May 8, 2013  

The idea

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We’re getting ready to remodel the chancel of the sanctuary at Pathfinder Church in Portage, Michigan, USA.  There were originally no plans to make any changes to our Casavant pipe organ (built around 1960).  However, since we will be knocking down the wall immediately behind the organ console to provide a wider chancel area, I figured this was a wonderful opportunity to make some improvements to our existing organ, including making a new console on a movable platform to better utilize our newly enlarged chancel space.

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My plan is to use this opportunity to MIDI-fy the pipes, replace the existing console with a DIY version, much like many people on the Hauptwerk forum have done.  It’ll be built using 4 keyboards, our existing pedalboard, which will be MIDI-fied, and powered by a MacMini and Hauptwerk virtual organ software to control the existing pipes, and it will be combined with its own audio system and a sampled organ to create a unique hybrid instrument.

Specifications of our existing organ are as follows:

Pedal

  • 16′ Subbass
  • 8′ Spitz principal
  • 16′ Fagott
  • 4′ Schalmey
  • Great to pedal
  • Swell to pedal

Swell

  • 8′ Gedeckt
  • 8′ Viole de gambe
  • 8′ Voix celeste
  • 8′ Aeoline
  • 4′ Koppel flote
  • 2′ Principal
  • II Sesqui altera
  • III Cymbel
  • 8′ Trompette
  • Tremulant

Great

  • 8′ Principal
  • 8′ Rohr flote
  • 8′ Gemshorn
  • 4′ Octave
  • 2′ Block flote
  • IV Mixture
  • Swell to great

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The organ project is lumped in with this phase of the church’s remodeling project.  Tonight the church council voted to move forward with the project.  May 19, 2013 will be a church-wide meeting for the church to vote to move forward.  Assuming it passes, I’ll begin purchasing equipment and solidifying plans.  I’ll continue to use the existing organ console until construction begins in the sanctuary, currently scheduled for mid-September, 2013, at which point we’ll have about 7 weeks to get all the pieces together and bring this thing to life.

I’ll confess that I’ve been a closet Hauptwerk enthusiast for a few years now, secretly watching the amazing things that people (Hauptwerkians) in the Hauptwerk community are doing.  Most of the ideas that I have in my head I’ve seen on the Hauptwerk forum or are inspired from things I’ve seen on the forum.  I am truly standing on the shoulders of giants.