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Northrop Aeolian-Skinner IV/108 – Now Released!

We’re thrilled to announce that our University of Minnesota Northrop Hall IV/108 Aeolian Skinner is now available for sale!  For a limited time, it is available for USD499.  After January 15, the price reverts to the list price of USD549.  Fully functional 2 week demos are available for USD3.*

The instrument is a significant one of Aeolian Skinner, built between 1933 and 1936.  It was refurbished by Foley-Baker in 2016.  The sample set incorporates two separate perspectives.  Further details, demos and purchase instructions can be found HERE.  Screens include a rendered console screen with working stop action, left and right photorealistic jambs (optimized for portrait), left and right simple screens (landscape and portrait), a unified simple screen, controls (perspective volume, pistons, tuning, pedal divide selector), and a programmable crescendo screen. A bit of trivia – there are nearly 60,000 separate audio files for this project!

Screenshots:





Demo Recordings:

* Please note that if you have previously purchased, evaluated, and had expire, a demo code for one of our instruments, you will not be able to have a new code work for the same instrument!  So if you’ve previously ordered a demo code for a specific instrument from us, please don’t order a new one!

Stoplist

                GREAT ORGAN                            SWELL ORGAN
            16' Diapason              61           16' Bourdon               73
             8' First Diapason        61           16' Gemshorn              73 c
             8' Second Diapason       61            8' Geigen Diapaon        73
             8' Third Diapason        61 a          8' Hohlflöte             73
             8' Flute Harmonique      61            8' Rohrflöte             73
             8' Gedeckt *             61 b          8' Flauto Dolce          73
             8' Viola                 pf            8' Flute Celeste (TC)    61
             8' Gemshorn              61            8' Salicional            73
         5 1/3' Quint                 61 a          8' Voix Celeste          73
             4' Octave                61            8' Echo Gamba            73
             4' Second Octave         61 a          8' Echo Celeste          73
             4' Flute *               61            4' Octave Geigen         73
         3 1/5' Tenth                 61 a          4' Flute                 73
         2 2/3' Twelfth               61            4' Violina               73 c
             2' Fifteenth             61        2 2/3' Twelfth               61 c
            IV  Harmonics            244            2' Fifteenth             61 c
           VII  Plein Jeu *          427 a          V  Dolce Cornet         305 c
            16' Contra Tromba *       61 a          V  Chorus Mixture       305
             8' Tromba *              61           16' Posaune               73
             4' Octave Tromba *       61 a          8' French Trumpet        73 a
                Chimes                SO            8' Cornopean             73
             8' Harp                  CH            8' Oboe                  73
             4' Celesta               CH            8' Vox Humana            73
                * enclosed                          4' Clarion               73
                                                       Tremolo
                CHOIR ORGAN                            Chimes                SO
            16' Contra Viola          73            8' Harp                  CH
             8' Diapason              73            4' Celesta               CH
             8' Concert Flute         73
             8' Cor de Nuit           73 c              PEDAL ORGAN
             8' Dulcet II            134 c         32' Double Open Diapason  12 c
             8' Dulciana              73           32' Sub Bourdon            5
             8' Unda Maris (TC)       61           16' Diapason              32
             4' Flute                 73           16' Metal Diapason        32 a
             4' Gemshorn              73 c         16' Contre Basse          32
         2 2/3' Nazard                61           16' Bourdon               32
             2' Piccolo               61           16' Diapason              GT
         1 3/5' Tierce                61           16' Contra Gamba          SO a
         1 1/3' Larigot               61           16' Contra Viola          CH
           III  Dulciana Mixture     183           16' Gemshorn              SW c
            16' Fagotto               73 c         16' Echo Lieblich         SW
             8' Trumpet               73 c          8' Octave                12
             8' Orchestral Oboe       73 c          8' Cello                 32
             8' Clarinet              73            8' Gedeckt               12
                Tremolo                             8' Viole                 CH
             8' Harp (tc)             --            8' Still Gedeckt         SW
             4' Celesta                         5 1/3' Twelfth                7 c
                                                    4' Super Octave          24 c
                SOLO ORGAN                          4' Flute                  5
            16' Contra Gamba          73 b          V  Harmonics            160 c
             8' Flauto Mirabilis      73 b         32' Bombarde              12 c
             8' Gamba                 73 b         32' Contra Fagotto        12 CH c
             8' Gamba Celeste         73 b         16' Trombone              32
             8' Aetherial Celeste II 146 b         16' Posaune               SW
             4' Orchestral Flute      73 b         16' Fagotto               CH c
             4' Octave Gamba          73 b          8' Tromba                12
           III  Cornet de Violes     183 b          4' Clarion               12
            16' Corno di Bassetto     73 c             Chimes                SO
             8' Tuba Mirabilis        73
             8' English Horn          73 c
             8' French Horn           73
             4' Tuba Clarion          73 c
                Tremolo
                Chimes                              a  added as Op. 892-A in 1933
             8' Harp                  CH            b  added as Op. 892-B in 1934
             4' Celesta               CH            c  added as Op. 892-C in 1936

