Extension for the Rotterdam Hoofdorgel Sample-set

[subbas32]

Dear fellow Hauptwerkers,

This has been a long time in the making (since 2016!): the "Rotterdam Hoofdorgel extension" is finally ready to see the light of day!

Features:
This project adds a number of new features to the Rotterdam Hoofdorgel (sampled by Sonus Paradisi), including:
1. more than 50 new stops to further increase the versatility of this organ
2. range extensions for all keyboards to 61 notes (5 octaves)
3. addition of enclosures for the Rugwerk and Borstwerk
4. divisional cancels for all keyboards
5. French style sostenutos for each keyboard (as found on the organ at St. Eustache, Paris)
6. a split or divided pedal, with adjustable split point
7. a single simple stop jamb in horizontal orientation
8. left and right split simple stop jambs in horizontal and vertical orientations
9. an alternate sample for the Bovenwerk Cymbel III with a more traditional composition
10. option to couple the bass and treble stops of the chamades together for quicker registration changes

Screenshot:
A screenshot of the simple stop jamb layout to give an impression of the new specifications can be downloaded from here. In the screenshot, the new stops and features are turned on, while the original stops are off.

Thanks:
Sincere thanks to the many people who were involved in making this project a reality:
- Hauptwerk forum members for ideas and inspiration
- beta testers, Martijn70, ludu, and Tremulant for carefully testing the extension and providing valuable feedback
- Sonus Paradisi for making the spectacular Rotterdam sample-set on which this extension is based

Requirements:
In order to use the extension, you'll need to first own the Rotterdam Hoofdorgel surround sample-set from Sonus Paradisi (version 1.46). HW5 or newer is required to load the extension. Please note that the computing requirements of the extension are significant. If you intend to load both front and rear samples, I would recommend a PC with with ~96 GB of RAM. The ODF of the extension is encrypted.

Pricing:
The cost of the extension is US $149. The installation file will be available within the next few days. If you're interested in purchasing it please send me an email with "Rotterdam Extension" in the subject line. I'll then send an invoice using PayPal. My email address is:
customhworgans@gmail.com

Many thanks for taking the time to read this post!

Kind regards,

Jake

[Henk61]

Great Jake!

Email send!

Greetings Henk

[marcothart]

Wow, that’s great news! Quite an impressive disposition on the image (Hayo Boerema would certainly adore these extensions on his instrument!).
Very curious about the sound …

Cheers,
Marco

[voet]

Very impressive, Jake. Finally, a 8' Basson-Hautbois in the Bovenwerk! The other things will be nice to have as well. I look forward to adding this to my collection.

[Roglu]

Unfortunately, I noticed an unpleasant sound in the demo version. It is very likely that it sounds the same in the original. It is the small b in the Hauptwerk register Octaav8.

[subbas32]

Status update:
The installation file for the Rotterdam extension is now available for download.

What's next:
Over the coming weeks, I'll be collecting your feedback on the extension which will go towards an update (no additional cost). So far the list includes:
- addition of photo-realistic stop jambs
- a visual cue to differentiate the original stops from the added stops
- a slimmed down version of the extension to reduce the RAM requirements

Best regards,

Jake

[profeluisegarcia]

¡Great work, Jake!

In fact, the extensión you made for the Batz-Utrecht organ, enhanced significantly the musical possibilities of this instrument. So, on Rotterdam´s the extension will be much more useful for all organ literature.

Congratulations¡

Luis

[jerrynazard]

Jake,

I've used it daily for the past two weeks, and the set is magnificent. In your next update, may I suggest adding a kitchen sink stop? At that point, the extension set would be truly complete. (:>

Many thanks; it was well worth the wait!

-Jerry

[subbas32]

Thanks all for your kind feedback!

One item that came up a few times is that the stop buttons are a bit hard to read on the single jamb layout. My first priority is to release an update that addresses that issue. Update and screenshots to follow shortly!

Best regards,

Jake

[StephenM]

Jake,
Are the "more than 50 new stops" reworkings of existing stops or stops from another organ, or both?

Stephen

[subbas32]

Hi Stephen,

Are the "more than 50 new stops" reworkings of existing stops or stops from another organ, or both?
Stephen

Most of the new ranks are derived from existing stops of the Rotterdam sample-set. A significant advantage of using existing stops is that the acoustic space for the extended stops matches the original stops very well. A total of 8 stops were derived from material outside of Rotterdam.

Jake

[StephenM]

Thx Jake.

I hope to buy the extension soon. You have thrown me a challenge to work out the 8 foreign stops. Looking forward to hearing your work.
Stephen

[subbas32]

Status update:
Version 1.01 of the Rotterdam extension is currently undergoing beta testing.

There are two updates of interest:

1. Front / Rear mixer bug fix
Several people reported that the extended stops are not included in the Front / Rear mixers. This has now been resolved.

2. New stop jambs
Given the large number of stop on the "Extension" tab, the stop names are small and difficult to read. To address this, a wide screen version of the "Extension" tab has been added - link to a screenshot.

In addition, a new screen has been added with abbreviated, easy-to-read stop names - link to screenshot. There is also a widescreen version - link to screenshot. You'll notice that the new ranks are indicated by two horizontal lines on the stop tabs. I'm curious to hear if you find this type of stop jamb useful, or if it's not something that you would use.

[voet]

The Bovenwerk of the original Rotterdam organ has an 8' Viola di Gamba paired with a celesting stop of the same name. The only Gemshorn in the specification is an 8' stop in the Pedal. The Extension identifies the Viola and Vox Celeste in the Bovenwerk as added stops. The pair of Gemshorns in the Bovenwerk are identified as original. Is it possible that these indications should be reversed?

[subbas32]

The Bovenwerk of the original Rotterdam organ has an 8' Viola di Gamba paired with a celesting stop of the same name. The only Gemshorn in the specification is an 8' stop in the Pedal. The Extension identifies the Viola and Vox Celeste in the Bovenwerk as added stops. The pair of Gemshorns in the Bovenwerk are identified as original. Is it possible that these indications should be reversed?

Good eye! The naming was intentional. In particular, Rotterdam's original Viola di Gamba 8' sounds more like a Gemshorn than a French Viole de Gambe 8. Consequently, in the extension, I have renamed the Bovenwerk strings to Gemshorns to differentiate them from the added French style strings.

Best regards,

Jake