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Encyclopedia > Electronic organ

A custom three manual Rodgers Trillium organ console installed in a church. Note the sound module (the Rodgers MX-200 on top of console, right) for additional pipe and orchestral sounds and the laptop (top of console, left) used for sequncing the organ and organ sound module in worship and musical performances.
A custom three manual Rodgers Trillium organ console installed in a church. Note the sound module (the Rodgers MX-200 on top of console, right) for additional pipe and orchestral sounds and the laptop (top of console, left) used for sequncing the organ and organ sound module in worship and musical performances.

An electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument originally designed to imitate the sound of a pipe organ. It has developed today into two forms of the instrument, the digital church organ that imitates a pipe organ for classical music and use in churches, and the Hammond organ-style instrument used in more popular music genres. An electronic keyboard. ... The baroque organ in Roskilde Cathedral, Denmark The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by forcing pressurized air (referred to as wind) through a series of pipes. ... The Hammond organ is an electric organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company until the 1970s. ...

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[edit] Digital Classical Instruments

2006 Rembrandt Digital organ - an example of a large digital organ
2006 Rembrandt Digital organ - an example of a large digital organ

These are high-quality instruments designed as pipe organ replacements or as digital consoles to play existing pipes. They have developed greatly over the last two decades, and are now a common alternative to the pipe organ, particularly in churches. These are often referred to as digital organs. The technology has advanced to such a level that there is very little difference in sound timbre between piped and pipeless instruments, although this is still debated by some organists, who may argue that there is no substitute for a real pipe organ. However, many churches that are unable to afford costly pipe organs have turned to less-expensive electronic organs as a viable alternative; even a congregation that could afford a modest pipe organ may instead opt for a digital organ that simulates a much larger pipe organ than they could afford. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 287 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Modèle dorgue numérique - Orgue Johannus Rembrandt 4090 (construit en 2006) Digital organ File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 287 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Modèle dorgue numérique - Orgue Johannus Rembrandt 4090 (construit en 2006) Digital organ File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to... The console of the Wanamaker Organ in the Macys (formerly Lord and Taylor) department store in Philadelphia, featuring six manuals and color-coded stop tabs. ... The baroque organ in Roskilde Cathedral, Denmark The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by forcing pressurized air (referred to as wind) through a series of pipes. ... For the architectural structure, see Church (building). ...


Digital Organs by custom builders have also become a viable alternative for churches who may have had a pipe organ and can no longer afford to maintain it, or for those situations where a pipe organ is not financially possible. Tracker pipe builders sometimes claim that digital organs should be regarded as no more than multi-note hi-fi systems of durability no more than standard electronic equipment, in contrast to a mechanical action pipe organ which might still be playing without major rebuilding for many years. However, the high initial cost and yearly maintenance/tuning costs of tracker pipe organs have limited their production in the United States to only a few dozen new instruments per year, with digital and the increasingly popular pipe/digital combination organs now outselling mechanical organ designs by a factor of about 100 to 1.


Most of the current digital church organs produce sounds they generate based on recorded pipe samples, while others may model the pipe sound by digital synthesis. Digital organs offer a significant cost savings as with today's systems, little or no maintenance may ever be required, as the cost of maintaining pipe organs is very expensive. That isn't to say that the top-of-the-range digital organs are not expensive. Custom digital organs will require large computer systems and an experienced organ "voicer" to finish the organ, much like the process of regulating and voicing any pipe organ. These organs typically use very high quality custom designed audio systems. The builders of both custom and factory organs include the firms of Allen, Johannus, Makin, Rodgers and Wyvern Allen Organ Company, formed in 1939 by Jerome Markowitz, is located in Macungie, Pennsylvania, It is one of the worlds largest builders of electronic and digital organs. ... Butaritari Atoll is an atoll of 10 islands in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati. ... Rodgers Instruments LLC designs and manufacturers classical organs, using digital technology. ... For other uses, see Wyvern (disambiguation). ...