Holiday Specials!

Our holiday sale is still good until the end of 2023.  We are offering a 15% discount on all sample sets – use the code BF2023 on checkout to get your discount.

Also, our demo codes are $3 each*.  Try them all!

* Please note that if you have previously purchased, evaluated, and had expire, a demo code for one of our instruments, you will not be able to have a new code work for the same instrument!  So if you’ve previously ordered a demo code for a specific instrument from us, please don’t order a new one!

New Offerings

We’ve decided to redo the 1984 Schantz, going back to the raw files and revisiting the noise reduction, applying all of the new principles I’ve learned in the last few years – the result is a better picture of the instrument, as it is clearer and cleaner, as well more of the reverb has been preserved.  The user interface has also been updated. The sound is very “present”, as we recorded about 15-20′ from the case using cardioid mics. There is a $29 upgrade price for existing users, new users can purchase for $99. Go HERE to see the order page.

 



The instrument is in the balcony, overlooking the modern sanctuary

Stoplist

Great

16    Pommer
8      Principal
8      Rohrflute
4      Octave
4      Spitzflute
2      Superoctave
IV     Fourniture
8      Trompete
8      State Trompete
8      Krummhorn (CH)

GT to GT 16, 4, Unison off

Pedal

32    Resultant
16    Principal
16    Subbass
16    Pommer (GT)
8     Octave
8     Bass Flute
8     Pommer (GT)
4     Choralbass
4     Nachthorn
IV    Mixture
32   Contra Fagot*
16   Posaune
16    Fagot
8     Posaune
8     Fagot
4     Posaune

Great to Pedal 8, 4
Swell to Pedal 8, 4
Choir to Pedal 8, 4

Swell

8      Bourdon
8      Viole
8      Voix Celeste
4      Prestant
4      Flute Harmonique
22/3  Nazard
2     Flute a Bec
III    Plein Jeu
16    Fagot
8      Trompete
8      Fagot
4     Clairon

Tremulant

SW to SW 16, 4, Unison off
SW to GT 16, 8, 4
SW to CH 16, 8, 4

Choir

8      Holzgedekt
8      Gemshorn
8      Gemshorn Celeste
4      Principal
4      Koppelflute
22/3  Nasat
2      Principal
13/5  Terz
11/3  Quinte
8      Krummhorn
8      State Trompete

Tremulant

CH to CH 16, 4 Unison off
CH to GT 16, 8, 4

*Stops that have been added using existing material (revoiced or borrowed)

Posted on by

2023 Black Friday/Winter Sale

Holiday greetings to all!

Holiday Specials!

Our Black Friday/Winter 2023 sale begins NOW and extends through the end of the year.  We are offering a 15% discount on all sample sets – use the code BF2023 on checkout to get your discount.

Also, our demo codes are $3 each*.  Try them all!

* Please note that if you have previously purchased, evaluated, and had expire, a demo code for one of our instruments, you will not be able to have a new code work for the same instrument!  So if you’ve previously ordered a demo code for a specific instrument from us, please don’t order a new one!

New Offerings

We do have a new release for Black Friday 2023 – we’ve decided to redo the 1984 Schantz, going back to the raw files and revisiting the noise reduction, applying all of the new principles I’ve learned in the last few years – the result is a better picture of the instrument, as it is clearer and cleaner, as well more of the reverb has been preserved.  The user interface has also been updated. The sound is very “present”, as we recorded about 15-20′ from the case using cardioid mics. There is a $29 upgrade price for existing users, new users can purchase for $99. Go HERE to see the order page.

