The Organ Forum

I am not associated with, or reap any benefits from, Crumhorn-Labs.  Having said that I would like to make users of this forum aware of Hauptwerk 3 (HW) (see http://www.crumhorn-labs.com), the latest version of the ground breaking virtual organ software.  As an avid reader of this forum, I'm surprised that there is not more of a buzz around this software.  

HW enables users to use their home computer to generate organ sounds in real time.  The sounds created depend on the sample set "loaded" into HW.  There is a growing range of some of the world's finest organs available to "load", have a look, and more importantly a listen here: http://www.crumhorn-labs.com/Hauptwerk-AudioDemos.shtml.

HW is used for a whole spectrum of use cases, for example:

1) Plugging a MIDI keyboard and headphones into an existing home computer and playing virtual organs on the keyboard(s) using the mouse and computer keyboard to select stops and the monitor to visualise the current selected stops.

2) Plugging an existing MIDI enabled console into a dedicated computer and using real draw stop/tab switches to change and visualise state and using the organ keyboards and pedal boards to play the samples.  In this setup either headphones can be used or complex speaker 
configuration with sophisticated speaker separation of ranks.  In this mode, computer monitors, keyboard and mice are not necessarily required for normal operations, since everything is controlled from the console in a conventional manner.

The second option is ideal for those who have a now dated MIDI console and wish to turn it into a more realistic sounding instrument.  The second option is also ideal for those (like me) who cannot afford a new digital organ, but who have a limited amount of skill to convert a defunct - practically worthless - old analogue instrument into MIDI, and with HW a marvellous practice instrument.  The largest console I know converted in this way - and to be used exclusively with HW - can be found here:

http://homepage.mac.com/clintonk/iblog/B505170200/C1524466557/E20050914174940/index.html

I hope this small introduction is of benefit.

James

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Nathan Wilcox

I currently have a laptop with HW2.2 on it, and I use it with my Rodgers 441. I have also played for outside weddings, and graveside services, as well as other church functions outside, using a Roland keyboard and the laptop with the HW connected to a Peavy amp/mixer and speakers. Since the HW has a pedal to great bass coupler, I have had a lot of surprised and positive results, when the processional sounds like a pipe organ, when I have the whole system set up next to a pond. I play a large Allen Renaissance at church, and to be truthful, I like the sound better at home, when I play the HW through my Alesis amp, to my refurbished Allen HC-12 speakers. I will probably be upgrading to the HW 3. I got the Rodgers for 2 grand and the speakers free, although I had to refurbish them, and the amp pretty cheap off of Ebay. All in all I came out ahead compared to what I would have had to pay for a system from Classic Organs, and it sure looks a whole lot better in the den than couple of keyboards, and all the extra stuff that goes with it.

Thanks for introducing this thread. I've become more interested in Hauptwerk these days as they seem really supportive of Macintosh (my personal preference) and have some outstanding samples of famous organs. 

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BOZ

Hi Boz,

In addition to the hardware you mention, you will need a sound card that will either plug into your external amplifiers or headphones.  For those sample sets recorded wet you don't need any extra processing because they contain the natural ambience of the space, for dry sample sets you may want to add a reverb unit between the sound card and the amplifier.  Hauptwerk users report very good results with cheap units found on ebay.  You can use reverb software instead, but obviously this would compromise the amount of processing HW could do, and therefore the realism of the organ.  Not sure what the Ahlborn sound/sequencer unit do, but I'm confident that you don't need those.

I believe the Mac is now the preference platform for running HW.  With HW being commercial software, excellent support is offered by the developer(s) and other users on their online forum - so although it may initial feel a little daunting, you will be helped along the way.

Hope that helps,

James

BOZ:

The whole Hauptwerk phenomenon is VERY attractive but daunting for some who may be inexperienced in putting it all together with what they have.

nullogik:

I agree, I am quite interested in the Hauptwerk concept, but I find the whole thing about setting it up quite daunting. Perhaps when I have more time on my hands and a some spare money to spend. As for now, its back to my trusty Allen.

 

It really is not that terribly difficult.  You can start small and grow with it as you learn more about it.  And there is absolutely no need for an Ahlborn thingy of any kind.  There is also a HUGE amount of help available, both from the developer himself and the entire user community.  The users range from running HW on a laptop with stacked synth keyboards and headphones, to people with muliple comupter systems driving 60+ channels of audio and others who have spend literally hundreds of thousands on custom hard consoles with movable drawknobs and all of the trimmings.

I started out with nothing more than my Gateway desktop PC (dual core, XP), its internal sound card (poor), my aging stereo system, and a single keyboard synth to a cheap midi interface.  With the free trial version of HW.  I learned as I went, upgrading various components over time.  Now, about 9 months later:

Mac Pro (quad core, 8G Ram), dual touch screen monitors, Rodgers 750BE console gutted and with midiworks.ca keyboards, pedal board and expression/crescendo pedals interfaced through a midworks MKSC-4A controller, Echo Audiofire 12 audio interface, and 10 channels of audio driving Behringer powered monitors and a Velodyne 15" sub on one set of channels.  HW3 Concert Ed.  And sample sets of many wonderful instruments.

I still plan to make use of the Rodgers stop tabs as one set of stop/control inputs to HW, and plan to install drivers for the SAM's so that HW can move the tabs.  I can tell you it was a fearful day when I began tearing my console apart, not knowing if I'd ever get something playable out of it again.  Turned out to be a really GOOD day :-)

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Grant
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Hauptwerk on a Rodgers 750BE shell.