This style of instrument is also popular with popular concert organists, such as Carlo Curley, who tours with a substantial Allen Organ in the USA and with a Allen Organ in the UK, which means he does not need to spend time getting used to a new pipe organ for every concert he performs. These instruments will often contain effects that are not seen on pipe organs, and there may be additional features, such as orchestral and percussion sounds, and console aids. The most advanced digital organs also offer some capabilities and features not found in pipe organs, such as changing historical pitch standards and temperaments. Carlo Curley (b. ... Allen Organ Company, formed in 1939 by Jerome Markowitz, is located in Macungie, Pennsylvania, It is one of the worlds largest builders of electronic and digital organs. ... Allen Organ Company, formed in 1939 by Jerome Markowitz, is located in Macungie, Pennsylvania, It is one of the worlds largest builders of electronic and digital organs. ... Pitch is the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. ... In musical tuning, a temperament is a system of tuning which slightly compromises the pure intervals of just intonation in order to meet other requirements of the system. ...


[edit] History

The immediate predecessor of the electronic organ was the harmonium, or reed organ, an instrument that was very popular in homes and small churches in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In a fashion not totally unlike that of pipe organs, reed organs generated sound by forcing air over a set of reeds by means of a bellows, usually operated by constantly pumping a set of pedals. While reed organs had limited tonal quality, they were small, inexpensive, self-powered, and self-contained. The reed organ was thus able to bring an organlike sound to venues that were incapable of housing or affording pipe organs. This concept was to play an important role in the development of the electric organ. This article is about the musical instrument. ... A reed organ is an organ that generates its sounds using free metal reeds, similar to an accordion. ...


Electricity arrived on the organ scene in the first decades of the 1900s, but it was slow to have a major impact. Thaddeus Cahill's gargantuan and controversial instrument, the Telharmonium, which began piping music to New York City establishments over the telephone system in 1897, predated the advent of electronics, yet was the first instrument to demonstrate the use of the combination of many different pure electrical waveforms to synthesize real-world instrument sounds. Cahill's techniques were later used by Laurens Hammond in his organ design, and the 200-ton instrument served as the world's first demonstration of electrically-produced music on a grand scale. Electrically powered reed organs appeared during the first decades of electricity, but their tonal qualities remained much the same as the older, foot-pumped models. Meanwhile, some further experimentation with producing sound by electric impulses was taking place, especially in France. The first widespread success in this field, however, was a product of the Hammond Corporation in the mid-1930s. The Hammond Organ quickly became the successor of the reed organ, displacing it completely. Thaddeus Cahill (1867 - 1934) was a prominent inventor of the early 20th century. ... Telharmonium console by Thaddeus Cahill 1897 The earliest purely electronic musical instrument was the Telharmonium or Teleharmonium, developed by Thaddeus Cahill in 1897. ... Surface mount electronic components Electronics is the study of the flow of charge through various materials and devices such as semiconductors, resistors, inductors, capacitors, nano-structures and vacuum tubes. ... www. ... Born on January 11, 1895 in Evanston, Illinois, to William Andrew and Idea Louise Strong Hammond, Laurens showed his great technical prowess from an early age. ... The Hammond organ is an electric organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company until the 1970s. ... The Hammond organ is an electric organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company until the 1970s. ...


From the start, electronic organs operated on a radically different principle from all previous organs. In the place of reeds and pipes, Hammond introduced a set of rapidly spinning magnetic wheels, called tonewheels, which excited transducers that generated electrical signals of various frequencies that were mixed and fed through an amplifier to a loudspeaker. The organ was electrically powered, replacing the reed organ’s twin bellows pedals with a single swell (or "expression") pedal more like that of a pipe organ. Instead of having to pump at a constant rate, as had been the case with the reed organ, the organist simply varied pressure on this pedal at will to change the volume as desired. Unlike reed organs, this gave great control over the music's dynamic range, while at the same time freeing one or both of the player's feet to play on a pedalboard, which, unlike nearly all reed organs, electronic organs incorporated. From the beginning, the electronic organ also had a second manual, also very rare among reed organs. While this meant that the electronic organ required greater musical skills of the organist than the reed organ had, the second manual and the pedalboard along with the expression pedal greatly enhanced playing, far surpassing the reed organ's limited capabilities. A tonewheel is a relatively primitive apparatus for generating electronic musical notes. ... This article is about transducers in engineering. ... For the British rock band of the same name, see Amplifier (band). ... An inexpensive low fidelity 3. ... The 30-note pedalboard of a Rieger organ with expression pedal and coupler switches. ... A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. ...


