Very pleased with the way this console turned out. It was built to very specific requirements.

• 4 custom UHT keyboards
  • Bone and Ebony to baroque dimensions 56 note compass
• French style console with integrated 15″ touch screens
• Adjustable music desk, in and out and up and down
• 30 note BDO pedalboard
• Custom expression pedal position indicators
• No thumb pistons, stepper control, gen can and set functions built into piston rails.
• Mac Studio Computer

Not a hybrid in the conventional sense, a combination of pipes and digital, but an instrument with a pipe organ console and Hauptwerk being used only for tone generation, Why?

The console was mobile, on a plinth with multiple connection points in a large hall. Putting the computer and audio interface in the console would require the line-outputs to be routed to the various connection points. There was no room in the console to accommodate the computer, audio interface and amplifiers, and even if there was, speaker outputs would have to be routed to the connection points.

The solution was to use Renatus Console Control in the console and use Ethernet. Console Control is primarily used for pipe organs and incorporates Ethernet transmission and combination action.

Hauptwerk is a terrific tone generator, however its combination action can be challenging, a desirable side effect of using Console Control is the console behaves like a British pipe organ:

• Independent Divisional and General memories
• Stepper that operates on Generals 1 to 8
  • The same Generals that can be transferred to SW toe pistons
  • Not a sequencer that starts with 0
• Memory lock, copy and paste
• Gens on Swell toes – even if the sample set doesn’t support it
• GT and PED combs combined – even if the sample set doesn’t support it
• Unison off – even if the sample set doesn’t support it
• Better LED displays
  • No current and queued and Combination Sets!
• Combinations can be saved to a USB thumb drive

A fundamental component was a Romsey OrganWorks Power Controller, synchronising console state with the remote equipment in the rack specifically managing PC startup and shutdown and amplifier power. Custom firmware was written to support this unique deployment topology.

The instrument is fantastic, Hauptwerk as a tone generator and Renatus Console Control providing the combination action and transmission, the best of both worlds!