Emulating perhaps what might best be unemulated

[David Pinnegar]

Hi!

An acquaintance enthusing in Hauptwerk simulation told me how important it was to be able to emulate winding of pipe organs and wind instabilities .. . and pointed me in the direction of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMEq8WgRTkI
a glorious living and breathing historic pipe instrument. . . .

Whilst listening to the second half my son came into the room commenting that it sounded like a Wurlitzer and I began to feel rather seasick . . .

There was the school of thought that considered pipes chiffing an impediment of speech . . . and I'm unconvinced as to whether poor winding is the same . . .

Best wishes

David p

[AV]

David,

I don't know if that particular You Tube video is the best example of what the Dutch call "live" wind, but it definitely is not poor winding as in "wind sag".

"Live wind" produces a rather elastic tuning of the instrument, more so than a large pitch dip.  The Dutch would say that it makes the organ sound alive and interesting.

Most digital organs sound too static, as far as the ensemble goes.  Some emulate the winding better than others.  Generally when I install an electronic organ, I leave the wind pressure setting on low, so it is not totally static.  If there is a tracker response, I leave it on as well. 

With digital organs, I tend to set things up as discretely as possible.  As soon as one hears major pitch sag, or loud chiff, or overly barky reeds, it quickly becomes annoying, much more so than with real pipes.  In other words moderation is the key with these pipe organ effects.

With Hauptwerk, the wind modelling is done very well.  For baroque instruments it makes them sound very authentic.

AV

[revtonynewnham]

Hi

I would agree that too much wind pressure variation just sounds wrong - but a little does add life.  the pipe organ here has an unusual reservoir (we think the organ was probably built by an amateur c.1820) - it has two folds - but both halves fold outwards, and so is, in effect, a single-rise reservoir.  That does introduce a touch of variation in wind pressure - especially on load staccato chords.  The only downside is when there are heavy repeated chords on loud combinations towards the bass end of the manual, when it's possible to get the reservoir oscillating and giving an unintended tremulant effect!  (But soon dealt with by controlling the attack and timing of the chords - the beauty of tracker action!

Every Blessing

Tony