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I was very lucky. From an old organist I have received a gift: an unused classical organ keyboard table with two manuals. This is the gift. Well, the only mistake it had was an unusable range of keyboards. So I had to rebuild it - it was an awful work to rearrange the individual keys. Keys from below, keys deailed, another detail. |
Druckpunkt (the resistance of the tracture)
| Well, you have to use the silicon cables (4 mm thick) and put them under each key. Then you get a typical organ Druckpunkt. These cables are used in the normal world - to collect single electric wires together, they are usually called shrink-hose, in Deutsch "Schrumpfschlauch", as I have learned from one of my users. |
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The span of the keyboard table
You have to realize that under the keyboards you have to put a pedal. You have
to make the span of the keyboard table large enough for the pedal
to fit. Moreover, you have
to think that the pedal has to fit so that the c1 (middle c) of the keyboards
has to be aligned with the c (middle c) of the pedal. This scheme shows the
measures of the keyboard table.
Contacts, MIDI emitors
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Well I use the keyboard to produce an electric contact which is than translated to the MIDI signal with the MIDI converter. This is the scheme of the connection. The most important thing are the MIDI converters. If you are very able you can build them at home but if you are not an expert it is better to buy them. I have found two firms in the Czech republic producing them. The one is so called MOP-56 by the CHD Elektroservis. The other is MIDI converter by the firm BERIO. |
Matrix of the keyboards contacts
Then you have to connect your keyboard to the MOP-56 via a matrix what is
described in the manual of the MOP-56. This is the matrix
from above. I have decided to make the contacts with the
magnetic contacts. They are reliable enoung. Some more pictures
one, second,
third,
fourth,
scheme of the functionality.
Organ stops
All the computer programs for imitating church organ are made so, that the
stops are being manipulated by mouse or by computer keyboard directly on the
computer screen. This is an awful solution. It is not "organ-like" at all and it
is not really user-friendly since you have to have a computer mouse or keyboard
somewhere near the organ and you have to stop playing to change the organ stops
by mouse. You have to watch the computer screen instead the sheets of music. I
hated this solution from the beginning but for a short time it seemed to me that
there was no other solution. I started to think this out. And I have found a
real organ-like solution. It is apparently very usual in the world of MIDI,
however, I am convinced that I use this for the first time in the world of
classical organ playing. It is called MIDI mapping. So, if you like my solution,
please, use it as you wish. I give it to the world as a "freeware" idea.
The organ stops are for me actually another keyboard. There is no difference between the MIDI signals from the keyboards and from the stops. Every stop will play a note!!! So I use another MOP-56 to connect 56 organ stops. Well, what to do with organ stops emitting musical notes? Do not be afraid: the computer will take care of translating these note signals to the right sounds. Just see the chapter about Timidity and MIDI-OX later on. Actual disposition of my organ.
Yes, if you do not want to spend ages producing your own mechanical keyboards you can buy a cheap keyboards capable of MIDI connection and you can play with them also.
