Virginia Theatre - Wurlitzer Theatre Organ Demonstrations

Audio Demonstrations Performed by  Theatre Organist of the Year 2001 Jelani Eddington and Virginia Theatre's Organist Warren York!

How the demos were recorded:
Each track was played in real-time by the organist in a single take using a MIDI organ console, including registration changes, and with Hauptwerk producing sound in real-time. However, since we wanted to adjust the reverberation added later, the MIDI output from the console was simultaneously recorded into MIDI files, one per track, using a MIDI sequencer.
The audio tracks you hear were then recorded by later playing back the MIDI files using a MIDI sequencer controlling Hauptwerk. In each case the audio output from Hauptwerk was recorded in real-time in a single take (no multi-tracking). Hauptwerk was configured to produce multi-channel audio output of sixteen stereo output channels.
Since the recommended method of amplifying 'dry' sample sets such as this is to use a multi-channel audio system in a reverberant space (room), or with additional reverberation, we made the main demos to simulate such a multi-channel amplification system by applying a separate impulse response (room acoustic 'fingerprint') to each of the sixteen stereo outputs, then mixing them all down to the stereo recording you hear. With a multi-channel amplification system, a multi-output audio card and a room with a good acoustic, you should be able to achieve a result at least as good as this using Hauptwerk version 2's multi-channel audio output capabilities. Alternatively, given a high-performance real-time impulse response convolver plug-in and a powerful computer or computers, or hardware processors, impulse responses could be applied as we have done, but in real-time.
Since most people will not have a computer powerful enough to apply sixteen true stereo (2 x 2) impulse response files in real-time, as well as running Hauptwerk on the same computer, we have also included a version of From This Moment On with all output routed through just a single true stereo impulse response. As you will hear, the spatial impression is less realistic, but most recent standard computers could easily achieve such a result in real-time.
Finally, we have included an entirely 'dry' stereo version of From This Moment On for comparison purposes, with the mixed-down stereo output recorded directly from Hauptwerk. We want to emphasise that this is not how the sample set should be heard; all dry sample sets benefit enormously from multi-channel audio amplification in a room with a good acoustic, or from synthetic application of an acoustic via digital reverberation processors or impulse response reverberation (software or hardware).
Hence we have recorded the main demos as they are meant to be heard.
Please read about the Recordings for more information on the samples for use with HW2. We hope you enjoy the demonstrations. All MP3 demonstrations are 192kbs/48kHz. Please note that this sample set is only available and created exclusively for Hauptwerk 2 as per our license agreement.

Click on the CD to learn more about this instrument.