To round off a busy year, we installed 3 Winchester Consoles.

The 3 manual console below incorporates our new OLED displays and new nameboard thumb piston layout, The displays are a bit larger and have better contrast. In order to fit them, the stepper and combination set control pistons have swapped sides. This console included our optional Electrics Pack which includes an additional MIDI encoder in the base. This means that only a 4-core cable needs to be run from the base to the keyboards which greatly simplifies keyboard removal. Just as well as the console had to go upstairs along a narrow corridor.

The most popular colour is natural Oak (above) where we apply a clear lacquer to unstained wood. However the 2 consoles below were supplied in a darker stain.

The customer chose not to have stepper pistons on the nameboard.

Last installation of the year, a very tidy 3 manual console.

I love making continuo organs!

We had a very interesting request to build a continuo organ that could easily be transported with two keyboard heights. In low height configuration, a harpsichord could be placed on top creating a claviorganum, in high configuration, the instrument could be played whilst standing or seated on a stool.

The solution was to split the instrument into 3 sections, lower section containing speakers, upper section containing the keyboard, stops, computer and audio interface and two center sections  of differing heights. The top section is completely self-contained allowing it to be used without the base. The centre sections flat-pack for ease of transport.

Specification:

• Intel NUC running Windows 10
• Romsey OrganWorks Power Controller
• Focusrite Solo gen 3
• UHT custom keyboard
  • 54 note compass, Grenadilla naturals, Maple sharps, dual-scored, form A fronts
• 6 hand-turned drawstops
• 2 Behringer B2031a powered speakers
• Drawer containing monitor and pistons for pitch and temperament control

We were very excited when we were contacted by the Hallé Orchestra to provide an instrument for their new venue, St Peter’s.

The instrument had to be mobile as it would have to be moved between the main church and various studios. Luckily we had already provided such an instrument for the BBC.

The console splits into 2 sections, pedalboard and bench and the console itself making it very easy to move.

Specification:

• BDO Specification Console with BBC mobility modifications
  • After Cavaillé-Coll
• 30 note concave and parallel pedalboard with Rosewood capped sharps
• Rosewood drawstops with Taylor long-throw solenoids
• UHT Series 40 keyboards – 56 note compass
• Pin-adjustable bench
• Intel NUC running Windows 10
• Focusrite 18i20 gen 3 audio interface
• 10″ monitor mounted in drawer
• Romsey OrganWorks power controller
• Dual specification
  • St Mary-le-Bow – Tickell
  • St Eucaire – Cavaillé-Coll

Speakers were provided by the Hallé as they will be used for other purposes.

Hauptwerk is becoming widely using in the performance of baroque music due to ease of changing pitch and temperament and sample set availability.

We were approached by Alison Balsom to provide an instrument for her upcoming album, Royal Fireworks. The location was St Judes on the Hill.

We supplied an instrument with the following specification:

• BDO Console
• 30 note concave an parallel pedalboard with dark wood capped sharps
• Illuminated Tabs
• 2 Fatar TP/60 keyboards
• Pin-adjustable Bench
• Sonus Paradisi Prague Baroque (dry) sample set
• Mac Mini
• Focusrite 18i20 gen 3 audio interface
• 4 X 8″ powered speakers, 2 X 6″ powered speakers and a 10″ subwoofer

Pitch was a=415 Hz  and temperament, Vallotti. Particular attention was paid to speaker location and voicing. The overall result was well worth the effort.

This instrument has since been refitted and is for sale, it would be ideal for a small church or home. Can be supplied with or without speakers. Please contact me for details

• Intel NUC i5, 32Gb RAM
  • Mounted under key shelf
• Focusrite 4i4 gen 3
  • Mounted under key shelf
  • 4 Channels
• Romsey OrganWorks Power Controller
  • Single button-press start and stop
• Lilliput 9″ Monitor
• 4 Behringer B2031a 8″ Powered Speakers
• Presonus Temblor T10 subwoofer

Is this the perfect organ for the home?

