Hello, first of all: thanks to so many of you for this fascinating forum. I discovered ASR recently and I am learning a lot here. Can't stop reading!
I live in The Netherlands. Currently working as a data specialist, but having some background in micro/nano- and biotechnology.
I am also an (amateur) organist and I frequently play during church services in our small congregation.
At home, I have a digital organ (partly DIY), using Hauptwerk software, which can simulate real pipe organs (www.hauptwerk.com). Basically, every pipe of a real pipe organ is being sampled, usually including the full reverb tail, although "dry" recordings are sometimes also been made. This results in (very) large sample sets - large church organs have thousands of pipes! Those sample sets are loaded into the RAM of a computer - I have 64GB now, and for some sample sets I need all of it. Using MIDI keyboards, all samples can be played back instantaneously.
I have this software now over 7 years, whereas the Hauptwerk software is already 18 years old now - and fortunately it is still being developed. Over time, many organs in many locations (large cathedrals, village churches, concert venues) have been sampled and I own/have owned quite a few of these sample sets. There are also active online communities, I participate in the pcorgel.nl forum (Dutch) and the official Hauptwerk forum.
Initially, I was very impressed and fascinated by the realism of Hauptwerk and by the opportunity to play so many famous organs at home. Over time, thanks to other pcorgel forum members, I realized that the experience could get even better by paying attention to the fidelity of audio reproduction. I am using room correction for years now, I have ARC 2.5, but I now prefer REW, using Reaper as a DAW. Still, I am studying what I can do to continue to improve and what I can recommend to other organists.
I still have many questions, and I plan to ask them on this forum the coming time. For now, I'll leave with my most general question: what kind of audio equipment would you recommend to me and my fellow organists? My situation is quite common among organists using Hauptwerk. A few considerations:
*The organ console is situated in my living room (a not so large L-shaped room), with small kids around
*The console is placed against a wall and off course I am sitting on the organ bench while playing, facing the wall. So near-field for the front speakers.
*Consequently, I have a very well defined sweet spot for optimization: the organ bench
*The Hauptwerk software is powerful enough to manipulate each sample individually (especially when combined with Reaper) : EQ, adding IR reverb, stereo panning, mixing, sending them to separate speakers... Often, each pipe is recorded at different positions in the church simultaneously, so we can use closely recorded samples for front speakers, distant samples for rear speakers, etc.
*The goal is however to recreate the original sound of the organ, including the original acoustics. I like to hear the organ as if I'm standing at the optimal listening position in the church, which may be a large cathedral with up to 10s of reverb, or a very dry sounding village chapel...
*Budget for audio equipment somewhere around EUR 2000 in the coming 2-3 years, and willing to continue to invest. Second hand equipment no problem.
Looking forwards to your replies, many thanks in advance!
I live in The Netherlands. Currently working as a data specialist, but having some background in micro/nano- and biotechnology.
I am also an (amateur) organist and I frequently play during church services in our small congregation.
At home, I have a digital organ (partly DIY), using Hauptwerk software, which can simulate real pipe organs (www.hauptwerk.com). Basically, every pipe of a real pipe organ is being sampled, usually including the full reverb tail, although "dry" recordings are sometimes also been made. This results in (very) large sample sets - large church organs have thousands of pipes! Those sample sets are loaded into the RAM of a computer - I have 64GB now, and for some sample sets I need all of it. Using MIDI keyboards, all samples can be played back instantaneously.
I have this software now over 7 years, whereas the Hauptwerk software is already 18 years old now - and fortunately it is still being developed. Over time, many organs in many locations (large cathedrals, village churches, concert venues) have been sampled and I own/have owned quite a few of these sample sets. There are also active online communities, I participate in the pcorgel.nl forum (Dutch) and the official Hauptwerk forum.
Initially, I was very impressed and fascinated by the realism of Hauptwerk and by the opportunity to play so many famous organs at home. Over time, thanks to other pcorgel forum members, I realized that the experience could get even better by paying attention to the fidelity of audio reproduction. I am using room correction for years now, I have ARC 2.5, but I now prefer REW, using Reaper as a DAW. Still, I am studying what I can do to continue to improve and what I can recommend to other organists.
I still have many questions, and I plan to ask them on this forum the coming time. For now, I'll leave with my most general question: what kind of audio equipment would you recommend to me and my fellow organists? My situation is quite common among organists using Hauptwerk. A few considerations:
*The organ console is situated in my living room (a not so large L-shaped room), with small kids around
*The console is placed against a wall and off course I am sitting on the organ bench while playing, facing the wall. So near-field for the front speakers.
*Consequently, I have a very well defined sweet spot for optimization: the organ bench
*The Hauptwerk software is powerful enough to manipulate each sample individually (especially when combined with Reaper) : EQ, adding IR reverb, stereo panning, mixing, sending them to separate speakers... Often, each pipe is recorded at different positions in the church simultaneously, so we can use closely recorded samples for front speakers, distant samples for rear speakers, etc.
*The goal is however to recreate the original sound of the organ, including the original acoustics. I like to hear the organ as if I'm standing at the optimal listening position in the church, which may be a large cathedral with up to 10s of reverb, or a very dry sounding village chapel...
*Budget for audio equipment somewhere around EUR 2000 in the coming 2-3 years, and willing to continue to invest. Second hand equipment no problem.
Looking forwards to your replies, many thanks in advance!