I use hw3 with about 73 digital ranks and 4 ranks of pipes. I just got my drawknobs working to turn stops on and off. I have built my 3 manual console and have 4 swell pedals for controlling expression. Hw3 takes some time to get use to but once you figure it out it's great. I also have 8 cahnnels of audio 2 for each division.

These virtual organ programs using computers have revolutionized the scene for organs at home. Hauptwerk is probably the pick of the bunch, but there are cheaper alternatives for people who would like to try them out first, to see whether having these excellent organ sounds coming at you from a set of loudspeakers in your home satisfies you to the point of spending more money on a more elaborate virtual organ setup or even hybrid pipe organ setup.

There is quite a range, with others occasionally turning up. e.g. MyOrgan, jOrgan, Miditzer. Also, of course, the free trial version of Hauptwerk, with its annoying (I'm sure) bell sounding every few seconds.

John Reimer

Maybe it would be more appropriate to post my question on the HW forum, but since we're on the subject I'll ask it here.

One thing I like about the default sample set included with HW is the 'pedal bass' feature which plays the lowest note of the left hand on the pedals as well.  This is great for users without a pedal board.  Someone recommended the St. George's Casavant sample set to me, but when I look at screenshots of this sample set, I don't see a 'pedal bass' button.  Is this feature only available with certain sample sets, or am I just not seeing the button?

Thanks.

To the best of my knowlede this feature, while available as a primitive in HW3 (it was added in HW2), must be designed into the instrument by the sample set developer.  I imagine it can also be designed into a custom user-designed instrument built using the CODM (custom development module) built into in HW.  Probably best to post a question on the HW forum and get an answer directly from Martin Dyde (developer).  Martin provides the best personal level of support of any software vendor I've encountered anywhere.

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Grant
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Hauptwerk on a Rodgers 750BE shell.

j reimer:

Also, of course, the free trial version of Hauptwerk, with its annoying (I'm sure) bell sounding every few seconds.

That is true.  Annoying is an understatement :)  

St. Annes, Moseley (the demo instrument with HW) is still interesting to play, but nothing close to the quality of the better sample sets, which are unfortunately not availabile as freebies to test -- but you can listen to them, and the live sound is better than the demos on the developer sites, which are very good to begin with.  Truth is, every penny spent on HW is a penny well spent.  The HW3 Basic Edition license is not all that terribly expensive (kills the chime and allows any sample set to be installed), but many if not most Basic Edition users quickly graduate to the Advanced Edition for the enhanced audio routing features and many other benefits.  (The software for the Basic or Advanced Ed. is the same -- the difference is in the USB license dongle, which is updated via email for HW version and for sample set licences).

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Grant
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Hauptwerk on a Rodgers 750BE shell.

The Advanced Edition also allows for routing of ranks amongst multiple speakers. In addition it allows for voicing on a per pipe basis for any rank. For instance, you can vary loudness, pitch, brightness, swell box amplitude, temulant sensitivity of amplitude, brightness and pitch. And more.

Grant_Youngman:

To the best of my knowlede this feature, while available as a primitive in HW3 (it was added in HW2), must be designed into the instrument by the sample set developer.  I imagine it can also be designed into a custom user-designed instrument built using the CODM (custom development module) built into in HW.  Probably best to post a question on the HW forum and get an answer directly from Martin Dyde (developer).  Martin provides the best personal level of support of any software vendor I've encountered anywhere.

If a sample set does not have the bass coupler feature (or the melody coupler) and the sample set creator alows the samples to be used with the CODM, it is not too difficult to design a "new" organ with the features. I have not done this using the CODM from verison 3. I did create an organ with the version 2 software, but I would not call it a success. The version 3 CODM format is much improved and as soon as I upgrade to 3, I will be trying it.

What I have accomplished is bass and melody couplers within imported version 1 organ definitions. Martin Dyde says that you don't get as refined a definition as with the CODM, but I am thrilled with my results. One thing I have noticed, even though I am only running in evaluation mode, is that the bass and melody couplers are much smoother. Even if you don't play with a perfectly legato touch, Hauptwerk v 3 will play it that way! This is a wonderful development for us sloppy and less than accomplished organists!

Grant's last statement in the quote above is certainly true. Martin not only invented an outstanding program but also stands solidly behind it, and his development of the program continues! Hauptwerk version 1 was a dream come true for me. Version 3 can only be described as heaven cubed! 

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Cole
http://heavyorgan.org

If your Organ definition does not provide the functionality you want, you may consider using a MIDI filter: this is a piece of

software that "looks" at all the incoming MIDI events and filters out unwanted events, changes MIDI events (e.g. from one

channel to the other), or even inserts additional MIDI events. Such a software can easily track which notes on the main

manual are "on" an if it encounters a "note on" event which is lowest, inserts a corresponding "note on" event on the channel

which corresponds to the pedal board.

I had a similar problem connecting my Content 4330D organ to Hauptwerk, and the stop pistons send MIDI messages which

cannot be decoded by Hauptwerk (e. g. each stop is encoded as a digit in some continous control, and so a CC messages

encodes up to seven stops). I use MacOS and I found the "transposon" utility (a MIDI transposer) on the internet WITH

source-code, so that I could easily modify it according to my needs.

Of course, it requires a bit of programming, but once it is done once, you a very flexible device that does (almost) everything you want

in software, completely OUTSIDE of the Hauptwerk software.

 

Yours,