Organ matters - Organs matter!

Quote from: revtonynewnham on January 24, 2012, 07:06:45 PM
Hi

For what it's worth, Ubuntu isn't Linux-based, it's one of a number of different versions of Linux!

Tony

Yes Tony, I'm well aware of Ubuntu as that's what the Artisan Sound Engines run on at Uckfield. Unfortunately they're using a rather old version - Ubuntu v5 - to avoid latency issues and that version doesn't have support for many modern facilities, such as PCIe, much to my dismay.  :(

I still find Ubuntu geeky and not especially friendly. Its security is just so far over the top for 'normal' users who are not on a network and don't need the infernal nannying.

There's a 'console' that comes with the Delta 1010LT cards, but Linux doesn't support that either. It would make life so much easier if it did, as the console has real-time input and output bar graphs, which would make setting up far more friendly.

Even with the new Sound Engines which use Suse, the facilities are fairly crude and there appears to be one useful (NOT) 'feature' which picks up wheel presses from the mouse and dumps random text all over the definition file when using the editor, which cannot be removed. Grrrr......

To me, having to open a Terminal and type "killall sep" to stop the Sound Engine and to type "./ase" to restart it, is like living back in the dark ages of DOS!

Believe me, as an Assembler programmer, I like nothing better than delving into code at bit level, but to have to do almost that to get round a GUI based OS is crude in the extreme.

Regards,

Alan.

Quote from: rh1306 on January 24, 2012, 07:02:59 PM
Hi,

The inagural concert on the Wurlitzer at the East Sussex National Hotel and Golf Club will be given by Richard Hills and Michael Wooldridge on Saturday, 21st April, 2011 at 7pm.  Contact 01825 880088 for bookings.

Regards,

Richard

Thanks for reminding me Richard. Saves me digging through my paperwork.  ;D

Regards,

Alan.

I really don't like Linux, it's far too geeky and fiddly for me. Also, it doesn't have the driver and tools support that Windows has. I don't think it's necessarily faster than Windows, provided that you remove all of the unnecessary services and any bloatware that came with it. I just built a PC with an i7 and an SSD running Windows 7 and it is the fastest thing I've ever seen. It loads our Paramount 332 with Hauptwerk in < 1 minute from pressing the 'on' button.

I think the 1st major concert on the ESN WurliTzer will be in March or April. I'll check for you.
As soon as there are definite dates, they will be on one of my websites:
www.theatreorgans.co.uk select Concerts from the menu.

Regards,

Alan.

Hello all.

David has posted me a link here which has prompted me to join in.  :)

As the co-rebuilder of what is now to be known as the Carlo Curley Touring Organ (abbreviate to CCOrgan if you wish) and having had a hand in various aspects of the 4/32 WurliTzer, I'm pleased to answer any questions about the Uckfield installation, to the best of my current knowledge.

A few facts:

There are only two parts of the original Allen actually in use at ESN - The console shell (with stops, keyboards etc) and two of the bass/mid-range cabinets (now located beneath the stage). The 16' and 32' ranks are further augmented by two Allen SR1 bass enclosures, which use passive resonator technology. Even the pedal lighting is now LED, because the original bulbs failed and are a very odd sized Edison Screw (110volt).
The entire control system (relay) is Artisan uMIDI which is powered by a small 5volt power supply and is programmable via MIDI. The action current is supplied by two 30volt 30amp switch mode power supplies.
There are four Asus 'T' series PCs carrying the samples over the divisions. 1) Pedal/Choir/Bombarde. 2) Great. 3) Swell. 4) Solo/Positiv.
The operating system is Linux which supports the Artisan Sound Engine software.
The Artisan software was chosen at the time of commission because they were the only company who could provide samples that would cover the entire stop range of the organ. Things have since moved on an there are now other choices - using several sample sets of known organs and Hauptwerk could produce the same requirement.
Each PC contains an M-Audio Delta 1010LT sound card, each capable of 10 (mono) audio channels (5 stereo when paired). These in turn feed 20 x Behringer TRUTH 2031A studio monitors, located above the console, in conjunction with 8 x Behringer monitors - 4 each side of the auditorium near the ceiling. There are a further 2 x Behringer monitors located high up on the rear wall, which carry audio from the Antiphonal division, which is made up of ranks from the Solo and Bombarde divisions.
The bass bins are fed from a single 1200 watt amplifier (I forget the {UK} manufacture) and we have a 2nd spare similar amplifier, which I don't think we're going to need! ;)

David is right - there are some samples that are dubious to downright horrible. There is an intention to improve on these!
The Vox in the Swell IS a WurliTzer Vox, complete with fully sampled theatre tremulant! It was a trial and Carlo loves it, so it stays. :D

Unfortunately, unlike Hauptwerk and some others, the Artisan software does not allow true voicing.  The tools are somewhat crude and although Artisan have brought out a revised system to run on their hardware sound engines, it only really provides a rudimentary GUI interface for the existing facilities. We don't have that luxury at Uckfield. All that is provided is a 'volume control' for each rank to allow balancing, a tremulant depth and speed control and an audio channel routing control, either in mono or stereo. There is also volume control over individual pipes, if the odd sample is found to be 'off'. There is no tuning control and no voicing such as brightness etc. We had to make do with what is provided and with hindsight,  I would not do it that way again. Absolutely every aspect of software in the sound engines has to be hand written via a text file, then the entire division/s re-loaded before any alterations can be heard. It is possible to vary the tuning of the entire organ, so that if a duet concert was performed in conjunction with the WurliTzer, it would be easier to retune the CCOrgan to match, rather than retune the entire 32 ranks of real WurliTzer pipes!!!

Over the past year, tuning has been a major bone of contention and we've almost come to blows to obtain correctly tuned replacements. In fact the DoppelFlute 8' in the Choir and the Octavin 2' in the Swell were only replaced 2 days ago, despite the Internet's best efforts to prevent us downloading them.  :-\


Regarding the WurliTzer - many ranks were adjusted and tuned by Len Rawle and Keith Bance. David Frostick has never been involved. The entire organ was to have been tonally finished by Clarke Wilson and John Struve (USA) but due to illness, they could not make it. Recently Ed and Patti Zolmann were recommended, after their impressive work at Howden-Le-Wear and they have spent over two months carrying out a tonal finishing programme as well as a brief visit to make improvements at Singing Hills. Apart from some pedal ranks that need some serious heavy engineering, the organ sounds $1million. I won't say much more for fear of being accused of professional bias, but it's a shame that the Opus 2 relay doesn't do the organ justice at this time. How Michael Wooldridge manages to gloss over any issues that appear during the monthly tea dances can only be due to his dedication and professionalism.

My £5 worth. Any more, please feel free to ask.

Regards,

Alan.