Pusztaszabolcs Pipe Organ Samples

Key features

• The organ
  • the 1778 Pazicky baroque organ of R.C. St. Imre, Pusztaszabolcs, Hungary; entirely virtualized
  • 17 stops, 2 manuals (with 45 keys) and pedal (with 18 keys)
  • mechanical console
  • Werckmeister III. tuning at a=448 Hz
• The recording
  • High Definition Sampling (HDS) — all stops were sampled chromatically at 192 kHz / 24-bit
  • Advanced Pipe Organ Measurements (APM)
• The sample set
  • 48 kHz / 24-bit format, 2-channel stereo samples
  • Natural sound image — the samples contain all spatial information as they are heard
  • Multiple loops per sample
  • Touch sensitivity
    • 2 velocity (attack) layers for all pipes
    • velocity-sensitive (attack) optional tracker action noises
  • Acoustics
    • Natural, out-of-the-box acoustics
    • multiple release samples for all velocity layers
  • Noises
    • optional organ engine (blower) noise
    • optional touch-sensitive tracker action and drawbar noises
  • Historical and Extended Edition in one organ file
    • Switch between Historical and Extended modes — with a single click
    • Compass extension to 54 keyboard and 30 pedal notes
      • Variable-Pattern Note Extension Method (VPNE method) — using different extension patterns for different stops and notes
    • Short octave support
      • original note order (historical mode)
      • full note order (historical and extended mode)
    • Single click base frequency change (448 / 440 Hz)
    • Wind stability control*
    • Independent Combination Action — entirely GUI-controllable with 8 memory slots
      • control buttons on the console are adaptively displayed or hidden in extended and historical modes, respectively
  • Graphical interface
    • Multiple touchscreen-optimized pages best viewed at 1280x1024 native resolution
    • Entirely remodelled console, perspectivic keyboards, animated drawbar stops
• Shipping
  • download delivery

* Please note that although the Pusztaszabolcs virtual pipe organ implements controlling wind stability, the feature is not supported by Hauptwerk for customers residing in the US according to Hauptwerk manufacturer Milan Digital Audio.

Details

The PSZ Pipe Organ Samples is published in a single product that contains two forms of the 1778 Pazicky baroque pipe organ of Pusztaszabolcs: the historical version (historical mode), which is in features identical to the original instrument, and an extended version (extended mode) that contains an extended number of keyboard and pedal notes (compass). So in other words, the extended version is included for free with the historical version.

The sample set

Sample format

All pipes were recorded with the same recording equipment, under the same acoustic and physical conditions, entirely at 192 kHz / 24-bit. The post-processing was conducted within 32-bit and 64-bit precision environments according to each post-processing phase's own technical requirements. The final sample format is 48 kHz / 24-bit, 2-channel stereo for all samples. The virtual instrument delivers the appropriate spatial sound image without the need for any adjustment — no artificial panning or approximations were used in the creation of the library: what you hear is exactly the same as the reality.

Acoustics and reverberation

The natural church acoustics are embedded in the samples with multiple release sample layers. A different release sample is available for different lengths of the same note and again different for the multiple note layers. The sample set is recorded in a way that it is also compatible with dry acoustic spaces.

Touch response

The pipe organ has a very sensitive mechanic console and its touch responsiveness is modeled in two ways. First, the sound transients of the organ pipes are different when the key is pressed faster or slower, and second, the tracker action is producing louder or softer sounds also dependent on the key pressing speed. In the virtual pipe organ all pipes - including the extended pipes - have two different layers of a slow and a fast pipe transient. Some pipes are more responsive, while others are less - this is all captured as it happens in the real instrument. Furthermore, the optional tracker action sound is also touch-sensitive in 128 levels.