The most revolutionary difference in the Hammond, however, was its huge number of tonewheel settings, achieved by manipulating a system of drawbars located near the manuals. By using the drawbars, the organist could combine a variety of electrical tones and harmonics in varying proportions, thus giving the Hammond vast "registration." In all, the Hammond was capable of producing more than 250 million tones. This feature, combined with the three-keyboard layout (i.e., manuals and pedalboard), the freedom of electrical power, and a wide, easily controllable range of volume made the first electronic organs far more flexible than any reed organ, or indeed any other musical instrument in history except, perhaps, for the pipe organ itself. In acoustics and telecommunication, the harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency. ...


In the wake of the Hammond Organ’s invention, later models—especially those of competitors—used various combinations of oscillators and filters to produce electric tones. Today, however, modern electronic organs use high-quality digital samples to produce as accurate a sound as possible. The heat generated by early models with vacuum tube tone generators and/or amplifiers led to the somewhat derogatory nickname "toaster"; today’s solid-state instruments do not suffer from this problem nor do they require the several minutes the the vacuum tube organs needed to bring the filament heaters up to temperature. Oscillation is the periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure as seen, for example, in a swinging pendulum. ... An audio filter is a type of filter used for processing sound signals. ... For other uses, see Digital (disambiguation). ... This article is about reusing existing sound recordings in creating new works. ... Structure of a vacuum tube diode Structure of a vacuum tube triode In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube, or (outside North America) thermionic valve or just valve, is a device used to amplify, switch or modify a signal by controlling the movement of electrons in an evacuated space. ...


Electronic organs were once popular home instruments, comparable in price to pianos and frequently sold in department stores. After their début in the 1930s, they captured the public imagination, largely through the film performances of Hammond organist Ethel Smith. Nevertheless, they initially suffered in sales during the Great Depression and World War II. After the war they became more widespread, peaking in popularity in the mid 1970s, but undoubtedly undercut by the rapid growth of television and high fidelity audio systems as home entertainment alternatives during that same period. Home electronic organ models usually attempted to imitate the sounds of theatre organs and/or Hammonds, rather than classical organs. Ethel Smith (November 22, 1910 - May 10, 1996) was an organist who played primarily in a pop style on the Hammond organ. ... High Fidelity is also the title of a book by Nick Hornby and a film directed by Stephen Frears, based upon Hornbys book. ... Sound reproduction is the electrical or mechanical re-creation and/or amplification of sound, often as music. ... Console of the 3/13 Barton Theater Pipe Organ at Ann Arbors Michigan Theater A theatre organ is a pipe organ originally designed specifically for imitation of an orchestra, but in latter years new designs have tended to be around some of the sounds and blends unique to the... The Hammond organ is an electric organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company until the 1970s. ...


[edit] Spinet Organ

Following World War II, most electronic home organs were built in a configuration usually called a spinet organ, which first appeared in 1949. These compact and relatively inexpensive instruments became the natural successors to the reed organs. They were marketed as competitors of home pianos and often aimed at would-be home organists who were already pianists (hence the name "spinet," in the sense of a small upright piano). The instrument's design reflected this concept: the spinet organ physically resembled a piano, and it presented simplified controls and functions that were both less expensive to produce and less intimidating to learn. One feature of the spinet was automatic chord generation; with many models, the organist could produce an entire chord to accompany the melody merely by playing the tonic note, i.e., a single key, on a special section of the manual. A reed organ is an organ that generates its sounds using free metal reeds, similar to an accordion. ... Pianoforte redirects here. ... A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ. ...


