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We Want Your Input!

2015-09-02 - Site Updates

We are looking for suggestions for topics for The Barde from you!... Yes. You! 

At "The Barde", we have been creating articles, tutorials, sample set reviews and product reviews. We hope you like what we've done so far but we're looking for input on what topics, sample sets or products would be meaningful and helpful for you.

Would you be so kind as to send us your suggestions by leaving comments below on this page or emailing us?


Comments

ClassicOrganWrks (2015-10-05) Log in to Reply
You asked for it! A piston registration tutorial. Check out Agnus_dei's latest post about just that in the Organs and Pieces section of the Barde
BaroqueDMX (2015-09-23) Log in to Reply
I'd like to see a tutorial on how to take your current piston settings and move them into the sequencer. -Jim
ClassicOrganWrks (2015-09-23) Log in to Reply
Thanks. Good idea.
162_Ranks (2015-09-18) Log in to Reply
A guest author should do a profile of our own Agnus_Dei, who is too modest to do one of his own but I am sure has had a very interesting career/life.
ClassicOrganWrks (2015-09-18) Edited Log in to Reply
Indeed. He has definitely been an encouragement to many on the Concert Hall.
Agnus_Dei (2015-09-18) Log in to Reply
Hi 162_Ranks!

Oh, I'm not too modest... ;-)

I just don't know if I could "condense" it all, or if people would like the "unpleasant" things that have happened to me in this "organist business" of ours.

I wouldn't exaggerate or be inappropriate, but I WOULD be honest - which would be "exaggerated" only by the degree of truth!

Do you want me to do that and tell the story could be made into a sensational new motion picture?!? :-)
162_Ranks (2015-09-18) Log in to Reply
I'd happily read it all, keeping in mind this is a family site :-)
pointyflute (2015-09-19) Log in to Reply
I, too, would happily read it, and I'm not a family man, so no worries there.
Trent (2015-09-26) Log in to Reply
I'd love to know how David was attracted to the organ, why, his educational path, mentors, why and how his technique is unconventional (something we can't tell from audio), the circuitous route his career has taken, and what brought him to the artistry he displays in his contributions to the site. Also, something about leading congregations in hymn playing. The unpleasant stuff would be intriguing and certainly riveting, particularly if unfairness is involved. Some of us older guys can use the occasional jolt of adrenalin that outrage over stories of injustice delivers to our systems. But if the history is painful, I say, forget it ... unless, of course, he just wants to get it off his chest.
PLRT (2015-09-10) Log in to Reply
Some tips to keep already learned pieces in the fingers and so prevent one's repertoire to vanish much much quicker than it was painfully built ? :-)
jtadams (2015-09-09) Log in to Reply
Some pieces have disappeared. They still show up in playlists but clicking the link or play button does not work. I am a software developer and would be happy to offer my expertise to try to track down and fix the problem if it would be useful.
ClassicOrganWrks (2015-09-09) Log in to Reply
Could you email me details of which pieces so that we can investigate? support@contrebombarde.com. And thanks for the offer of your services. We'll certainly keep that in mind as we're having a look at this issue.
John_Pellowe (2015-09-09) Log in to Reply
It's possible they have been deleted by the user, because that is an option. Do those pieces show up when you search for them?
jtadams (2015-09-09) Log in to Reply
There may be a problem on my end. It plays on all my browsers and machines except Chrome on Windows, but there it fails. I can't figure out any good reason why. But here is one example of one that does this. I've run into a few others in the past. I've cleared the browser cache, but the Chrome UI doesn't offer a lot of other options.

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/12635

Thanks!
cbadmin (2015-09-09) Log in to Reply
Hi jtadams,

Based on some digging around, it seems that there is a player issue on windows chrome. As far as I can tell for some reason it does not like to play mp3 files that have a 320 bit rate. I converted the piece above to 192 and it works. If you find anymore of these issues please send it to us and we can run more tests. If this does turn out to be the problem we will most likely switch players.

Regards

Ray
jtadams (2015-09-09) Log in to Reply
Awesome. Thanks!
John_Pellowe (2015-09-04) Log in to Reply
It would be interesting to have a Users' Tips & Tricks post - things that make using HW easier, or playing easier (eg., piston set up), performance hints (eg., recording) etc. etc. i guess I'm just curious if others have knowledge that would be helpful to me because I haven't thought of it.
woody-mc (2015-09-09) Log in to Reply
+1
Agnus_Dei (2015-09-18) Log in to Reply
Hi John and All!