This Winchester Console has our standard thumb piston layout with  stepper / combination set pistons and Hauptwerk compatible LCD displays in the nameboard.  Capped sharps on the pedalboard, 4 toe pistons and Oak expression pedals are a nice additions

A new Mac Mini was used in conjunction with a Focusrite audio interface, Iiyama touchscreens and Behringer B2031a speakers.

OK, a Mac requires a Touchbase Driver for the touchscreens and is a bit more expensive, but it is by far the best platform for Hauptwerk, no latency issues or clicks and pops here; it just works straight out of the box. Oh and it is blisteringly quick loading sample sets.

Every console is custom-built; this 4 manual Clayesmore Console has thumb and toe pistons that replicate the Ripon Cathedral Console.

Fatar wood-core keyboards were installed along with Oak expression pedals and a pin-adjustable bench.

Our standard Hauptwerk-compatible LCD displays and combination set and stepper pistons are installed in the nameboard.

Iiyama touchscreens were mounted on our VESA mounting brackets which incorporates HDMI, USB and power cabling along with power switching.

The installation of this Clayesmore Console was tricky; it had to go down a very steep windy path. However once in place, the rest of the installation went flawlessly.

The console was finished in a custom colour to match existing woodwork, something we can do free-of-charge.

Two Iiyama touchscreens were used with a Mac Pro, Touch Base drivers and a Focusrite audio interface, a great combination.
The nameboard contains two 2 X 16 character Hauptwerk-compatible LCD panels used to display loading status, combination set and stepper information. The thumb pistons on the nameboard replicate the functions on Hauptwerk’s Combination Stepper Mini Control Panel. The Clayesmore console is fitted with curved toe-sweeps and kneeboard. 3 expression pedals and 22 toe pistons were specified by the customer. Thumb and toe piston layout and nomenclature are to customer specifications, we can provide advice if required.

Touchscreens are very convenient if you want to switch between multiple sample sets, but they are not ideal for installations. When a touchscreen is used, as well changing registration, the player can change any Hauptwerk or operating system settings as it is not possible to lock-down Hauptwerk; well-meaning tinkering can render an instrument unplayable. I hope this gets address in Hauptwerk 5….

We recently installed a 2 manual tab instrument into an Oxford church. As the church was very small it was decided not to use one of our standard tab consoles, but to use a Winchester console . The Winchester is our most compact console and is usually used with touchscreens.

A standard 2 manual key-set was used with a custom mounting for the tabs on top. The tab panel is detachable so the console could be used with touchscreens in the future. This is now a standard option.

The sample set used was St Eucaire, it sounds brilliant and is excellent value for money. You may notice that there are blank tabs on the instrument, it has been optimised for a larger, as yet unannounced British 2 manual sample set.

A Mac Mini was used to run Hauptwerk with our Power Controller doing on/off and audio switching.   The audio interface was Focusrite.

Another interesting feature is the pin-adjustable bench. Traditional adjustable benches are very expensive, using stainless steel pins provides a cost-effective alternative.

German specification (BDO) consoles seem to be all the rage! This BDO Winchester console turned out very nicely. The pedalboard frame had hand-cut dovetails and sharps were capped. The keyboards are detachable from the console table to ease transportation.

The Winchester Console is our simplest design with an open frame table ,cantilevered  keyboards and straight, angled toe sweeps. It is available in both RCO/AGO and BDO dimensions. As with all of our consoles, thumb and toe piston layouts are to the customers design.

The customer chose to use off-the-shelf VESA monitor mounts. There worked very well in conjunction with Dell touchscreens.

We are having a bit of a run on BDO specification instruments. Luckily both our Clayesmore and Winchester consoles can be built to either BDO or AGO/RCO specifications.

This BDO Clayesmore console had to be installed on the third floor of a Georgian townhouse on one of the hottest days of the year. We were forewarned, so the console was built so it could be easily dismantled.

Apart from being built to BDO specifications, the other noteworthy aspect of the console was the use of Iiyama T2252MSC monitors. They looked fantastic and worked well with Windows 10 and being capacitative, they have any problem with flies landing on them.