On spinet organs the keyboards were typically at least an octave shorter than is normal for organs, with the upper manual missing the bass (typically 44 notes, from F3-C7 in Scientific Pitch Notation), and the lower manual missing the treble (typically F2-C6). The manuals were usually offset, inviting (although not requiring) the new organist to dedicate the right hand to the upper manual and the left to the lower, rather than using both hands on a single manual. This seemed designed in part to encourage the pianist, who was accustomed to a single keyboard, to make use of both manuals. Stops on such instruments, relatively limited in number, were frequently named after orchestral instruments that they could, at best, only roughly approximate, and were often brightly colored (even more so than those of theatre organs). The spinet organ's loudspeaker, unlike the original Hammond models of the 1930s and 1940s, was housed within the main instrument (behind the kickboard), which saved even more space, although it produced a sound inferior to that of free-standing speakers. This article or section may be confusing for some readers, and should be edited to be clearer or more simplified. ... Console of the 3/13 Barton Theater Pipe Organ at Ann Arbors Michigan Theater A theatre organ is a pipe organ originally designed specifically for imitation of an orchestra, but in latter years new designs have tended to be around some of the sounds and blends unique to the...


The spinet organ’s pedalboard normally spanned only a single octave, was often incapable of playing more than one note at a time, and was effectively playable only with the left foot (and on some models only with the left toes). This limitation, combined with the shortened manuals, made the spinet organ all but useless for performing or practicing classical organ music, but at the same time it allowed the novice home organist to explore the challenge and flexibility of simultaneously playing three keyboards (two hands and one foot). The expression pedal was located to the right and either partly or fully recessed within the kickboard, thus conveniently reachable only with the right foot. This arrangement spawned a style of casual organist who would naturally rest the right foot on the expression pedal the entire time, unlike classically-trained organists or performers on the earlier Hammonds. This position, in turn, instinctively encouraged pumping of the pedal while playing, especially if already accustomed to using a piano’s sustain pedal to shape the music. Expressive pumping added a strong dynamic element to home organ music that much classical literature and hymnody lacked, and would help influence a new generation of popular keyboard artists. The 30-note pedalboard of a Rieger organ with expression pedal and coupler switches. ... A sustain or sustaining pedal (also damper pedal or loud pedal) is the most commonly used pedal in a modern piano. ...


[edit] Chord Organ

Shortly after the debut of the spinet the "chord organ" appeared. This was an even simpler instrument designed for those who wanted to produce an organlike sound in the home without having to learn much organ (or even piano) playing technique. The chord organ had only a single manual that was usually an octave shorter than its already-abbreviated spinet counterpart. It relied more heavily on automatic chord generation than other models; it also possessed scaled-down registration and no pedalboard or expression pedal (volume being determined by a knob near the manual instead, an inefficient arrangement that effectively eliminated the dynamic playing that an expression pedal allowed). The left hand operated not a keyboard but an array of chord buttons adapted from those of an accordion. Early models had two pedals sounding the root and fifth of the selected chord; later models incorporated a drum machine and auto-accompaniment unit. As was the case with the spinet, the loudspeaker was housed within the kickboard. For other uses, see Accordion (disambiguation). ... A Boss DR-202 Drum Machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums and/or other percussion instruments. ...


[edit] Console Organ

On the other end of the spectrum were larger and more expensive home models, known as “console organs” because they resembled pipe organ consoles. These instruments had a more traditional configuration, including full-range manuals, a wider variety of stops, and a two-octave (or occasionally even a full thirty-two note) pedalboard easily playable by both feet in standard toe-and-heel fashion. (Console organs having thirty-two note boards were sometimes known as "concert organs.") Console models, like spinet and chord organs, had their speakers mounted above the pedals, though the classic Hammond design of the 1930s and 1940s made use of free-standing loudspeakers, usually manufactured by Leslie, that produced a higher-quality sound than a spinet organ’s small built-in speakers. With their more traditional configuration, greater capabilities, and better performance compared to spinets, console organs were especially suitable for use in small churches, public performance, and even organ instruction. The home musician or young student who first learned to play on a console model often found that [s]he could later make the transition to a pipe organ in a church setting with relative ease. The Leslie speaker is a specially constructed amplifier/loudspeaker used to create special audio effects utilizing the Doppler effect. ...


