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ftaylor
New Member
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
 Posted - 20/04/2009 : 4:41:35 PM
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Hello everyone.
I have joined this forum because I am building a player organ from scratch and have never built one before.
There are one or two points that I am stuck on.
So far I have:
1 Constructed 35 wooden pipes - Midi 55 to 89
2 Purchased 18 metal pipes Midi 72 to 89
3 Fabricated two figures with moving arms
4 Mounted these on a wind chest.
To do:
1 Make/buy blower
2 Buy solenoids.
I have designed a circuit to decode 127 outputs presented in parallel format (Centronics) and nearly finished the software to parse midi files and direct the notes to a simulated 100 hole roll player.
My problem is - When I decode midi files the notes compas is huge.
I can transpose the channels with my program but the compas is still outside my keyboard range (Standard 60 note organ) even if I construct all 60 pipes.
How do people with small organs cope with midi ?
Any help greatfully recieved.
Thanks,
Frank.
ps. how do I attach pictures, I tried but it didn't seem to work.
FTaylor
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propellanttech
Advanced Member
USA
53 Posts |
Posted - 21/04/2009 : 12:10:18 PM
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FT,
People with small range organs either write their own music, or buy music to fit their note range. It is a challenge to fit previously written music within the range of a 26 note organ (or similar). This is one reason you usually find small organ owners wanting a larger organ.
Just to give you an idea. A single song format 0 can have 2048 different notes. I know, I'm coding a system right now to deal with this.
You have found the major problem with midi. It is not easy to write music that sounds good, that is why I recommend finding a supplier (Melvyn Right, etc) and buying some. The people who wrote this music have talent, and most of it sounds awesome, from my understanding.
I'm not sure that helped, but it is the best answer that I have.
James L
James Long
Owner/Production Manager
Lil Brother SMT assembly Services
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cayers
New Member
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 21/04/2009 : 9:25:33 PM
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I built my organ for 40 notes, 12 bass , 12 accomp. and 16 melody. that solved the problem of arranging difficulties. I use an older version of cakewalk ( not vista friendly), its easy to use in piano scroll mode, I can transpose or compose a midi tune so it will fit my organ. Sometimes you have to be creative with moving notes around to fit in the scale, (that is if your tweaking a midi file by someone else) I think Harrald Mueller's web site (sp?) has a primer on do-it-yourself arranging, I remember that you try to create a song in layers ( melody, accomp, bass, etc). Peterson Organ Co. (Chicago, Il) is a good valve source in the U.S., about $5 per solenoid. For the quick & easy, you may try a blower & reservoir first to get it up & running (Phil has a good reservoir video on this site). A blower helps with tuning and you can step away to hear how it sounds at a distance.
Chris Ayers
Tuscaloosa, AL |
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ftaylor
New Member
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Posted - 25/04/2009 : 4:13:31 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by propellanttech
FT,
People with small range organs either write their own music, or buy music to fit their note range. It is a challenge to fit previously written music within the range of a 26 note organ (or similar). This is one reason you usually find small organ owners wanting a larger organ.
Just to give you an idea. A single song format 0 can have 2048 different notes. I know, I'm coding a system right now to deal with this.
You have found the major problem with midi. It is not easy to write music that sounds good, that is why I recommend finding a supplier (Melvyn Right, etc) and buying some. The people who wrote this music have talent, and most of it sounds awesome, from my understanding.
I'm not sure that helped, but it is the best answer that I have.
James L
James Long
Owner/Production Manager
Lil Brother SMT assembly Services
Thanks for your replys James and Chris, very helpful.
As I am building from scratch, and the pipes already constructed were just made ad-hoc, not any particular plan, I guess I will have to expand my horizons and costruct the rest of the pipes to make a 60 note compass.
That is not a problem, I enjoy making the pipes, it's just the extra solenoids cost that worries me.
My program allows for transposing independant channels and directing midi channels to different ranks. My program simulates 100 hole player but can go to 128. So I can still handle different ranks. The notes that fall ouside this will have to be tweaked or binned (put in the dumpster). I can also compose from scratch with it.
Thanks again for your interest.
If I can figure out how to include pictures I will do so.
Frank.
FTaylor |
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Bob Meyer
Average Member
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 25/04/2009 : 7:28:47 PM
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FT,
Don't misunderstand me, I get that this is a hobby and half (most?) of the fun is building whatever parts you can. It just really seems like re-inventing the wheel to build your own MIDI decoder. That said, You can sometimes find used valve magnets on ebay, or maybe from an organ build/repair place. You could also make a traditional chest with the small pneumatics and "horseshoe" magnets. Those magnets were used for decades before the direct electric type. They are very plentiful on the used market. More complicated, but I think you could do it cheaper, if that was your purpose.
Good luck, this is a lot of fun isn't it?
Bob Meyer |
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ftaylor
New Member
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Posted - 30/04/2009 : 4:38:29 PM
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Hi Bob,
Yes this is an ambitious project for a first attempt, but I am an inveterate fabricator and this satisfies most of my interests.
Making the pipes and housing, making the figures and decorating the casing is very absorbing and satisfying.
I am designing and constructing the electronics, I used to be an electronics engineer in the forces and a computer engineer in civvy street. This I enjoy also.
I am writing the software because I was an analyst/programmer in EDI before I retired, which I enjoyed very much, Decoding Midi is similar to the EDI decoders I used to write. Also I cannot find a decent commercial package that is not over complicated and expensive.
Thanks for your interest.
Frank.
FTaylor |
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Topic |
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New Member 20th April 2009. With a problem