A demo recording of Mendelssohn’s 4th sonata is here:

 



The instrument is in the balcony, overlooking the modern sanctuary

Stoplist

Great

16    Pommer
8      Principal
8      Rohrflute
4      Octave
4      Spitzflute
2      Superoctave
IV     Fourniture
8      Trompete
8      State Trompete
8      Krummhorn (CH)

GT to GT 16, 4, Unison off

Pedal

32    Resultant
16    Principal
16    Subbass
16    Pommer (GT)
8     Octave
8     Bass Flute
8     Pommer (GT)
4     Choralbass
4     Nachthorn
IV    Mixture
32   Contra Fagot*
16   Posaune
16    Fagot
8     Posaune
8     Fagot
4     Posaune

Great to Pedal 8, 4
Swell to Pedal 8, 4
Choir to Pedal 8, 4

Swell

8      Bourdon
8      Viole
8      Voix Celeste
4      Prestant
4      Flute Harmonique
22/3  Nazard
2     Flute a Bec
III    Plein Jeu
16    Fagot
8      Trompete
8      Fagot
4     Clairon

Tremulant

SW to SW 16, 4, Unison off
SW to GT 16, 8, 4
SW to CH 16, 8, 4

Choir

8      Holzgedekt
8      Gemshorn
8      Gemshorn Celeste
4      Principal
4      Koppelflute
22/3  Nasat
2      Principal
13/5  Terz
11/3  Quinte
8      Krummhorn
8      State Trompete

Tremulant

CH to CH 16, 4 Unison off
CH to GT 16, 8, 4

*Stops that have been added using existing material (revoiced or borrowed)

Ongoing projects

We’ve been hard at work on the University of Minnesota Aeolian-Skinner project, and we’re excited to be able to bring this organ to the Hauptwerk community as well as it being used for a means of allowing the students to practice with a virtual copy of the instrument when the Northrop Auditorium is not available.

We had hoped to be able to release the sample set on Black Friday this year, but we had some scheduling issues getting in for our last recording session, so we won’t make that deadline. We are working hard to get it out the door and for sale before the end of the holiday season, however, at which time the set will be on introductory sale for $499 for 4 weeks. Regular price will be $549 thereafter.

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Great Stops Audio Demo:

