pwhodges

The first of these (by Bradley Lehman) is utterly convincing, and I, for my part, believe it to be right (and have that temperament available in my copy of Hauptwerk and in my electronic keyboard). As well as the author's recordings, there are already some other recordings using this tuning, such as Richard Egarr's new Goldberg Variations. By comparison the second site (by Charles Francis) is a travesty. The author's suggested interpretations of the same graphic bear no relationship to any known practical method of tuning, and he has produced a considerable number of interpretations, all equally arbitrary, over a couple of years (Bradley Lehman includes them in his survey - just search for "Francis" on this page). Determined searching will also turn up ad hominem attacks by Charles Francis on Bradley Lehman, including a review debunking his suggestion before it had actually been published! In this page Bradley Lehman answers all Charles Francis's attacks (and also remarks that he appears to be an electrical engineer rather than a musician - now where did we come across something like that before? ) Paul

Yes - use a virtual MIDI patch cable like MIDI-yoke to connect the output from Sibelius to the input of Hauptwerk. Paul

That was a problem in v1 because of the way release samples were handled. V2 fixes it. Paul

Generally you buy whole organs, but there are facilities for modifying them. There is also an organ building kit (called the Compenius organ) which is sold with about 150 stops for you to build into the format you fancy. Some organs are sampled with reverberation (so better for use at home or with headphones) and some are dry, and so more suitable for use in real spaces like churches. There are a few small organs available free (as well as the one that comes with it), and you can get a harpsichord, a Wurlitzer, a harmonium, and even a carillon for variety. With a little hunting (or asking me), you might even find a copy of the "organ" ("Holy Ghost" organ, released briefly on 1 April a couple of years ago) which is samples of someone attempting to sing every note of every stop... Note that most sample sets are still in the format for Hauptwerk 1, as Hauptwerk 2 was only released this year - new facilities include wind modelling, action and blower noise, selection of temperament (you could put a choice of temperaments on pistons if you fancy!), and lots more. You can't buy v1 any longer, but you get a copy of it with v2. Paul

I don't really know, except that a lot of this sort of thing has been thought about by the writer, Martin Dyde. If you ask in the Haupwerk forum here you will get answers from Martin and from people who have installed it in churches. Paul

Which I happen to be listening to right now (I'm lightening up after listening to Parsifal yesterday ). Paul

As a computer engineer by trade (like me) you must surely know that a correctly built dedicated Windows machine is as stable as any other platform. I can play Hauptwerk day in, day out, with no trouble at all - and that's on a non-dedicated machine. Paul

Ha! Back to metrical psalms and a barrel organ then... Paul

My MP has just sent me a letter from Malcolm Wicks which reiterates some of the usual things (repair and refurbishment is OK, organs not reliant on electricity are OK). However, he doesn't just spout the exemption thing. Instead he writes: and only then (my italics): This suggests that they have become less confident of their own interpretation of the directive. Paul

I'm very fond of Christ Church, Oxford (well OK, the swell case is a little too tall); but for me Exeter has to be the top one of all. Paul

Not that, but I've got Francis Grier's LPs from ASV of Messiaen and Franck at Christ Church Oxford in 1982/4 (Franck Chorales I, I, II, Messiaen L'Ascension and Messe de la Pentecote) and still enjoy them. Paul

Part of Paul Morgan's recording of Wesley is from the cathedral (originally Priory, now released by Regis). Paul

But be careful to separate those. I have heard many "rhapsodic" performances that actually were merely flabby; but Anton Heiller's recordings (as a particular example), although strict, have a compelling drive that makes them marvellous rather than tedious - I wish there were more of them! Paul

You clearly haven't taken to heart the sentiments expressed in the preface of Mercer's Hymnbook (1854) in which he wrote: Rockingham is one of my big favorites. Paul

I presume the Hallelujah Chorus one is this, which is all over the Internet now. Paul

Try this. Paul

Well, I bought it! I now have Bowyer at Odense (on Nimbus), but I haven't compared them. I think I prefer the Bowyer from what I recall. Paul

Yes it can. Any other explanation (e.g. arrogance, or ignorance in this context) is merely an elaboration of stupidity. Paul

I have Hauptwerk. It is an incredible program. You need a gutsy computer, but the results are way beyond what any other electronic can do. And the sample sets you can buy range from Spanish and Czech baroque organs to Skinner, Willis, Wurlitzer, even a harmonium; and a number of free sample sets are around - a carillon, harpsichord, calliope, and a super little house organ by Ott. You can set any temperament you fancy; the effects of wind variations are modelled (except in the USA, for patent reasons); looping is varied on repetitions of the same note; some sample sets are recorded ambient (good for headphone use), and some are dry for use in churches or with locally added ambience. The ability to add impulse-defined reverb as part of the program is planned. Details are at http://www.crumhorn-labs.com Paul

Sigh! Yet again, a superficially encouraging statement that actually confirms the worst interpretation. In effect it tells us that new pipe organs are covered by this legislation, and merely reminds us of the provisions for repair of old ones. When will anyone in authority anywhere get the point? They all seem to think that the preservation of the process of drafting laws is more important than the results. If the actual intent of all this is to remove lead from electrical wiring and circuit boards, why don't they just say in the directives that the measures apply to electrical wiring and circuit boards (and not to organ pipes)? Is it so hard? Paul

Welcome to the world of bulletin boards! Paul

The directive says: This seems to me to cover any organ that is not hand (or water if there are any now) blown. There is nothing that says that it does not apply to the whole of such equipment, even though it might seem obvious to us that it shouldn't. This is why there is potentially a problem. It needs to be dealt with because our government has a record of placing the letter of such directives above the intent. Paul

It appears to confirm that no-one "dealing" with this has a clue what they are on about. Consider the sentence: Paul

I automatically read it as a mistyping of "temptation", but I hear that he sings "tempestion", so I can only suppose that he got tongue-tied when singing it and the transcriber just typed what he heard without thought. Paul

It even made Central TV News last night. My MP (Andrew Smith, Oxford East) has expressed his surprise and written to various relevant ministers. Paul