Zion Organ proudly presents our Opus 1 “Virtual Pipe Organ” installation at Zion Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Spokane, Washington.  The organ uses the Hauptwerk™ Virtual Pipe Organ System developed by Crumhorn Labs™ (U.K.).

The console is shown here with the 32-stop baroque organ loaded

The incredible realism of this organ is attributed to the multi-channel audio system which splits the digitally sampled pipe ranks amongst many different speaker systems.  The organ boasts 16 channels of audio - output to 20 channels of amplification – across 76 individual speakers - with a total of 5170 watts of amplification.

By using the Hauptwerk™  system, the organ is able to replicate the complexity of swell enclosures, tremulants, air flow turbulence, and tuning drift – making the instrument sound convincingly like a real (and costly) pipe organ.  With the power of today’s server class personal computers, the organ is able to provide the very high polyphony necessary to model the largest pipe organs.

The Zion Organ Opus 1 has two unique virtual pipe organs, which can be loaded at the console by the organist; a large 51-stop American Classic organ, and a 32-stop Baroque organ.

Each organ [sample set] is custom designed and tailored to fit the acoustic qualities of the worship space at Zion, and the liturgical needs of the congregation.

For this installation, the church's original Conn Classic 825 organ console was stripped of it's electronics and modified with fully MIDI capable keyboards. The console has a two manual keyboard stack with full 32-note AGO pedalboard. The stops control is via dual touch screen monitors, but according to AGO specifications with Pedal and Swell divisions on the left and Great and Solo/Choir divisions on the right.  By merely touching the computer screen, individual stops are engaged or disengaged.

There are 12 general presets (6 thumb pistons and 6 toe studs), 3 divisional presets each for Great and Swell (thumb pistons), and 4 divisional presets for the Pedal division (toe studs).  All presets can be configured by the organist and saved to the hard drive as a combination file resulting in a virtually unlimited number of combinations.

Also, three couplers: Swell to Great, Great to Pedal, and Swell to Pedal, are provided via physical toe studs on the console knee wall, as well as on the touch screens.

The organ is tuned to equal temperament, but can be changed "on the fly" by the organist to a number of other available temperaments.

Hear the organ here.  Virtual MIDI performances by James Pressler, recorded in the organ's natural acoustic space (using two R0DE NT1A microphones on boom stands, placed midway in the center aisle on the nave floor). Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659