Specification and screenshots of the Prague Baroque Organ Model

Version 2 enhancements

• newly programmed release tails for the flue stops + some of them newly added for better blending and smoother transitions
• completely new creation of the reeds release tails,. courtesy of Al Morse. The integration of the Klosterneruburg reeds into the Prague church acoustics is thus achieved in greater detail. The extended version of the sample set is now coherent and balanced virtual organ.
• newly created artwork for the screen layout: larger screen resolution (1280x1024px) needed.
• Independent left and right stop jambs added for use with double touch screen.
• A number of voicing corrections.

Specification

The original specification respects fully the Prague Mundt Organ. The Klosterneuburg organ inspired the extension only.

Temperament

We offer various temperament charts which are suitable for the Prague Baroque sample set. They are derived from the temperaments found at the Tyn and Klosterneuburg organs.

The temperament proposed by dr. Theobald for the Prague Tyn organ:

This temperament chart is called "Prague baroque after Theobald" in the Hauptwerk temperament directory. Although the authority of the author of this temperament is beyond question, I have serious doubts about its musicality. While seldom used keys as F#-major, C#-major, Ab-major and similar are very well in tune, more often used keys as A-major, E-major, Eb-major are very much out of tune. What is more important, this approach does not seem to match the historical remark of the 19th century maintainer of the organ which is mentioned in the historical essay on the Sonus Paradisi website. For this reason, I slightly modified the temperament, to achieve pleasant A-major, E-major, Eb-major keys while disturbing the F#-major, C#-major and Ab-major to certain extent. I am convinced that this temperament is more musically appropriate as well as historically possible. Both temperament charts (dr. Theobald's and mine) are included in the Prague Baroque sample set so you can judge yourself on the musicality of both versions.

However, the possibility to explore any possible temperament with high degree of precision in conditions that are virtual but still very close to the real situation, this is one of the features of Hauptwerk software which make it valuable tool for the acoustic research and it may be helpful when making decisions about the hypothetical temperaments of historical instruments when these are being restored today. When modifying the temperament, I lowered 4 tones (C, C#, G, G# - marked red in the table below) so that I arrived at this temperament:

This temperament scheme is called "Prague Baroque modified" in the Hauptwerk temperament directory.

Finally, I merged this experimentally modified temperament with that what we actually found on the organ  (surprisingly enough, the real temperament of the organ was not fully in accordance with the proposed temperament by dr. Theobald even though he was the intellectual leader of the restoration). The resulting temperament used as the base of the tuning scheme for Hauptwerk is this:

This temperament chart is then called "Prague Baroque after Zurek" in your Hauptwerk temperaments directory.

The last temperament chart distributed with the Prague Baroque sample set is the Klosterneuburg one, which is taken from the book mentioned in the bibliography, being somewhat milder MeanTone temperament.

Compass

• Original version (dry or wet) manuals 45 keys (MIDI: 36-C to 84-C) short bottom octave, pedal - 18 keys, short bottom octave
• Extended version (dry of wet) manuals 54 keys (MIDI 36-C to 91-F), pedal 27-29 keys (MIDI: 36-C to 64-E, or 62-D)

Versions

The sample set is offered in two versions -

• Wet version: recorded from a distance of about 6 meters from the pipes using ORTF stereo technique (different location of mics for Positiv and Hauptwerk to achieve good balance and stereo effect), multiple attack and release samples,
• Dry: recorded close to pipes with minimum reverberation, suitable for use in reverberant ambients and /or for artificial reverb addition. By adding various kinds of reverb you may achieve the virtual placement of the instrument into various ambients and you may vary your virtual listening position. The recording is mono, panned virtually in Hauptwerk to achieve stereo effect similar to the real situation.

Requirements

• Memory:
  Dry Original, multisampling, 16 bit compressed: 1899MB.
  Dry Extended, multisampling, 16 bit compressed: 2450MB.
  Wet Original, multiple samples, full multiple releases, 16 bit compressed: 2482 MB.
  Wet Extended, 16bit, compressed, full multiple releases, approx. 4.2GB, using single attack samples and 14bit compression, it is 2.76 GB.
• If you want to get most out of the samples, load it at least in 20-bits (possibly with the memory compression enabled). If you have to make compromises, it is always better to use the memory compression while loading in higher bit depth, rather than using the samples without the memory compression at lower bit depth! The higher the bit depth, the less noise (hiss) introduced by the audio engine in Hauptwerk!
• Screen: 1280X1024px minimum.
• Loads in Hauptwerk 3.30 and above

Screenshots - original version

Console	Bellows	Left Jamb	Right Jamb	voicing

Screenshots - extended version (with the Klosterneuburg reeds)

console - extended	Left Jamb	Right Jamb

Updates available from a separate web page.