I use two software systems to create software-based organs for my own use.

Hauptwerk is a very fine comercial product developed by Martin Dyde in the UK. It has the best aduio rendering engine of any of the products I have tested. In addition, it has become a de-facto standard for people who sample real pipe organs either for comercial or preservation purposes. Hence there are many good sample sets available - though some are pricy. None of them comes close in cost to purchasing a physical digital organ. I use Hauptwerk for all my sample work today. Hautpwerk runs on Windows and OS-X. As a very heavy Mac user, I really appreciate this!

jOrgan is an open source system developed by Sven Meier (and others) in Sweeden. Being open source, it is totally free. It runs on Windows, OS-X, and Linux. jOrgan does not produce sounds. It is, however, a fantastic organ relay program with a great visual programming interface. It takes very little time to develop "consoles" and wire them to sound sources and keyboards. I use jOrgan as the front end to Hauptwerk. In this way, I combine the strengths of both programs to create a highly-optimized performance environment.

I have posted results from three recent projects that may be of interest to you.

By the way, I also play piano (and other things) in the Night Blooming Jazzmen. I maintain the web site for the band - hence it is a convenient place for me to post things like this. Take a look at the band pages too!

Hauptwerk Composite 3-Manual English Organ

I used the St. Annes Mosley organ for the Pedals, Great, and Swell. I took some of the stops and moved them to a new choir manual. I then used the Lavender Audio samples to fill out the choir. The result is excellent and I often practice with these samples.

Here is a shot of the "console" and "stop" views. Click on them for full-size views. All my consoles are sized to fit on a 1024x768 touch screen monitor I keep atop my Rogers.

If you want to try this, be sure you first have a valid Hauptwerk license (this organ will not work without one, but it does not require a special dongle file) and both of the Lavendar Audio organs installed correctly. Then download the following:

1. Download Hauptwerk Installation rar

This is a Hauptwerk standard installation package in rar format. Save it to your disk, start Hautpwerk, and then use its install feature to read the rar file as per the manual.

I have heard from some users (outside the USA) that you might need to disable the "wind model" for the organ to play properly. Since I am in the USA I cannot test this - but it sounds reasonable.

2. Download CODM Source File

This one is optional. I provide the source code for the Hauptwerk editor so you can see how I did all this and get ideas for your own projects.

This organ works so well because all three of the source organs are of similar style and were sampled in similar acoustics.

I purchased the "dry" version of the Litomysl organ for my own use and I developed a jOrgan console for it as discussed in the theater organ project above. However, I wanted to make further modifications to the Litomysl design so I decided to create a completely new Hauptwerk organ using the samples provided with the Litomysl set.

The specifications of my 3-manual Litomysl organ are:

I disgarded the "Great Cornet" since I could not see any use for it. I also got rid of the key and stop noise samples to save memory and make the organ run more smoothly. This is, of course, a matter of taste. I am not trying to recreate the sound of the original organ but rather I am trying to create a good performance and recording instrument for my own use.

There were not enough reeds to give the Hauptwerk an independant chorus so I provided borrowing from the Positiv and Schelwerk to substitute here.

I "deepened" the Schwelwerk box to give it more expression. I also added a swell box for the Positiv. I left the Tromp Real out of the box as expected for a chamade rank.

I added a second borrowed stop from the Hw to the Pedal - the 16' Bourdon - to provide some variety.

I added the 4' Oboe in the pedal to provide a solo reed without the need for coupling. It is borrowed from the Sw.

I created the 4' Blockflote in the Sw to complete the cornet there. The first octave is borrowed from the 8' flute and the remainder comes from the 2'.

Finally, I added a more complete compliment of couplers and general revoicing to bring everything in what, to me at least, seams like a proper ballance.

As usual, my screens all fit on a 15" 1024 x 768 pixel display. I had to create rectangular "stop buttons" to make the console view fit and still provide large enough stop controls for good real-time performance control on the touchscreen. Here are the "console" and "stop" views:

If you want to try this, be sure you first have a valid Hauptwerk license and the approporiate version(s) of the Litomysl Organ installed correctly. Then download the following:

1a. Download Hauptwerk Dry V2 Installation rar

and/or

1b. Download Haupwerk 16-bit Wet V2 Installation rar

These are standard Hauptwerk installation packages in rar format. Save to your disk, start Hautpwerk, and then use Hauptwerk's install feature to read the rar file(s) as per the manual.

I have heard from some users (outside the USA) that you might need to disable the "wind model" for the organ to play properly. Since I am in the USA I cannot test this - but it sounds reasonable.

If you do not have touch sensative keyboard, then you should also disable "key sensing" in both the general and organ settings in Hauptwerk. Failure to do so will result in a sluggish and unuseable instrument.

2a. Download Dry V2 CODM Source File

and/or

2b. Download 16-bit Wet V2 CODM Source File

This step is optional. I provide the source code for the Hauptwerk editor so you can see how I did all this and get ideas for your own projects.