Hauptwerk Virtual Pipe Organ

First sounds of the upcoming Blackburn Cathedral HW set, courtesy of John Hosking (co-proprietor of Llannerch Organs, who will release the set, and is soon to take up the position of Organist in Residence there)

https://contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/52274

https://llannerchorgans.square.site/

=> 600 GBP => 828 EUR => not my price range, sorry

Also, does that £600 include vat and import duties to the rest of Europe, now that the full costs of Brexit are applied?

If Llannerch Organs is a small company with low sales, then it may not be subject to sales tax. As far as I know, there are no customs duties for a download (only if e.g. a CD, DVD or USB stick or similar is sent).

Any more news about the upcoming organ, please?

Following…..

John Hosking provides our first recording!
https://youtu.be/zT9vr7KfLMQ

Apparently will be released in the coming 1-2 weeks

Let me just say, having heard every note of every stop in the course of assisting with the production of this set…

You all are in for a treat!

I first heard Blackburn on a Priory recording by Kevin Bowyer, and I’ve wanted to play it ever since then…
So, for me it’s been a rare privilege to be able to help bring this to light. Plus there’s the added bonus that the sound is being vetted by John (newly appointed artist in residence) as well as the current DoM and former DoM John Bertalot.

That team of folks has been very particular to ensure the sound of the HW version is as close and faithful to the real thing as possible.

It’s a rare occasion that a sampleset can be vetted by those who know the instrument so well, and I believe that will make for a very accurate result.

I installed the demo and the first thing that I noticed was that the A4 (note 69) on the GT Principal 8 in all perspectives seems to be using the sample of the Bb above it, or is otherwise up by half a semitone. The HW voicing settings can only lower the pitch by 50 cents, which isn't enough to put it back in tune.

Since no one else seems to have mentioned this in the month that it's been released, is this an error with my installation? I followed the instructions at https://llannerchorgans.square.site/blackburn-cathedral.

Edit: I hadn't set the temperament to Equal, after doing so the problem fixed itself.

I emailed John Hoskins about the 8' Principal A4 on the Great. He told me to switch from Original Organ Temperament to Equal Temperament, which solved the problem. He also said that they would be issuing an update soon as there are one or two other problems, the chief of which being that the pedal Septieme is playing a fifth instead of a seventh and needs to be corrected.

He also clarified that the Diffuse perspective was the one furthest from the pipework, with the Ambient somewhat closer. However, walking round the cathedral the organ can sound more or less direct in different parts of the building depending on where you are and how the furniture is arranged as much as how far you are from the pipes.