Silver Octopus Studios
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Silver Octopus Studios
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LATER JANUARY Just a couple of demos.....from the sublime to the ridiculous:- The Huddersfield Tuba wasn't very nice overall in the end so I have had to manufacture one. It's not too bad but won't come into its own until it's played in a big space so it's a bit of guesswork. The Celestes demo show both Choir and Swell Celestes in various combinations underpinned by a manual bass since i don't have a pedalboard. LATE JANUARY Apart from tidying up a few files, doing a bit of detuning and putting in the parameters for the tremulants and swell enclosures, the 48 stop is pretty much complete apart from the Tuba which I am working on at the moment. The Vox Humana proved a bit troublesome - out of the three that I have, one was very unstable indeed and whilst I may be able to stabilise it at some later date, it's just too much work at the moment. The second is a very fine stop but is rather too Continental and refined - if anything a bit too baroque. which left the final one from Huddersfield Town Hall. I believe that it was originally a Conacher stop revoiced by Father Willis for the T.H. instrument and subsequently re-regulated by Harrisons in both of their rebuilds. It's correct in the main but the second octave was all over the place and the top octaves differed rather too noticably as the boot and resonator sizes changed for stability. after a lot of messing about, it is now a fitting stop which blends well with the rest of the Swell (neither of the other two did). Also problematical were the 16' basses for the Pedal Open Diapason which although fine, had considerable rattles on many notes both those from St Georges in Liverpool and those from Huddersfield. I've used the other one for the Great. they are also now OK. the Open Wood was slow to settle down in pitch in the second octave which made it sound a bit odd but I have managed to cobble together a decent one out of the Conacher. As regards the 64 stop and larger Romantic specs, much has been done already and it will be merely a matter of balancing and choosing which stops to use. The Trios have gained a few stops as a bi-product of the Romantics here and there so they shouldn't be far off. I have also been looking at the strings side for the larger Romantics and had a good listen to both Wanamaker and Yale both of which have big string sections. I am not even going to attempt to approach the 87 manual stops Wanamaker string section with it's accompanying pedal nor am I going to have 10 Vox Humanas in chorus but I reckon that I will be able to create quite a considerable string division out of what I have for the future which should please our American cousins. I must admit that the Wanamaker section is really rather stunning even if slightly OTT. Once I have the 48 stop pretty much out of the way, I'll produce some demos and I reckon that I will release both the 48 and 64 stop libraries at the same time. The Trio 30 and 40 should follow a few weeks later. as regards the latter, it is most likely that there will be an additional library........Originally there was to be a 20, 30 and 40 with only the 40 being spread over 3 manuals but it is now likely that there will be a further 3 manual in that series with 28-30 stops. After all of the above, I will get around to finishing the Harmonium which looks promising and releasing a surprise library which will appeal to a certain quarter. Then there are the "Supermarket" libraries which will merely consist of selections of the stops of various families so that people can "construct" their own specifications at will. All in all a busy time and by end of March, there should be irrefutable doubt that all of the hard work over the years will have been worth it.
DECEMBER 20th 2009 I had hoped to have the 48 stop out by Christmas but this is not going to be the case due to the various problems outlined somewhat below. However, the majority of those problems have no been ironed out and the 48 stop is not far off completion. the 64 stop won't be far behind since most of the stops for that are already completed however, the larger Romantics such as the 80 and 100 stop models will take a little longer - probably mid to late next year. The Trio series have been a bit on a back burner recently but the 30 and 40 stop aren't that far from completion - it's a case of priorities and at the moment the smaller Romantics are taking precedence. Once the mid sized Romantics are out of the way, it should only be a matter of a few weeks before the bigger Trios are released. Back to the Romantics and the Greta has a fine reed chorus as well as nice transparent diapason chorus. The flutes are what they are and although correct are likely to shift to the Solo being replaced by more blending varieties. The Swell is pretty much as good as it's going to get and the reed chorus exhibits the desired snarl that I have been striving for. On the 48 there is no Clarion 4' but the octave coupler more than makes up for its lack. Yet again I make kick the Vox onto the Solo and put one in. All the mixtures are quite small in that they are only three ranks apiece but that is normal Willis practice. however, I have made the Great one a 15:19:22 as opposed to the typical Tierce Mixture favoured by Willis. The Swell one however, is true to form. The pedal stops are currently not quite right - not far off, but not quite there yet. The Choir stops are pretty much OK but I still anticipate problems with the Tuba. I have one or two but I'm still searching for the right result. On another side entirely, I will have access to a newly cleaned instrument with a new mixture on it plus several other rather nice stops in about February which should prove interesting for the future. It will be a while before the whole instrument is done but when finished, it should be quite splendid and ripe for producing a decent smaple set.
