places, too.

The sampleset uses names or abbreviations like CH, GT, ... on every screen it supplies. The manuals are numbered in one-time configuration windows like MIDI learn, but they are numbered the way we do it in the US. I don't use LCDs, but isn't 1 for CH, 2 for GT, 3 for SW, and 4 for SO+EC just what we'd expect? Some US consoles use Roman numerals instead of division names in places, too.

Not buying that logic. I do a lot of switching with floating divisions.
Not only do the numbers appear in the LCDs but the large Floating division palette and also the minis. Yeah, I will get used to it, but shouldn’t have to. Ernest used names. Period.
Steve

Does anyone know if Swain & Kates revoiced the Skinner pipework or if they just added to it?

Does anyone know if Swain & Kates revoiced the Skinner pipework or if they just added to it?

Definitely re-voiced. They and likely others over the years. It's been modified a good bit.

Hello Jiri,
thank you very much for the test opportunity.

In the Swell division the fullversion has a Flute 4' but in the demo instead it exist a Prinzipal 4'.

The concert flute 8' (Choir) has very unpleasant wind noise in c2 c#2 d2. It would be advantageous to use the neighboring pipes instead.

Hello,

In the Swell division the fullversion has a Flute 4' but in the demo instead it exist a Prinzipal 4'.

The full version has both, Flute 4 and Principal 4 on the Swell. Since I have chosen to give the Flute 4 on the Positiv, I have chosen to give Principal 4 on the Swell, for variety, and also because in this way, there is the full principal chorus of the Swell given for free. There was an omission in the specification on my web, I corrected it now. Thank you for your vigilance.

The concert flute 8' (Choir) has very unpleasant wind noise in c2 c#2 d2. It would be advantageous to use the neighboring pipes instead.

My observation is, that from the c2, this Flute starts to be "windy" overall. It seems to be the character of the stop. Maybe, it is excessive on the tones c2, c#2, d2 to your ears. Contra gustum non est disputandum. If you personaly find those tones offensive, you can try to tweak the sound of the pipes using the Hauptwerk Voicing.

Hello,
I've darkened all the unavailable stops, to make the vol.1 easier to use. (in the simple view only)


The dark pictures are in this folder :
https://bayfiles.com/z0z1Y5Icx1/simple_rar

Note : It works for me with my HW 4.2 version, but I don't know for the other versions.
You'll have to unrar, and replace the folder located here :
HauptwerkSampleSetsAndComponents/OrganInstallationPackages/002304/stops/simple

then you'll need to refresh the cache by clicking : load organ, adjusting rank audio, memory options...

Thank you very much Mr. Zurek for this new organ !

Thank you Sesquialtera. Very useful. It works fine on my iMac and HW 7.