If you have your manuals and the pedal how do you use them? You have connected them to the MOPs-56 emitting each on the different MIDI channels. What you emit are the signals Note On a Note Off. The rest of the work is done by the computer (PC).
Hardware
You do need the computer with the soundcard. You have to have a working MIDI
cable. You do not have to have necessarily a SoundBlaster.
Software
You may have the software bundled with your soundcard. Usually its mixer is
capable of performing a kind of hall (church, cathedral...) to have the
impression of being really in the church (Karaoke or other system). Then, if you
do not have your own mechanical organ stops, you can clic the stops with the
mouse. Then you have to have a program called
Vitrual Pipe Organ (VPO),
it is principally for LINUX but I guess it has already also a Windows version.
It is a freeware. Another very good freeware program is the
Raster MIDI keyboard. You have to input the names of the stops by their
numbers in the Soundfont you use. Recently, I have found out
about the Hauptwerk program. In my opinion this is
the best solution! It has just two errors: it is not a freeware (but it is very
cheap), and secondly it consumps a LOT OF computer memory (even 1 GB of RAM)
when in use. So you need rather modern PC. But the reward is worth investing...
Well, before I knew that program I have made up another solution using only freeware. So, if you wish and if you have the mechanical stops with the MOP-56, you may use this Trinity of freeware programs: Timidity, MIDI-OX a MIDI-Yoke.
SoundFonts
There is a number of SoundFonts with classical organ / church organ stops.
The freeware one is called JEUX. Well, I have improved it a bit, and here
is my version.
Download.,
ziped version.
Timidity
With Timidity you do not need a SoundBlaster to get the most of the above
mentioned SoundFont. If you put the SoundFont to the same directory where
Timidity is installed you can use the program to convert the SoundFont sounds to
waves which can be played with also a very cheap soundcard. It is also freeware.
This is a version with my configuration
here. I am indebted to the programmer of the
VPO who helped to me with the configuration of the Timidity. After you run it it
looks like the DOS window and it seems to do
do nothing.
MIDI-OX - Preludium
Then you use MIDI-OX (freeware) to manage the input MIDI signals from your
organ and to prepare them for Timidity. For the rest of this article I
assume that the keyboards and the pedal (their MOPs-56) are emiting the MIDI
signals on these channels:
MIDI-Yoke - Intermezzo
MIDI-Yoke (freeware) is a series of virtual MIDI ports you can use to send the
MIDI signals from one program (MIDI-OX) to the other (Timidity). I use it
this way: the MIDI-OX is emitting signals on the MIDI Yoke ports 1 - 4, where
Timidity listens and converts the MIDI signals comming from those ports to the
sounds using the specified SoundFont. In this way you can have not only 15 organ
stops (this is the limit of MIDI channels - there are only 16 channels each
playing a different stop but with the exception of the channel 10. That channel
is reserved for drums which you do not use. If you have four MIDI-Yoke ports you
have 4 x 15 MIDI channels, that means 60 organ stops. See the
scheme.
MIDI-OX - Postludium
Now you have to configure the MIDI-OX with the filter maps to get what you want.
See the
scheme of what MIDI-OX should do.
This is the configuration dialog box
of MIDI-OX.
Input is your input port (MPU-401 or the Soundcard one). Output ports are MIDI
Yoke 1 - 4.
If you do not know how to make the filter maps, here you have my own ones. Use them as you like - at least you get a guide how to make them. Edit them with MIDI-OX (the icon with the red and blue notes).
Well, it is a bit of "programing" but I hope you can manage it. MIDI-OX has a good help file and also a Forum where you get help - I have used it also with a great success. On my own I would not be able to think this out.
Finale - How to play the organ
What else is there to do?
First of all, I have to work a lot to become a master in playing the organ. This is the most important task. But then there are some smaller ones.
Hauptwerk
As time goes, many of above mentioned questions are resolved now. I have found a masterpiece of software called Hauptwerk. That is the answer. To know more about it, please navigate to www.sonusparadisi.cz.