NOVEMBER 28th. 2009 It's been a fairly crap week. I've reworked the Contra Posaune 16' for the Great and the Mixture plus the Clarion 4' The CP 16 wasn't too bad before and now sounds much better. The Mixture is improving and several new ones were created using different breaks and scaling etc. none of them are too bad but I still find myself going back to an older one despite its shortcomings. The Clarion 4' has proved to be total nightmare....I've tried substituting this and that and eventually ended up with a hotchpotch of 6 different ranks combined into one. It sounds great on its own but unfortunately it just doesn't sound right when combined with the rest of the chorus (much the same as many other stops worked and reworked). I've tried using other reed stops in their octave versions and much more besides to no avail. Despite the problems in the earlier attempt, it proves to be the best and even though I have gone over the original samples with a fine tooth comb to try and improve it, I cannot create or equal the earlier attempt. Strangely, this makes it obvious that the production of good sample sets is not just a matter of tried and tested editing formulae (although I do use these) but more a case of inspiration; divine or whatever at the time. It's not too difficult to produce any stop from a given set of samples - though some can prove to be more irksome than others, it's getting the finished items to blend properly as I have said many times before. It only brings to the fore, the extreme skill that many of our great builders used to create their masterpieces or not. Metal is metal although obviously in different combinations of the alloy, scales are scales and pipe shapes are as they are but even the great Henry W got it right better on some occasions than on others. It's still a long hard struggle but I will get there in the end. NOVEMBER 21ST. 2009 A few more........ Large Open MP3. Original Father Willis with a slightly split effect since half the stop is in the casework. Medium Open MP3. Original Father Willis. The lowest notes are conveyanced off onto separate blocks. Claribel Flute MP3. Original Father Willis. Whilst being typically what it is, I can't help feeling that in the final spec, I'll opt for a Stopped Diapason instead and use this on a future Solo Organ Large Open and Principal MP3. Original Father Willis. Rather more stringy than the Opens the Principal does blend quite well without upsetting either them or the Claribel Flute when in combination. Medium Open and Principal MP3. As above. NOVEMBER 18TH. 2009 Now that both the Romantic Series models and the larger Trio Series models are nearing some sort of completion, I can start putting up some demos over the next few weeks. Although not finalised and still requiring much work, these forthcoming demos should give a general flavour of what is coming. The first come from the Romantic Series Choir organ: Lieblich Gedeckt MP3. This is original untouched Father Willis. I'm not entirely happy with it and I may replace it with another one of the many that I have depending on how well it fits into the division. Dulciana 8' MP3. Also untouched Father Willis and a very difficult stop to do because it is so quiet. I may rework this yet another time. Violes Celestes 8' MP3. These are from the Solo Organ at Huddersfield Town Hall and although original Father Willis, they have probably been revoiced by Harrison and Harrison in one of the rebuilds.