By the 1960s, electronic organs were ubiquitous in all genres of popular music, from Lawrence Welk to acid rock to the Bob Dylan album Blonde on Blonde. In some cases, Hammonds were used, while in others, very small all-electronic instruments, only slightly larger than a modern digital keyboard, called combo organs, were used. (Various organs made by Farfisa were especially popular, and remain so among retro-minded rock combos.) The 1970s 1980s and the 1990s saw increasing specialization: both the gospel and jazz scene continued to make heavy use of Hammonds, while various styles of rock began to take advantage of more and more complex electronic keyboard instruments as Large-scale integration and then digital technology began to enter the mainstream. Although the original Hammond tonewheel design was phased out in the mid-1970s, it is still very much in demand by professional organists, and the industry continues to see a lively trade in refurbished instruments even as technological advance allows new organs to perform at levels unimaginable only two or three decades ago. Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was a musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, hosting The Lawrence Welk Show from 1951 to 1982. ... Acid rock is a form of psychedelic music and was the first form of it to achieve popular acclaim. ... This article is about the recording artist. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Hammond organ is an electric organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company until the 1970s. ... An electronic keyboard. ... A combo organ is a type of electronic organ generally produced between the early 1960s and the late 1970s. ... Farfisa is a brand name for a series of electronic organs and later multitimbral keyboards, made in Ancona in the Marche region of Italy. ... For other uses, see Gospel (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... The Hammond organ is an electric organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company until the 1970s. ... This article is about the genre. ... A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played with a musical keyboard. ... Integrated circuit of Atmel Diopsis 740 System on Chip showing memory blocks, logic and input/output pads around the periphery Microchips (EPROM memory) with a transparent window, showing the integrated circuit inside. ... For other uses, see Digital (disambiguation). ...


[edit] Frequency Divider Organs

With the development of the transistor, electronic organs that used no mechanical parts to generate the waveforms became practical. The first of these was the frequency divider organ, the first of which used twelve oscillators to produce one octave of chromatic scale, and frequency dividers to produce other notes. These were even cheaper and more portable than the Hammond. Later developments made it possible to run an organ from a single radio frequency oscillator. Frequency divider organs were built by many companies, and were offered in kit form to be built by hobbyists. A few of these have seen notable use, such as the Lowrey played by Garth Hudson. Its electronic design made the Lowrey easily equipped with a pitch bend feature that is unavailable for the Hammond, and Hudson built a style around its use. Assorted discrete transistors A transistor is a semiconductor device, commonly used as an amplifier or an electrically controlled switch. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Radio waves. ... {{Infobox musical artist |Name = Garth Hudson |Img = |Img_capt = |Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist |Birth_name = Eric Garth Hudson |Alias = |Born = August 2, 1937 Windsor, Ontario |Died = |Origin = |Instrument = Organ, piano, keyboards, accordion, saxophone, synthesizer, Melodica Slide Trumpet, [[ |Genre = Rock and roll, rock, pop, Jazz, R&B, country, folk |Occupation = Solo artist, Session musician |Years_active...


During the period from the 1940s through approximately the 1970s, a variety of more modest self-contained electronic home organs from a variety of manufacturers were popular forms of home entertainment. These instruments often simplified the traditional organ stops into imitative voicings such as "trumpet" and "marimba" and as technology progressed they increasingly included automated features such as one-touch chords, electronic rhythm and accompaniment devices, and even built-in tape players. These were intended to make playing complete, layered "one-man band" arrangements easy, especially for people who had not trained as organists. While a few such instruments are still sold today, their popularity has waned greatly, and many of their functions have been incorporated into more modern and inexpensive portable keyboards. The Lowrey line of home organs is the epitome of this type of instrument. A One Man Band busking in Calgary A One-Man Band is a musician who plays a number of musical instruments simultaneously. ...


In the '60s and '70s, a type of simple, portable electronic organ called the combo organ was popular, especially with pop and rock bands, and was a signature sound in the pop music of the period (e.g. The Doors, Iron Butterfly). The most popular combo organs were manufactured by Farfisa and Vox. The Paul Winter Consort traveled and recorded with a Rodgers classical organ, most notably used on the "Common Ground" album. A combo organ is a type of electronic organ generally produced between the early 1960s and the late 1970s. ... The Doors were an influential American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles by vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger. ... For other uses, see Iron Butterfly (disambiguation). ... Farfisa is a brand name for a series of electronic organs and later multitimbral keyboards, made in Ancona in the Marche region of Italy. ... Vox is the Latin word for voice. ... Paul Winters Greatest Hits (1998) Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939 in Altoona, Pennsylvania) is an American saxophonist (alto and soprano saxophone). ... Rogers is a surname, originally German and suggesting prowess with a spear, and is modified with the letter d as a Welsh addition. ...


