March 2006
Own Your Own Pipe Organ	Show Menu

By James Pasley

Most of us have the experience of selecting the “Pipe Organ” setting from amongst the variety of other instruments on an electronic keyboard or synthesizer, in order to practice a hymn or two at home. While a good synthesizer will have a few different organ sounds, it usually falls a long way short of providing the experience of playing a real pipe organ. Electronic organs that do achieve this have been prohibitively expensive. Now that has changed–thanks to the clever use of a little technology. Now you can turn the volume down on your old synthesizer, connect it up to your computer, and have it faithfully recreate the sound of a pipe organ. And not just single sounds, but a full set of stops that can be selected individually or in combination.

The key to this is a computer program called Hauptwerk, which simulates pipe organs. At the heart of this program is a very simple idea: the sound of every single pipe on a pipe organ is recorded so that it can be loaded into your computer. This could be over a thousand recordings, even for a small organ. Then, by connecting a synthesizer, this program can recreate the sound of the original organ as you play. The quality of the sound is truly superb, which makes this a must-have for anyone with a computer and an interest in playing the pipe organ. Hauptwerk contains all the freatures needed to transform your computer into a pipe organ. In addition to playing the sounds, it displays the stops and couplers for you to select, as shown in Figure 1. It can support several keyboards and can simulate a swell box. It also provides advanced features, such as the ability to record a sequence of stop changes through which you can progress at the press of a single button during a performance. It really does manage to provide the authentic experience of playing a pipe organ. 

 
The Hauptwerk console, as displayed on a computer

The organ sounds are provided separately to the Hauptwerk program that is used to play them. This means that you have access to a large number of organs representing different sizes and styles of instrument. Having started Hauptwerk, you select from the list of those sounds that you have installed on your computer. For added realism, most organs are recorded with the original acoustics of the church. There are currently over thirty organs listed on the Hauptwerk Web site, representing baroque, romantic, and symphonic organs from across Europe and America. Some small organs are available for free, while larger ones are available to purchase, which reflects the time and effort that goes into each recording. The process of recording and preparing the sound for use may represent months of work, even for a relatively small organ. The market for organs recorded in this way is growing and has led to companies offering to service and tune organs for free, in return for the rights to make and sell these recordings. Other recordings are made and distributed by individuals whose motivation is purely to share the experience of playing the pipe organ.

So what do you need to get started? You probably already own a synthesizer and a computer. The synthesizer can be very basic: the only requirement is that it has a MIDI-out connection. Remember, it’s the computer that will be making all the sounds. Then you need a MIDI-to-USB cable to connect the two, which enables the computer to know which notes you are playing. Finally, you need the Hauptwerk computer program itself. The computer does all the hard work, so you will need a reasonably powerful one. If you’ve bought your computer in the last three years, it’s probably good enough to get you started, although you might need to add some extra memory. Hauptwerk will work on a wide variety of Microsoft Windows computers, but the more powerful the computer the better. There is a very simple rule to apply: the more memory in your computer, the more stops you can have on the organ; the faster the computer, the more notes you can play at one time. You can adjust settings to help you get the most out of less powerful computers, and the organs provided often enable you to load a subset of stops for computers will less memory. The best advice is to start with the computer you have and gain some experience using the program. There is more information on the Hauptwerk Web site that can help, and you will probably want to consider upgrading your computer before long.

With the basic system in place, there are a number of other accessories that can be added. Using a good set of headphones or connecting the audio output of your computer to a home stereo system is recommended, because typical computer speakers won’t do justice to this system. The most significant accessory is a full thirty-two-note pedal board. Of course, adding the pedal board means that you will also need a special keyboard stand and an organ stool. The result is a complete recreation of a pipe organ. There are further accessories such as swell pedals and proper organ manuals–the possibilities are limited only by your budget.

In order to assemble all of this, I went on a virtual shopping trip (courtesy of the Internet), which spanned several countries. This started in the UK at http://www.crumhorn-labs.com/ where I purchased the Hauptwerk program itself which also inlcudes the first pipe organ from St. Anne's, Moseley. This Web site contains all the information you need and links to all the other Web sites referred to in this article. The MIDI cable also needs to be purchased over the Internet. If you are connecting more that one synthesizer, be sure and choose a cable with the appropriate number of connections. My next purchase was the Casavant-Frères Organ from the Grace Lutheran Church Champaign, Illinois, U.S.A. My pedal board came from Classic Organ Works in Canada, because they seemed to know the most about Hauptwerk and responded promptly to all my queries. However, if importing a pedal board from outside the EU, you will have to pay excise duty and VAT, so be prepared to factor this into your budget. After a marathon Internet search, my wife found the EL260 Proel keyboard stand, which came from Italy and appears to be one of very few on the market that allows the pedal board to fit under it. Luckily, I already had an organ stool that I acquired years ago and that has finally been put to good use.

The most expensive component you will be tempted to buy is the pedal board. This fact has motivated a number of people to build their own, which can be achieved by dismantling a cheap MIDI keyboard and connecting the keys to a homemade pedal board. There are a number of Web sites where people have documented this process, including photographs of the resulting organs. Such a project requires good woodworking and basic computer skills. Wouldn’t this make an excellent transition-year project for any secondary school with classes in these subjects? The keyboards and computer required could be very basic for the initial project and could always be upgraded in the future, should the project prove to be successful. While the construction would make a fascinating project, the resulting instrument would also be a great asset to any school and a wonderful way of promoting the pipe organ as an instrument.

Hauptwerk is a program that deserves your attention and will probably require only that you purchase Hauptwerk itself and a cable in order to get started. Once you have done this, I am confident that the quality of the sound it produces will tempt you to invest further. The Web site contains links to many classical pieces played on Hauptwerk in order to demonstrate this quality. Even if you go no further, just listening to these demos could make for a pleasant few hours on the Internet.

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