OCTOBER 1ST. 2009 There hasn't been much to report on the news front over the last few months apart from the fact that I have continued working on the various sets. However, having now been back in the country since late May and having sold the van, I have recently moved into the pretty town of Tewkesbury and can settle down to some proper work. The last few months have been spent up in Derbyshire, most recently with GH. During that time (about 3 weeks ago), we visited a local church to repair a couple of ciphers and at the same time took the opportunity to sample a few stops. The instrument in question is a rather fine Conacher 3 manual in somewhat poor condition and was built with French pipework made by Zimmerman, tracker action to the manuals and pneumatic to the pedal. Whilst it does have its faults, it is a very complete specification (apart from the pedal) with mixtures on Great and Swell and even a Clarion 4' which was unusual. Much of the pipework is absolutely filthy and it is obvious that the instrument stands pretty much as it was built well over a century ago. Most of the pipework is high quality spotted metal and although particularly dirty in the Great is still relatively clean in the Swell and Choir organs. Amongst the stops sampled was a rather delightful Clarabella 8' (sic) which in fact, is a really a wooden Rohrgedeckt. So I have decided to try an experiment:- I am posting the raw samples as a single file for Hauptwerkians of a mind to download and see what they can come up with. This serves three purposes: It may reveal a bright new talent in the world of sampling, it will allow people to experience how difficult it is to make just a single stop from a typical raw close up recording and it will give the opportunity for those who might want to have a go to avoid the cost of equipment hire, organ access etc. There are no rules and it is down to the individual(s) to use the best resources that they have to make a decent stop (or not). The file is here:- RAWCLAR (131.5 Mb approx). Good Luck
APRIL 21st. 2009 Some more demos have been done for the Bells and Carillon libraries as follows:- Bob Minor (Diatonic 8 in F#) 40 changes on 6 bells with narrower stereo separation. Bob Minor (Diatonic in G) As above but with original stereo separation London Bridge (Carillon 61) Avignon Bridge (Carillon 61) APRIL 20th. 2009 I have reworked the bell samples completely over the last few days since I wasn't altogether happy with them.........Although not particularly noticable in the demos below, one or two samples had undesirable noises on the occasional note and others were either too loud or too soft. In addition the Carillon had to be retuned to A440 from the original slightly sharp tuning. The artwork is finished and the product is ready for release. Further details can be found HERE (click to link). New MP3 DEMOS:- Grandsire Triples (8 Bell Diatonic on F# - Long Sustain) POST EASTER I have looked at the bells again and managed to produce the normal peal, a chromatic octave and a 49 note Carillon. They're rather rough at the moment and need a bit of working on but they sound promising. Unlike the initial trials I did a few years ago, these are in Stereo. I expect to have the library and artwork finished within the next few days. Expected price for the HW3 version will be £35 including airmail postage.
MARCH 6th. 2009 I have cobbled together a few demos of the Trio 20 now that it is in sync. It's depressing as to how out of practice I am and I'm afraid that the playing etc. isn't brilliant. Of course it doesn't help to have no pedalboard the Cubase sequencer is still playing up a bit. However, they give some idea of some of what can now be achieved with the instrument. I've added a bit of reverberation but not too much. Demos as follows;- Bach: Choral from Sei Gegrusset Bach: Variation V from Sei Gegrusset Bach: Trio Sonata in C Minor - 1st. Movement excerpt Mulet: Carillon Sortie excerpt So the Trio 20 is pretty much ready for release and I will be updating the appropriate pages accordingly.
FEBRUARY 15th. 2009 Despite the problems with Cubase, I have managed to cobble together this demo which uses everything on the Trio 20/25 apart from the Celestes on the Swell. I reckon for a 20 stop organ, it's really quite an exciting sound in its overall plenum. FEBRUARY 14th. 2009 Herewith some really very rough demos of some of the Romantic Organ stops. Please note that these are very far from being finished; some are very noisy, none of them are regulated and there are many bad samples. One or two are further on in their stages of editing but as a whole, they are pretty much as they came off the chests when recorded and have only been made into very rough stops to see how they will work and if they will blend together. Once the several stages of edits have been undertaken, they will be much improved and very different although the overall character will remain in most cases.