[edit] Church Organs

In contrast to the frequency divider circuitry with only a few independent pitch sources, quality church organs have always have had at least one oscillator per note and often additional sets to creature superior ensemble effect. For instance, Rodgers Opus 1, a three manual Model 38 the world’s first solid-state, transistorized church organ in 1958, featured eight sets of transistorized pitch generators. Even today, digital organs use software-based digital oscillators to create large numbers of independent pitch and tone sources to better produce the effect of a large pipe organ. Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... The baroque organ in Roskilde Cathedral, Denmark The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by forcing pressurized air (referred to as wind) through a series of pipes. ...


The first electronic church organ was built in 1939 by Jerome Markowitz, founder of the Allen Organ Company, who had worked for years to perfect the replication of pipe organ sound through the use of radio tube based oscillator circuitry. In 1958, Rodgers Organ Company built the first solid-state (transistor) organ. Rodgers was founded in 1958 by Rodgers W. Jenkins and Fred Tinker, employees of TektronixInc., of Portland, Oregon and members of the Tektronix team that developed transistor-based oscillator circuits. Allen Organ Company, formed in 1939 by Jerome Markowitz, is located in Macungie, Pennsylvania, It is one of the worlds largest builders of electronic and digital organs. ... Assorted discrete transistors A transistor is a semiconductor device, commonly used as an amplifier or an electrically controlled switch. ... Tektronix is a United States corporation that is currently a major presence in the test, measurement, and measuring industry. ...


Allen introduced the world's first digital organs (and first digital musical instrument) in 1971 – the Allen Digital Computer Organ. This new technology was developed for use in home organs by North American Rockwell (project leader Ralph Deutsch) and licensed to Allen, who ended up putting it in their church organs. Allen later sued Rockwell and Deutsch and gained sole rights to the digital computer organ technology.In 1972, the first successful pipe/electronic combination organ was installed the Atlanta area home of organist Emily Spivey. It was a Rodgers electronic organ with the Great Division based on Ruffatti organ pipes and included a tuning control so the pipes and electronics could stay in tune with each other. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making music. ... Rockwell International was the ultimate incarnation of a series of companies under the sphere of influence of Willard Rockwell, who had made his fortune after the invention and successful launch of a new bearing system for truck axles in 1919. ...


In 1980, Rodgers Organ Company introduced the first church organs controlled by microprocessors partially based on research at the University of Bradford. The university’s "Bradford Computing Organ" has technological descendants in some European digital organs using synthesis technology today.In 1990, Rodgers, now renamed Rodgers Instruments, introduced the first software-based digital organs with its patented Parallel Digital Imaging© technology which paralleled many digital signal processors to generate stereo imaged pipe organ sound. A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit (CPU) on a single integrated circuit (IC). ... The University of Bradford is a university in Bradford, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. ... Rodgers Instruments LLC designs and manufacturers classical organs, using digital technology. ... Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... A digital signal processor (DSP) is a specialized microprocessor designed specifically for digital signal processing, generally in real-time. ... This article is about the spacecraft and the mission. ...


[edit] Modern Digital Organ Technology

Modern digital church organs have reached a degree of sophistication, complexity, and expense surpassed only by the pipe organ itself. The consoles of some of these instruments, at first glance, may be almost indistinguishable from those of large pipe organs. Electronic organs are still made for the home market, but they have been largely replaced by the digital keyboard or synthesizer, which is not only smaller and cheaper than typical electronic organs or traditional pianos, but also far more capable than the most advanced electronic organs of earlier years. Modern digital organs, by the same token, are far more advanced in design and capabilities than their ancestors. Synth redirects here. ...