Stoplist

                GREAT ORGAN                            SWELL ORGAN
            16' Diapason              61           16' Bourdon               73
             8' First Diapason        61           16' Gemshorn              73 c
             8' Second Diapason       61            8' Geigen Diapaon        73
             8' Third Diapason        61 a          8' Hohlflöte             73
             8' Flute Harmonique      61            8' Rohrflöte             73
             8' Gedeckt *             61 b          8' Flauto Dolce          73
             8' Viola                 pf            8' Flute Celeste (TC)    61
             8' Gemshorn              61            8' Salicional            73
         5 1/3' Quint                 61 a          8' Voix Celeste          73
             4' Octave                61            8' Echo Gamba            73
             4' Second Octave         61 a          8' Echo Celeste          73
             4' Flute *               61            4' Octave Geigen         73
         3 1/5' Tenth                 61 a          4' Flute                 73
         2 2/3' Twelfth               61            4' Violina               73 c
             2' Fifteenth             61        2 2/3' Twelfth               61 c
            IV  Harmonics            244            2' Fifteenth             61 c
           VII  Plein Jeu *          427 a          V  Dolce Cornet         305 c
            16' Contra Tromba *       61 a          V  Chorus Mixture       305
             8' Tromba *              61           16' Posaune               73
             4' Octave Tromba *       61 a          8' French Trumpet        73 a
                Chimes                SO            8' Cornopean             73
             8' Harp                  CH            8' Oboe                  73
             4' Celesta               CH            8' Vox Humana            73
                * enclosed                          4' Clarion               73
                                                       Tremolo
                CHOIR ORGAN                            Chimes                SO
            16' Contra Viola          73            8' Harp                  CH
             8' Diapason              73            4' Celesta               CH
             8' Concert Flute         73
             8' Cor de Nuit           73 c              PEDAL ORGAN
             8' Dulcet II            134 c         32' Double Open Diapason  12 c
             8' Dulciana              73           32' Sub Bourdon            5
             8' Unda Maris (TC)       61           16' Diapason              32
             4' Flute                 73           16' Metal Diapason        32 a
             4' Gemshorn              73 c         16' Contre Basse          32
         2 2/3' Nazard                61           16' Bourdon               32
             2' Piccolo               61           16' Diapason              GT
         1 3/5' Tierce                61           16' Contra Gamba          SO a
         1 1/3' Larigot               61           16' Contra Viola          CH
           III  Dulciana Mixture     183           16' Gemshorn              SW c
            16' Fagotto               73 c         16' Echo Lieblich         SW
             8' Trumpet               73 c          8' Octave                12
             8' Orchestral Oboe       73 c          8' Cello                 32
             8' Clarinet              73            8' Gedeckt               12
                Tremolo                             8' Viole                 CH
             8' Harp (tc)             --            8' Still Gedeckt         SW
             4' Celesta                         5 1/3' Twelfth                7 c
                                                    4' Super Octave          24 c
                SOLO ORGAN                          4' Flute                  5
            16' Contra Gamba          73 b          V  Harmonics            160 c
             8' Flauto Mirabilis      73 b         32' Bombarde              12 c
             8' Gamba                 73 b         32' Contra Fagotto        12 CH c
             8' Gamba Celeste         73 b         16' Trombone              32
             8' Aetherial Celeste II 146 b         16' Posaune               SW
             4' Orchestral Flute      73 b         16' Fagotto               CH c
             4' Octave Gamba          73 b          8' Tromba                12
           III  Cornet de Violes     183 b          4' Clarion               12
            16' Corno di Bassetto     73 c             Chimes                SO
             8' Tuba Mirabilis        73
             8' English Horn          73 c
             8' French Horn           73
             4' Tuba Clarion          73 c
                Tremolo
                Chimes                              a  added as Op. 892-A in 1933
             8' Harp                  CH            b  added as Op. 892-B in 1934
             4' Celesta               CH            c  added as Op. 892-C in 1936
Posted on by

1877 Wm. Johnson and Son Released for Hauptwerk 7+

It came to my attention in 2022 that the convent at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Makato, MN was closing, the sisters were all moving to a nearby retirement home together in Shakopee, and the property was slated to be put up for sale. Charlie and I both have a soft spot for preserving the sound of historic instruments in their natural surroundings, so I got in contact with Sister Lucille in the summer of 2022 to see if it might be possible to sample the historic 1877 Johnson organ and preserve the sound. After a number of emails and a trip down to see the organ and site, we came to an agreement. Once word spread around to the sisters, there was joy and excitement as they realized something of this special place would be preserved. I traveled down from the Twin Cities in early October on a Sunday afternoon, and began the 2-day process of sampling the instrument. I was struck by the unique beauty of the organ, especially the Johnson patent reeds (I’ve never heard anything like them!)

We sampled in 24-bit 96kHz, 4 perspectives – Direct (in the balcony, about 8-10 feet from the façade, 2 large-diaphragm cardioid condenser mics) Ambient (about the same distance from the pipes as the console, 2 flat-response omni condenser mics) Diffuse (at the foot of the altar steps – Sister Lucille’s “favorite spot” to hear the organ – 2 Earthworks QTC-1 omni condenser mics) and Remote (almost as far away as you can get from the organ, behind the altar in the chancel – the built-in mics of a Zoom H6). Impulse responses were captured in the gallery, the L and R transept galleries, and the chancel – a total of 12 separate files. The remote perspective proved inferior for a number of reasons (not the least the fact that the reverb at that point is so long that we had many overlapping notes), so we settled on the other 3 perspectives, which came out in amazing detail and clarity.

We are excited to share this instrument – it is a not just a vital historic document, but also an exciting instrument to play. While we can never completely and perfectly emulate the real thing, we think it is the best quality we’ve done so far.

Stop by HERE and see some further pictures, hear some demos and find links for purchase.

Jonathan Orwig and Charlie Raasch

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2022 Black Friday/Holiday Sale & New Release!

Welcome to the holiday season!  As part of the celebration, we are releasing a new instrument, and offering a holiday discount on many of our sample sets.