Historical and extended compass, short octave response

The pipe organ has an original compass of 45 keyboard notes and 18 pedal notes and a short lower octave. When the virtual organ is loaded, you can select by pressing one button to extend this compass optionally to 54 keyboard notes and 30 pedal notes. Furthermore, for more playing convenience the virtual organ supports both the original historical short octave keyboard mapping and the standard MIDI keyboard mapping. The extended notes that are created based on the existing ones were generated by the proprietary Variable-Pattern Note Extension Method, an algorithm developed first for this organ. Different patterns of extensions were used for different stops so as to make for a natural-sounding result.

Optional noises

Both the organ engine sound and the tracker action sounds along with the sounds of the drawbar stops are optional for your convenience. The reverberation continues below the noise level of the organ engine so you can create high quality recordings with the virtual pipe organ.

Tuning and temperament

The original temperament of the Pusztaszabolcs Pazicky organ is the famous Werckmeister III, based on 448 Hz. This original tuning loads automatically, but in order to allow playing the instrument at concert pitch as well as for use with choir or other instruments, an additional button is added with which you can tune the organ to 440 Hz with a single click, even while you play.

Wind control

On the advanced page of the graphical interface of the pipe organ, the stability of the wind supply can be user-controlled. If your version of Hauptwerk supports it, the wind stability control model is automatically included. Please note that the inclusion of this feature depends on the geographical locale, so please refer to the manufacturer, Milan Digital Audio's website for more information.

Advanced Graphical User Interface (GUI)

The PSZ baroque organ is equipped with multiple pages, providing extensive support for various touch-screen setups. Furthermore, in the extended mode, additional buttons, permitting control of the combination action and engine noises, appear on the console and on the left and right pages. The graphical interface exactly documents the real organ visually — talented experts have carefully modelled every detail, even featuring animated drawbar stops on all pages.

Availability and shipping

The size of the sample set is approximately 9.5 GB and it is available as a download product.

Editions

Feature type	Feature	Trial Edition	Full Edition
General features	Stops	17	17
	Keyboard compass (manual/pedal)	45/15 (54/30*)	45/15 (54/30*)
Acoustics	Multichannel format	stereo 2.0	stereo 2.0
Samples	Chromatically sampled
	Multiple loops
	Multiple releases
	Engine noise optional	*	*
	Touch sensitive tracker noise
	Pipe attack velocity sensitivity
Graphics	Single touch screen support
	Multiple touch screen support
	All functions MIDI & GUI controllable
On-screen combination actions	General combinations	*	*
	General combination memory frames	8	8
Size	Download size (GB)	8.1	8.1
Delivery	Product delivery options	Download	Download

* when Extended Mode is engaged

The free Trial version of the PSZ baroque organ is equivalent to the final version in all of its features except that the Trial version has a time-limited functionality of producing sound up to 10 minutes each time it is loaded, and disabling its sound output for a short time temporarily and occasionally within that period.

The organ and the church

The epic history of the organ dates back to the turn of the 17th and 18th century. First evidences show that it was operating at the 1717 Franciscan Saint Anna church at Esztergom, Hungary, with the builder and exact time of construction remaining still unknown. According to a recent research it was most likely completed before year 1739. In 1778 Jan Pazický (spelled Pazsiczky at that times) extended the organ to feature 2 manuals and 17 stops. No later than a few decades afterwards the organ's deterioration had begun; it was repainted and dismantled for several times and in 1918 the tin pipes of the façade were removed by the authorities to support war. The original short octave pipes built by Pazicky were cropped to revert to a chromatic scale; finally in 1941 a decision was made to build a replacement organ, and the old Pazicky organ was acquired by the city of Pusztaszabolcs. Installed shortly before the Second World War, there were no funds to restore it until the early fifties when the church decided to entirely replace its internal parts. Ironically the disappearance of the appointed repairman with all prepaid restoration monies saved the instrument; only in the nineties it was again recognized and finally in 2003 the office of the National Cultural Heritage declared the organ as an Historical Relic.

Despite its adventurous history, about 90 percent of the pipes, the mechanics and the 18th century status of the organ case remained. In early 2002 the restoration of the organ had begun, with the objective to recover the 1778 state of the baroque instrument in all of its historic aspects.The façade pipes were rebuilt, the case was restored and the second rank of the Mixtura (mixture) stop that was originally planned by Pazicky but was never built, was also completed.