Today’s instruments incorporate real time tone generation based on sampling or synthesis technologies, MIDI, and Internet connectivity for downloading of music data and instructional materials, as well as making use of USB flash drive or media card storage. While electronically they are radically different from their predecessors, their basic appearance makes them instantly identifiable as the latest generation in a long line of electronic organs that now reaches back more than seventy years. This article is about reusing existing sound recordings in creating new works. ... Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or MIDI, is a system designed to transmit information between electronic musical instruments. ... JumpDrive redirects here. ... A 32 MB High Speed CompactFlash Type I card A memory card or flash memory card is a solid-state electronic flash memory data storage device used with digital cameras, handheld and laptop computers, telephones, music players, video game consoles, and other electronics. ...


The best digital organs of the 2000s have a number of features which distinguish their sound from earlier, simpler instruments. Digital organs may use multiple Digital Signal Processor (DSP) chips paralleled for extremely fast processing and generation of the organ sound. Pipe organ sound in most current digital organs is derived from digital signal processors generating the pipe sound in either a sampled or synthesis type generation system. Sampled technologies use sound files recorded from various ranks of organ pipes and then processed to be the root basis for generation of the pipe organ sound. In synthesis systems, the pipe wave shape is created without using an actual sample as a guide. Both systems actually generate pipe organ tone, sometimes in stereo in better systems, rather than simply playing back recordings as a simple digital keyboard sampler might do. It has been claimed by its manufacturers that an organ voicer might have slightly more control in some synthesis systems. Marketed as a "Real Time System" by Eminent and also sold by Wyvern, Copeman & Hart, Cantor, and Van der Pole in Europe, synthesis organs may use circuitry purchased from Musicom, an English supply company. Synthesis-based organs are rarely seen outside of Europe. A digital signal processor (DSP) is a specialized microprocessor designed specifically for digital signal processing, generally in real-time. ...


With the sampled systems, each note in each register should be sampled from that actual pipe and then processed. Early digital instruments in the 70's and 80's may have only sampled and used one or a few samples which were then frequency shifted to generate the equivalent of a 61 note pipe rank. Some digital organs like Walker Technical and the extremely costly Marshall & Ogletree organs, claim to use longer samples for additional realism, rather than having to repeat shorter samples in their generation of sound.Most Sampling Systems are typically done with 24-bit or 32-bit resolution instead of CD-quality 16-bit resolution. Sampling in 2000s-era organs is done at a higher frequency than the 44,100 samples per second of CD-quality audio. A Compact Disc or CD is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. ...


On most typical organs, a number of audio channels are used to create a more spacious sound. Higher quality custom digital organ builders will use custom audio and speaker systems and provide anywhere from 8 to 32 or more independent channels of audio based on the size of the organ and the overall budget for the instrument. With dedicated high power sub woofers for the low frequencies of the sound, the best digital organs can thus approach the physical feeling of a real pipe organ if a sufficient number of subwoofers and sufficently powerful amplifiers are used. a 12 subwoofer driver A subwoofer refers to either a woofer, or a complete loudspeaker dedicated to the reproduction of bass audio frequencies, typically from 150 Hz down to 20 Hz. ...


Some digital organs can do simulated changes of windchest pressure -- when many notes are sounding at once, the air pressure of a real pipe organ will drop slightly, which changes the sound of all the pipes; some electronic organs can simulate this effect. Organs may also have simulated models of Swell boxes which mimic the environmental effects on pipes, pipe chest valve release and other pipe organ characteristics. These effects are often added to the computer sound generation in modern electronic organs to create enhanced and very realistic pipe organ tone. Pipe sound can be generated to include sampled or modeled room acoustic. Rodgers patented "RSS" technology which uses biaural and transaural processing to create real time acoustic models and Allen's "Acoustic Portrait", purchased from Lake Industries in 2004, are examples of better quality acoustic systems where room acoustic is part of the pipe sound generation.


Better digital church organs are entirely software based, which means they can (and do) continually incorporate the improvements that apply to both new organs and can be retrofitted to the company’s installed organs, as well. Better digital organs are backed by technical support, parts, and a technical support staff, no matter what the age of the organ. In the United States, both Allen and Rodgers claim parts inventories for older electronic organs they support in excess of $1 million dollars and regularly support organs of 30 or 40 or more years old.


