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Couplers
Mechanical couplers: couplers between manuals
Mechanical couplers on the original organ’s upper console couples manuals which you can visually verify by the joint movement of the coupled keys. In PAB Gravissimo, it is implemented similarly but using the lower console. The labeling of the mechanical couplers follows the labeling rule ‘Destination + Source m’, for example, ‘I+II m’ couplers the second manual to the first, mechanically so when you play the first manual (destination) the keys of the second will also move. Alternatively this rule can be interpreted as ‘X has additionally Y playing’.
Electronic couplers: couplers between divisions
In the original organ, electronic couplers are labeled the same way as the mechanic ones, only the letter ‘m’ is changed to ‘e’ and the keys are not moving together but the coupling is realized ‘hidden’ with no visual feedback on the key movement. But PAB Gravissimo implements the ability to re-order manuals and assign a different division to a manual than its original, so I+II for example may no longer mean coupling the Positive to the Grand orgue.
Therefore, electronic couplers in PAB Gravissimo became divisional couplers. This means that their label is different from the original organ’s, and also from the previous editions of PAB. The new labels correspond to the divisions with the rule ‘Source ➛ Destination’ where the arrow can be pronounced as ’to’. For example, ’Pos ➛ GO’ means the Positive is coupled to the Grand Orgue, so playing on the Grand Orgue – whichever keyboard it is played on – will also use the stops of the Positif.
Hint: If you convert combination actions used in the previous Professional or Extended Editions, you may wish to re-program them to use the electronic couplers only, since this will ensure that any keyboard order you will later use will not affect the sounding of your combinations.
On the dedicated Couplers page you can find a vast range of coupling options, as described in the following sections.
Bass and Melody coupler switches
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In PAB Gravissimo certain couplers can be converted to Bass or Melody couplers.
Bass couplers play only the lowest note of the coupled division, Melody will play only the highest. This functionality is also available for the reversed couplers. To turn an electric coupler to a Bass or Melody coupler, navigate to the Couplers Page and press the button B or M for the corresponding coupler. Only one of them can be selected at a time. |
Transposing couplers: 16’ or sub, 4’ or super couplers
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Transposing couplers are coupling two divisions in a way the source is transposed either an octave up or down. For example, Pos ➛ GO 4’ means the Positif is coupled to the GO one octave upwards transposed; so playing a C4 note on the GO will play the C5 of Positif also. Similarly, Réc ➛ GO 16’ means that the Récit’s one octave lower transposed sounds will be added to the Grand Orgue.
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Self-transposing couplers and Unison Off
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Self-transposing couplers work within a division. Turning on GO ➛ GO 4’ for example and playing a C4 note on the Grand Orgue will play the sounds of Grand Orgue on C4 and C5 as well.
Unison off will turn off the standard voices of the division, allowing only the couplers, either from other works or self-transposing ones to play. For the example above, when GO ➛ GO 4’ is used in conjunction with the Unison off switch, playing a C4 will give the sound of C5. |
Reversed couplers: pedal to manual couplers and splits
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For compatibility reasons and for setups having no organ pedal, reversed couplers are available so that you can play pedal notes on the keyboard.
The reversed couplers are also electronic couplers having no visual feedback on key movement. They are located on the Couplers Page and for backwards compatibility reasons with the Extended Edition, on the Compatibility Page as well. On the Couplers Page, a button ‘Spl’ converts the pedal-to-manual coupler to a split reversed coupler. On the Compatibility Page, they have separate switches. The orange colored pedal couplers add the pedal stops to the selected manual and work similarly as a coupler, while the green colored switch converts them to splits between the keyboard and the pedal, so that the lower part of the keyboard will play the selected pedal stops only. In the Extended Edition, split couplers were marked as ‘I / P e’ for example, now they are marked as ‘’Ped ➛ GO split’ and they are functionally identical to the ‘Spl’ button of the Couplers Page. |
Information
Last updated: 18 April 2019
Applies to