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

The full sampleset sounds great!

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

Yes, also thank you Sesquialtera. Very useful modification

Also works on Hauptwerk VI.

I did rename and move the original folder so that it will be easy to replace the modified one when the time comes to purchase the full sample set.

Lawrence

Thank you very much, Sesquialtera. In the past years, I have also always modified other demo sets in such a way that the active stops were clearly visible. I hate it when you have to search through dozens of stops to see which ones are usable.

However, I honestly don't think it's quite fair to completely hide all the other stops. (looks pretty awful too, doesn't it?) After all, the provider of the sample set wants to show what all you get when you buy it. So it would be enough if the active stops were displayed in a different color (that's how I did it). And this could be done very easily by the provider.

Best regards
organplayer

A flute in the II. manual whistles over two or three octaves from the last hole.
Sampleset uninstalled because of too bad quality.

Sounds like a harmonic flute to me... It seems like there are two equally valid approaches when the real organ has defects or awkward voicing: fix them digitally or document them as found. I do happen to like hearing the age and personality of the organ rather than a cleaned-up sound, but I know that isn't for everyone.

The only note that sounds slightly off is d1. Works fine with other stops. The "chiff" is supposed to be there in the rest.

Hello
A member (PCF) wrote to me

In the Mixer View, a switch has been included where you can select whether the GT Mixture stop will sound Mixture or Second Diapason. The GT Mixture stop is not part of the 41-stop organ, but the Second Diapason is. What would be great is if the artwork for the Mixture/Second Diapason could be similar to the other 41-stop buttons, to indicate to users that there is a Second Diapason.

I didn't know about this strange choice (Mixture or second diapason),
but I've made a update version of my file, to show this stop in the 'simple' view.
You can download the file here : https://bayfiles.com/72z9NdJcx6/simple_rar
Then, the process is the same : 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...

Enjoying the heck out of this! I don't suppose SP stopped at Girard college chapel on their US trip...

I am unable to install your modified "simple" stops template in HW 4.2 running on my Win7 computer after several unsuccessful attempts.

1) The decompressed rar files do not contain a directory named "simple" that can be used to replace the SP "simple" directory in: HauptwerkSampleSetsAndComponents/OrganInstallationPackages/002304/stops/simple.

2) I changed the name of the "simple.rar" decompressed data file extracted by winrar to "simple"; renamed the original file to "simple-xxx"; and replaced the latter with the renamed winrar-produced directory "simple."

3) I tried to manually run the new directory's "resources.bat" but it complained that it could not find "bloom".

4) Ultimately I gave up and refreshed the cache. And, as expected, the process crashed and returned an error message.

Obviously there are steps here that I am missing. Help!

@Castaway:
Try this:uncompress the (bitmap-)files from the downloaded .rar-archive to the named directory HauptwerkSampleSetsAndComponents/OrganInstallationPackages/002304/stops/simple. This will replace the old bitmaps there. If you like, you can make a backup first (like copy the old folder "../simple" to /../simple-origin",
Then releload the sample set so that the new bitmaps will be cached for use.

A flute in the II. manual whistles over two or three octaves from the last hole.
Sampleset uninstalled because of too bad quality.

I AGREE COMPLETELY with you vpo-organist.

This is absolutely an inferior sample set, and the quality is very poor.

I was looking for a large American organ to use in a lot of the repertoire that I perform, and very foolishly bought this without further investigation. The demos on the SP website do not "demonstrate" this type of organ in the way that it would have been used back in the days when E. M. Skinner organs reigned as king amongst American organs. Just playing through a short piece, using a few stops shows nothing. I'm not attacking the performers - but this is a "special type" of instrument, requiring full use for it to show whether or not it succeeds.

I've been organist of three churches with fine Skinner organs, including one fully and correctly restored E. M. Skinner.

This sample set contains few of the characteristics of any of those instruments, and just excusing it saying that the organ has had "alterations" over the years doesn't change the fact of what it is. BUYER BEWARE!

If all you want to do is play around with a few solo stops, which sound more or less OK, then go ahead and get this, but if you seek more, I suggest you pass. There is no "grand ensemble" here, and after agonizing for a day with it, I gave it up. I tried every trick that I know to make this work, and I know LOTS of tricks, but it was a pointless waste of time and effort. I could not produce a single recording of anything that was satisfactory to me.

If you want a large, American organ that you can USE to play the type of repertoire one would expect to hear on an instrument like this, you'd do well to avoid this thing!

I complained about it and was told that I should view my purchase as a "donation" in order to support and keep up the recording and making of sample sets.

Really? A donation, is something I'd be glad to give because I wanted to, but this is a complete waste of money, and as vpo-organist said, uninstalled and discarded.

By the way, speaking of "donations," in the past I've spent weeks researching and preparing extensive articles and demo recordings for a number of sample set makers including the maker of this set. Maybe I should review this one...

The error in buying it was ENTIRELY MINE, and I should have known better. Live and learn? Yes, that's true. What I have learned is this will be the LAST time I act so foolishly.

Agnus_dei,

Do you have an E. M. Skinner sampleset that you *would* recommend?

Thank you!

Hi mnailor.

Sorry, I don't know your name.

I'm not a fan of any of the Skinner organs for sale. The instruments themselves are not top-notch, so, anything you get as "OK, but not great," in my opinion.

I don't know if some of the ones by Evensong are better. I haven't updated beyond HW4, so, I can't use any of those, as I think they all need HW6.

I find I get LOTS of organs like Salisbury and Peterborough for the big American pieces, but, things like harps, chimes, etc. need to be "simulated" as needed.

Even there, you can work around it, but surely it's not the same as the real thing.

I think you mentioned the Girard College Skinner. Now THAT is a top-line one, but, you have to know how to sample it, and then how to use it too!

Peace,

David

Thanks, David. This was the best Skinner so far to my ears, but I've never heard a large one in person, just CDs, so I trust that you'd know better what to listen for. Of the other sampleset producers' E. M. Skinners I've bought (that's literally all of them), I only kept St. Marks Glendale installed, and I don't use the extensions on that, so it's a small organ.

Mark Nailor

@Insulaner

Thank you for your suggestion. I might try it. (See below.)

I have continued evaluating the sample -- a cumbersome task when detecting the sample set stops from all the stops found in the finished product's template.

I think I will keep waiting and continue to use my current English organ sound sample set instead. England, after all, is where Skinner received many of his ideas. This Skinner organ sounds nothing like the several Skinners I have heard in person. And it is no better than the other American Skinner sets that I have evaluated.