[edit] Pipe/Digital Organs

For pipe combination organs organs, which combine actual pipes with electronic stops, an important issue is that pipes change pitch with environmental changes, but digital audio systems do not. The frequency of sound produced by an organ pipe is determined by its geometry and by the speed of sound in the air within it. The speed of sound changes with the temperature and humidity of the air; therefore the pitch of a pipe organ will change as the environmental changes, so the pitch of the digital side in a hybrid instrument must be retuned as needed. The simplest way this can be done is with a manual control that the organist can adjust, but better models can make such adjustments automatically.


Rodgers was the first to successfully build these hybrid instruments starting in the early 1970s and has built and installed more of this type of instrument than all other organ companies put together. Today custom digital organ consoles from Rodgers and other manufacturers replace aging pipe consoles to update and expand, deteriorating, limited versatility, pipe instruments. Pipe combination organs outsell pure pipe organs and even pipe organs, except for the historic replica tracker units, are seldom build without a large amounts of modern electronics in control, memory, MIDI systems and in supplemental digital pipe organ sounds.


[edit] Organ Software Programs

The processing power of today's personal computers have brought the world of organs closer than ever before. Software applications are available for Microsoft Windows and Apple Computer's Mac OS X that store digital pipe samples and sum them in real time in response to input from one or more MIDI sources. The most advanced of these is Crumhorn Labs' Hauptwerk, but others include jOrgan, SCPOP, and Miditzer. Many hobbyists have used these tools to assemble home-built organs that can rival the sound quality of commercially built digital organs at a lower cost. Windows redirects here. ... Mac OS X (pronounced ) is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. ... Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or MIDI, is a system designed to transmit information between electronic musical instruments. ...


[edit] In Popular Music

A modern electronic organ. Though it resembles a 1950s spinet organ in appearance, its digital tone generators and synthesis modules can imitate hundreds of instruments.
A modern electronic organ. Though it resembles a 1950s spinet organ in appearance, its digital tone generators and synthesis modules can imitate hundreds of instruments.

The other branch of electronic organ is the Hammond-style organ used in more popular genres such as Jazz, Gospel and Pop music. These bear little resemblance to the pipe organ, and instruments such as the Yamaha Electone series, have few, if any, pipe-organ sounds. In 2006, Yamaha launched its latest model of Electone, the Stagea. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... promotional photo of newly released Yamaha Electone StageA electronic organ. ... promotional photo of newly released Yamaha Electone StageA electronic organ. ... The Hammond organ is an electric organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company until the 1970s. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Gospel (disambiguation). ... This article is about the genre of popular music. ... Electone is the trademark used for electronic organs produced by Yamaha. ...

[edit] See also

Allen Organ Company, formed in 1939 by Jerome Markowitz, is located in Macungie, Pennsylvania, It is one of the worlds largest builders of electronic and digital organs. ... Old Pipe organ in Église Saint-Thomas, Strasbourg, France. ... Farfisa is a brand name for a series of electronic organs and later multitimbral keyboards, made in Ancona in the Marche region of Italy. ... Rodgers Instruments LLC designs and manufacturers classical organs, using digital technology. ... Roland Corporation ) TYO: 7944 is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. ... Wersi manufactures electronic organs, some similar to the Yamaha Electone. ... The headquarters of Yamaha Corporation Yamaha redirects here. ...

[edit] External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Organ (musical instrument) - MSN Encarta (610 words)
German organs of the 17th and 18th centuries were particularly outstanding, and it was for such organs that the music of Johann Sebastian Bach was written.
Electronic and electric organs, developed in the 20th century, are not organs in the strict sense, for they do not produce sound by air vibrating in a pipe; rather, they are instruments in their own right.
Electronic organs were widely used in the rock bands of the 1960s and after.
Electronic organ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2909 words)
The immediate predecessor of the electronic organ was the harmonium, or reed organ, an instrument that was very popular in homes and small churches in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Unlike reed organs, this gave her great control over her music's dynamic range, while at the same time freeing one or both of her feet to play on a pedalboard, which, unlike nearly all reed organs, electronic organs incorporated.
Electronic organs are still made for the home market, but they have been largely replaced by the digital keyboard or synthesizer, which is not only smaller and cheaper than typical electronic organs or traditional pianos, but also far more capable than the most advanced electronic organs of earlier years.
  More results at FactBites »

 

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