The instrument is now in its original splendor, reconstructed to its original 1778 Pazicky state. In 2008, the pipe organ was recorded by Inspired Acoustics to further document and preserve this state, and the Pusztaszabolcs Pipe Organ Samples, as a virtual pipe organ product financially supports maintaining the instrument.

Specification of the Pazicky organ at Pusztaszabolcs

System requirements and recommendations

It is intended (and required) that the Pusztaszabolcs (PSZ) Pipe Organ Samples be operated within Hauptwerk, a virtual pipe organ host software application (purchased separately). The Pusztaszabolcs Pipe Organ Samples work with Hauptwerk V and later, and a valid license for Hauptwerk is required to load the organ.

For further information, please refer to Hauptwerk's detailed requirements on Hauptwerk's website.

Detailed RAM guidelines

Hauptwerk loads all samples in the computer's RAM, with several loading options available according to your computer's specification. PSZ was specifically designed and post processed in such a way that it will load successfully even on smaller or notebook computers. We recommend using Hauptwerk's built-in lossless memory compression to reduce the loading size. Below we have summarised the RAM requirements with their corresponding quality options.

RAM requirements for the Pusztaszabolcs
	Loading setup	Bits	Loops	Attack layers	Acoustics	Releases	Required RAM	Computer RAM*
Full Edition
	Full organ, 17 stops	24	all	all	church	all	10.22 GB	16 GB
						single	7.01 GB	12 GB
						250 ms (all)	6.68 GB	12 GB
			first	first	church	all	6.94 GB	12 GB
						single	2.59 GB	6 GB
						250 ms (all)	1.92 GB	6 GB
Recommended	Full organ, 17 stops	16	all	all	church	all	5.36 GB	12 GB
						single	3.82 GB	6 GB
						250 ms (all)	3.66 GB	6 GB
			first	all	church	all	3.09 GB	6 GB
						single	1.74 GB	6 GB
						250 ms (all)	1.57 GB	6 GB
			first	first	church	all	2.42 GB	6 GB
						single	1.12 GB	4 GB
						250 ms (all)	0.96 GB	4 GB

*Please note: all samples were loaded in stereo to obtain the figures above. The Required RAM column above shows the memory requirement that also includes Hauptwerk*'s own memory consumption, so this is all the RAM the sample set and Hauptwerk* together will use, but some additional RAM may be required for the operating system itself, (which is not included). The measures were obtained on a Windows-based equipped computer. The Computer RAM column shows a recommendation on the amount of RAM your computer should have as a minimum for a given loading setup assuming that some additional RAM is used by the operating system. Also note that on the Mac you may require more RAM in the computer than the above indicated Computer RAM value, because of the operating system of the Mac. Also note that Windows is capable of loading more content than your available RAM, loading (paging) the additional sample data to your hard drive, reading it once the sound is needed (played). In some cases this will cause glitches in the sound when played in realtime since the hard drive is slower to access than the computer's RAM, but makes the full library usable in offline music composition and recording even if you do not have the required amount of RAM.

Licensing

Hauptwerk V platform

• Hauptwerk V license is required for the operation of the sample set
• No license update or activation procedure is needed to use this sample set

This sample set comes in an encrypted format compatible with Hauptwerk v5. Both the full and the Trial editions of the sample set require the presence of a Hauptwerk v5 evaluation, subscription or perpetual license.

Modifications and customization

If you are planning a custom or commercial application that requires a different setup what this sample set offers out-of-the-box, please contact us for making a customized version for you. 

Modification or disassembling the contents of this sample set through the CODM interface of Hauptwerk is not supported since the variety of functions and the availability of the sample set's certain special features already offers most of the functions the CODM interface may offer. The complexity of the Organ Definition File shipping with this sample set is uniquely high and building custom variants requires a certain amount of special expertise. Legally, the end-user license of this sample set is permitting using the samples as a whole, as they ship.