FEBRUARY 13th. 2009 The Trio Series 20 is now pretty much complete with the Pedal having been finished and the original Gaitero replaced with a Basson-Hautbois 8' which forms a convincing Swell when using the Sub-Octave and Octave couplers. the Mixtures have also been altered from their original composition. Herewith a couple of demos I have used the reverberation provided by the Emu card in the latter. Both demos include my stop noise but the blower is the standard HW3 St Annes one. The key action has also been turned off for both demos. DECEMBER 22nd. 2008 Here are some rather rough first demos of the 20 stop /25 rank Trio instrument. There is still a fair amount of fine tweaking to be done and the balance isn't perfect but it's enough to give one a basic idea. Nothing is set in stone and I might yet substitute other stops or change the composition of the Mixtures which are currently standing as 15:19:22 on the Great and 22:26:29 on the Swell. Although they are dry samples, there is some slap back here and there due to the chamber which needs to be corrected, though this isn't noticeable if any reverb is added. The main reason for posting these demos is to get a general feel as to whether people like the overall feel of the set. I apologise for the somewhat lacklustre demos in terms of music and better demos will be forthcoming when some of the faults have been ironed out. Although the samples are originally all 24 bit / 48k, I have converted them to standard CD quality for the web. Swell Gedeckt, Gemshorn and Octave Great Stopped Diapason to Fifteenth Great Chorus including Trumpet Great and Swell Coupled no Trumpet Great and Swell coupled with Trumpet DECEMBER 2008 Now that I have a better idea of how the various samples work together, I am able to plan the forthcoming libraries. Initially, there will be a series of libraries based mostly on a Jones / Nicholson organ which could be described as "Modern British". As opposed to the very Romantic Willis samples, the samples are voiced on fairly low pressure and tend to have some chiff in the flues although it isn't over pronounced. The reeds tend to be a little bit more "splashy" than the Willis ones and the overall tonal quality of the stops is a more suitable for Bach and similar works although they can also give a good account of later composers. This series will consist of 5 libraries:- Two single manual split keyboard continuo instruments designed for playing with chamber groups, two instruments consisting of 20 and 30 stops spread over two manuals and pedal and a three manual and pedal of 40 stops. Due to their tonal quality and design ideals, these five sets will be called the "Continuo" and "Trio" libraries. The "Romantic Series" will consist of a further five libraries based on the Father Willis samples from several different instruments which include Liverpool and Huddersfield. There will be two instruments of 36 and 48 stops spread over two manuals and pedal, a 64 stop instrument spread over three manuals and pedal, an 80 stop instrument and finally a 100 stop instrument. Our initial libraries were produced in panned mono with short loops due the constraints of the technology at the time. However, with today's increased facilities, it is now possible to produce the libraries in true stereo with long loops or in the case of some stops, an artificial stereo which is close to true stereo. Over the years, much has been learned and many of the problems of the first HW1 and HW2 sets are now a thing of the past. The next couple of months should see the release of the Continuo and Trio libraries and perhaps the first couple of the Romantic series libraries. Proposed specification of TRIO 20 (25 ranks). Expected price: £100.00
Initial Graphics for TRIO 20:-
Proposed specification of TRIO 30 (36 ranks). Expected price £150.00
Proposed specification of TRIO 40 (47 ranks). Expected price : £200.00
The majority of the ranks to be used are from the Kenneth Jones / Nicholson instrument in Mount St. Mary's College, Spinkhill, Yorkshire. however, Some ranks are from other sources and include ranks from Spain and stock pipework from George Sixsmith & Son Organ Builders. All Mixture ranks are separate. All ranks are recorded dry. The majority of ranks were recorded in true stereo. All ranks are at 48 kHz and 24 bit. Because the samples are recorded dry and use long loops, neither multiple loops nor multiple releases are deemed necessary. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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