Freiberg Organ Model - v.2

The Specification of the Instrument

The Compass

The original compass of the manuals is 4 octaves without the lowest C# (this tone was added virtually in our model). The original pedal compass is 2 octaves without the lowest C# (also added virtually). In the virtual model, we extended the compass of the manuals to 4.5 octaves (up to f) and also the pedal compass was extended to 2.5 octaves (up to f)

Sample Quality

10 channel recording was done in 96kHz/24 bit, the post processing was done using 32-bit depth. The resulting wet samples are offered in 24bit/48kHz quality, multiple releases (3-4 sets, one for a steady tone, one for a short tone one or two for a very short staccato). Occasional multiple attack samples are used. The reverberation time is up to 4 seconds. The steady sound of the pipes has about 6-8 seconds for the flue pipes, up to 12 seconds for reeds and mixtures. There are multiple loops in the sample (normally 3 sometimes up to 5). Random pipe detuning applied. Two tremulants (Tremulante, Schwebung) modelled at different rates. The sample set is encrypted so that the original wave files are not user-editable outside Hauptwerk. The sample set can be used only in conjunction with Hauptwerk software, in the version 3.30 and higher. Nevertheless, all the voicing functions within Hauptwerk remain funcional.

The sample set is presented in 2 different versions:

• Surround: the surround recording uses 4 independent channels for each virtual pipe (for each sample). Imagine standing in the church heading the organ. You hear the organ in front of you, but you also hear the reverberation of the church which is all around you, coming to your ears from all the directions. This is how the surround sample set is formed. The sound of the organ is captured by the "front" microphones, the church response by the "rear" microphones. 4 channels are extracted from the recording. Two channels are used to supply the sound of the organ for the front speakers, while the 2 other channels offer the diffused (reflected) sound coming to you from the church. You can use these two channels to feed your surround (rear) speakers. In this way, the realism of the reproduction is greatly increased, since you may feel as being "inside" the sound field, experiencing not only left-right dimension of the sound, but also the front-back dimension. You hear the sound of the organ, but also the sound which returns to you from the church nave. Please note, that at least 4 speakers are needed to reproduce the multi-channel audio.

  Rank Audio Output routing

  • For the surround sound, it is necessary to route the virtual front and rear "ranks" into the corresponding audio outputs. See the screenshot for the adjustment of the ranks. Using the same dialog, the rear ranks can be completely muted, resulting in the loading of the sample set in the conventional wet (simple stereo) setting.

  The surround version of the sample set is offered in two different variants: direct and diffuse.

  • The direct channels contain high portion of the direct sound which stands out well from the reverberation. Also, the location of pipes is well defined. The sound is pristine, clear, present, extremely well suitable for a solo use of the stops.
  • The diffuse channels contains well balanced level of the direct and diffused sound, so the stops blend together perfectly and the organ is immersed more deeply into the reverberation. It performs best in various plenum settings.

  RAM consumption

  • 6.9 GB of RAM needed to load the sample set in 16-bit resolution, this figure is doubled if loaded in 24-bit resolution.
     
• Dry: the samples offer the mono recorded sound of individual pipes (recorded in front of the Prospekt, not inside the case). They are offered in 24bit/48kHz resolution. The samples were panned into C and C# sides in Hauptwerk. This sample set may be used well in self-reverberant spaces (such as halls) or it may be mixed with the digital reverb. By the addition of digital reverb you can virtually "move" the organ into various spaces according to your need and your liking. You may try the convolution reverberation using the IR´s offered by our Hauptwerk.cz partners.
  • 1,5 GB of RAM needed if loaded fully at 16-bit depth (48kHz)
  • 2.3 GB of RAM needed if loaded fully at 20-bit depth (48kHz)
  • 2.8 GB of RAM needed if loaded fully at 24-bit depth (48kHz)

All the versions together contain 21.118 audio samples and it is 26.5 GB of uncompressed audio data. If you want to make a decision, which version is the best for your needs, you might consider ordering the demo sample set first - 5 selected stops are available in all the versions for your testing (see the download page for more details).

The Tuning and Temperament

The organ is tuned in Chorton, about 70 cents above the "normal" a. When recorded, its heigth was a=458.1 Hz.

There are 5 temperament charts coming with the sample set. First of all, it is the nowadays temperament, which was chosen by the restoration committee in July, 2007. It is the Neidhardt II temperament, descibed by the author as "fuer die kleine Stadt" what is perfectly fitting for Freiberg. This is the temperament table (the cent deviation from the equal temperament):

However, this is not the original temperament of the organ when built by G. Silbermann. According to the positions of the hats of the Quintadena, the original temperament could be reconstructed with a great degree of certainty in January, 2007. This reconstructed temperament is also offered as a special temperament chart installed with the sample set. It is modified meantone temperament, this is its table:

In addition, we offer three more temperament charts with the sample sets, all of which are modified meantone temperaments as found during the course of history on the other Silbermann instrument, the great organ of the Freiberg Cathedral. These are the Silbermann-Sorge temperament, modified Silbermann temperament of 1982 and another modification of this temperament known as "Freiberg 1985". These temperaments are described in detail in the book Christoph Schwarzenberg - Kristian Wegscheider: Die grosse Silbermann-Orgel im Dom zu Freiberg, p. A5-A7. All the temperament charts may be optionally installed together with the sample set.

Screenshots

The sample set was optimized for the 1270x1024 px screen resolution. There are dual stop jambs (left and right) for the use with the two touchscreens. However, the orientation of these dual stop jambs is vertical (as required by the drawstop original layout) and therefore the touch monitor needs to support the rotation (sometimes called the pivot function).

Virtual console page	blower - bellows page	voicing page	rank adjustment

Updates: see the dedicated web page.