St. Luke’s McLean Steiner-Reck – III/60 (IV/76)

We’re pleased to announce the release of our newest sample set, the St. Luke’s Catholic Church Mclean Virginai Steiner-Reck.  The instrument is available for the introductory price of USD249.  Fully functional demo license (HW VII only) are available for the introductory price of USD 79 cents!

This instrument is a very versatile III/60 instrument that we’ve expanded to IV/76.  It is at St. Luke’s Catholic Church in McLean, VA.  It is in a live space, and is supplied with two perspectives.  New to this instrument is a programmable crescendo which we plan to include on all of our future instruments.

Details on the instrument can be found on our website.  We have a number of recordings available, on our YouTube channel, or on Contrabombarde under clrresources or giwro.

These demo recordings show the instrument capable of a wide range of literature:
Franck Fantasie in A
Raasch St. Anne Suite

IMPORTANT NOTE: This instrument is available with Hauptwerk VII ONLY.  Refunds of perpetual licenses will carry a USD30 restocking charge if you order and are unable to use the instrument on your V or VI system.  See below for our reasons for doing this.  Upgrades from V to VII and VI to VII are available on the Hauptwerk website.

20% off select instruments!

We are offering 20% off of our core instruments.  These instruments are all available for Hauptwerk V and later.

University of Redlands Casavant IV/73  (demo)
Pasadena Presbyterian Aeolian Skinner IV/111 (demo)
Immanuel Presbyterian Los Angeles 3 instrument set
1927 IV/62 EM Skinner (demo) | 1956 III/37 Schlicker | 1977 II/20 Hradetsky)
Saint Olaf Lively-Fulcher III/67 (demo)
First Lutheran Church Long Beach Zimmer III/47 (demo)
Concordia University Casavant III/59.  This workhorse practice instrument is $103 with the coupon code.
Holy Trinity Georgetown EM Skinner III/50.  Only a limited number of licenses for this instrument are available.

2 manual instruments (With the 20% coupon, these instruments are $39 each!)
Immanuel Presbyterian Hradetsky II/20
Concordia University Zhang Hall Goetz

To get your 20% discount, use coupon code BF2022, valid today through Dec 31, 2022. EDIT – Code is not working properly, prices have been manually adjusted

Upcoming

We have been both fortunate and very busy in preparing a number of new instruments for presentation to the Hauptwerk community.  We have 3 other significant instruments completing recording.  We plan to release these next year.  One of the three instruments is a well preserved Wm. Johnson organ.  It is the biggest Johnson known to exist, and probably one of the biggest he built.  The Johnson reeds are something completely different, and we’re very excited about developing this sample set.  The organ is in a fantastic room, and we have multiple perspectives planned. Listen to an improv recorded during one of our sessions:

LISTEN HERE

We remember Fred Swann, Southern California and international organ icon, who recently passed away.  His life was such a contribution to the craft, and he touched so many people with his kindness and his excellence.

The Arboretum organ at Christ Cathedral was purchased and installed at Fred Swann’s urging after the Northridge earthquake in 1994 made the Christian Science church where it was originally installed unusable.  The arboretum organ unofficially carries Fred’s name.  We plan to release soon a complete redo of the Christ Cathedral Arboretum sample set. We have gone back to the original recordings and completely redone noise reduction, sample extraction, and sample processing.  We will also be redoing the user interface of the organ, adding

  • Variable Pedal Divide
  • Simple Screen
  • Variable Tuning
  • Multiple perspectives
  • Programmable Crescendo
  • GT/CH manual swap

Stay tuned to this newsletter, and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up to date on new releases.  If you aren’t a subscriber to our newsletter, join through this signup form.

A word about encryption

There is an immense amount of work that goes into developing a sample set.  There are bad actors on the periphery of the Hauptwerk community who are satisfied to steal the hard work of sample set producers and sell the sets as their own.  Milan Digital Audio has been diligent since the release of HW V in improving the security of the sample sets that we create, protecting our intellectual property, and allowing us to properly gain the benefit of sales, as well as be able to return fees to the venues where these great instruments live.

These bad actors succeeded in exploiting a weakness in HW V/VI to again steal what was not theirs.  With HW VII, the encryption and protection has been again improved, and so for future instruments, we will be releasing using HW VII encryption.

Thank you for your support and interest.
The Evensong Music Team, Jonathan Orwig and Charlie Raasch