I don't have any problem with having my "pistons" shared! It's no secret!

I actually have prepared a "demo piece" showing how the English, or I should say MY experience with the English organists, play with NO GENERAL PISTONS!
John_Pellowe (2015-09-18) Log in to Reply
I'd love to see or hear the demo, David.
pointyflute (2015-09-19) Log in to Reply
Only scoundrels use general pistons! Just kidding, I'm not an organist. But I'm interested.
Mktwest (2015-09-04) Log in to Reply
I have a wonderful e-mail from AgnusDei (David Lamb) which explains registration/piston settings on the Salisbury instrument in great detail and is easy to understand. If it's OK with David, I can forward the e-mail for posting.
kenhager (2015-09-03) Log in to Reply
As a newcomer to Hauptwerk, and one who knows only enough about computers, MIDI, etc. to be dangerous, I am often overwhelmed by the mountain of information in the Hauptwerk manual and the advanced terminology. If you could take some of the topics such as performance tuning, recording capabilities, voicing capabilities, even some basic things such as setting polyphony, that a novice would want to explore (see my question on the Hauptwerk forum under Free Edition Help for an example) and explain them in layman's terms like you've done here with MIDI thru vs merge, that would be a GREAT help. I've wanted to do such as multi-track layered sequencing and punch in/punch out recording but don't know if the Hauptwerk recorder has those capabilities and, if so, how to do it.
ClassicOrganWrks (2015-09-03) Log in to Reply
Thanks for the ideas. I'm going to give those some thought and see where i might be able to add some value. For the record, there is already a voicing tutorial and "diagnosing audio distortion symptoms" tutorial in Hauptwerk Technical. Martin has a pretty practical tutorial for optimizing Windows for audio on the Hauptwerk site : Hauptwerk > Support > Tutorials > Computers and Operating systems. You basically, go down his list and do each one. Macs don't tend to need this kind of tweaking. For people who want to get into a Mac at a reduced cost, they can look at my tutorial on buying a used Mac.
johnhoopes (2015-09-01) Log in to Reply
I would like see registration ideas for hymns and preludes on the French CC organs.
ClassicOrganWrks (2015-09-02) Log in to Reply
I see at least 2 articles there. Thanks.
Bartfloete (2015-09-01) Log in to Reply
Well, registration... What about an introduction into the art of piston pushing? What goes into divisional pistons (which I never met in Germany) and what goes into general pistons? General layout of pistons for services? How to achieve smooth dynamic transitions? I went back to two recordings for my questions: Enigma variations recorded by OrganistWPC or Sonata by Frederick Bridge recorded by Agnus_Dei. May be this is more than one tutorial... Thanks a lot.
ClassicOrganWrks (2015-09-02) Log in to Reply
Thanks for the input. This is great.
woody-mc (2015-09-09) Log in to Reply
+1
(@Bartfloete: There *are* organs with divisional pistons in Germany, e.g. the main organ at the Magdeburg Cathedral / "Magdeburger Dom" built in 2008, where I already had the honor to play around with.)
Agnus_Dei (2015-09-18) Log in to Reply
Hi Michael!

I'm going to try to "answer your question" about registration ASAP!

David
Josq (2015-09-01) Log in to Reply
Often I see people asking for registration advice
ClassicOrganWrks (2015-09-02) Log in to Reply
This does seem to be a popular request. Thanks for bringing it up
Agnus_Dei (2015-09-18) Log in to Reply
I'm going to do several "articles" on this. They won't answer all the questions, but at least it will show MY approach to the registration art! :-)
Josq (2015-09-18) Log in to Reply
That's great, looking forward to your inspiring contributions!
davsim (2015-09-01) Log in to Reply
A detailed voicing guide with examples and whatnot? ;P
ClassicOrganWrks (2015-09-01) Log in to Reply
Great idea. Thanks.
Qudomo (2015-09-02) Log in to Reply
To this end, some of the "finer" controls with regard to HW. Although the manual tells you everything (in theory), it doesn't always have a practical layman's term meaning. One of the things I've played with is the expression shoe setting, but I'm not quite sure what to listen for. I find that often the expression shoes don't do an even job of covering the range of the pedal, so I'm attempting to compensate.
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