About Silver Octopus Sample Sets

Whilst numerous sample sets representing actual instruments are available - some of which are absolutely excellent (whilst others are somewhat poor) - many of our sample sets do not represent real instruments as such and are designed to represent pipe organs of various different sizes together with carefully designed specifications for each model. Our aim is for these instruments to sound the same as the equivalent real life pipe organ would in that environment.

Our philosophy is simple: The most accurate recording of any pipe is one that does not have any colouration introduced to the sound from external influences including the modification in the original sound by the acoustics of the room where the pipe is situated. The only real way of achieving this is by the close recording of individual pipes. With this method, the recorded sound of the pipe is very much like it might sound on a voicing machine or directly from inside the organ before the sound "gets out" into the building. It is therefore the most accurate representation of the sound of real pipes.

Having taken the various recordings and edited them into playable stops for the Hauptwerk system the resulting register is then able to utilise the acoustics of the room in which it is heard giving a more natural and accurate sound. In the case of "dead" rooms, sophisticated processing via hardware or software reverberation additions will introduce the resonances and acoustics of a pipe playing in a larger or different space. With the most recent Convolution reverberation facilities whereby the "sound" of an original "room" is captured and then recreated the desired effect can be readily achieved. in addition, specialist software allows the "pipes" to be moved around; from left to right and from front to back within the stereo field

Wet samples are excellent for recreating the sound of an existing room and representing an accurate facsimile of an original instrument but they are only really suitable for use with headphones or in a domestic environment. Although the sound is unnatural in this environment, it does give a very enjoyable and convincing feeling of playing the real instrument in its original setting (especially when one's eyes are shut and headphones are used).

However, when wet samples are played in any room which has its own acoustic signature, things become more difficult since the sounds produced by such sets already have their own acoustic signature to begin with. When this is added to the additional modification of the original sound plus the new room's acoustics, the effect becomes unnatural and starts to sound more like a CD recording of the instrument.

One can record a complete instrument close and dry and use it as a facsimile instrument installed into a new acoustic space and this is a valid application based on the logic above. Theoretically it will produce a result that is little different from transposing the real instrument into a new building. But our special techniques with close, dry sampling and editing allow us to go much further.

Pipe organs are rarely "perfect" for a number of reasons. Although the manufacturing processes might be standard, the final finishing and fine voicing of a stop can vary even in the best of circumstances. Regardless of any other factors, there are some examples of stops that are better than others even when made and voiced by the same builder or craftsman. Add to this the vagaries of time as stops become dirty, years of tuning upset the original regulation or component parts like languids gradually sag leading to altered speech, there can be considerable differences between stops which started out being virtually identical when initially installed.

One of the most significant advantages of dry / close sampling is that the resulting pipe recordings / samples are consistent. Where it becomes necessary to pitch shift from one note to another to replace a pipe with faulty speech or regulation, the results are far more acceptable than they would be with a wet sample which also pitch shifts the reverberation element of the recording and thereby gives inaccurate results.

What this means is that the same stops from different organs can be substituted. As an example; the XYZ organ from church A may have a stop that is not in its best condition whereas the same stop from the same builder's organ in church B may have one that is in better condition or better regulated etc. Because the two stops from different churches are consistent in their original recorded state without a different acoustic included, stops can be successfully transferred from one organ to another and to all intents and purposes will blend in as if they were from the same organ. Therefore it is possible to create "new" organs from a composite selection of sampled stops. It is also possible to create far better stops than the originals such as mixtures where individual ranks can be constructed together with different compositions and breaks. In the case of compound stops in particular, this allows for independent ranks which can be regulated correctly. Due to the nature and consistent character of the samples, it is possible to create new single stops from several different originals. An example of this might be where part of a particular stop is excellent but the bottom or top octave is less so (it might just be completely buried or damaged). It is possible to "tack on" new, replacement octaves to what is an otherwise good stop to create a much improved result.

Furthermore, when any of these stops are fed through additional reverberation or into a different room space, the results also remain consistent. When it comes to mixing sampled stops with real pipes in a hybrid instrument, far more realistic results can be achieved. This is rarely possible with wet samples and the result usually sounds unnatural.

So what are the disadvantages if any of close / dry sampling ?
1. Unfortunately, since close sampled pipes are also that much closer to the source of "other" noise including wind leaks, blower and action noise etc. these have to be removed very carefully if they are present. We do tend to choose organs which have a very low amount of spurious noise so that we can keep noise reduction processing to a minimum because any form of noise reduction has a detrimental effect on the original sound of a pipe. Where possible, we try to use the minimum amount of processing and preferably none at all.
2. Pipes listened to or recorded up close tend to have considerable amounts of additional "ingredients" in the sound which gradually become less and less as the distance between the pipe and microphone increases. This means that careful balancing must be used to ensure that the pipe sound remains as accurate as possible but at the same time, little ambient noise is introduced. This usually requires taking several recordings at the same time of a stop using slightly differing microphone distances and then choosing the best result.
3. Whilst it is possible to move undesirable elements such as edge harmonics, this is not done except in excessive examples because these harmonics form an essential part of the real sound. Once these samples are used in completed stops, the natural attenuation of these component parts will occur gradually as the distance between the source and listener is increased. This is exactly the same as would happen in a real pipe organ. Where dry sample sets are to be used in a domestic or similar environment, the voicing tools included within Hauptwerk as well as additional reverberation can be used to slightly modify the original sound and thus address this problem.
4. However, by far the biggest disadvantage of dry sampling is that it is much more complicated and takes a lot longer to create a sample stop from a given set of close recorded samples because there is so much more work required. All of this takes a lot of time.

Our design principles are guided by the typical English specification developed over the last century or so. The Great organs should form a clear and transparent chorus based on Diapason toned stops with a smaller secondary chorus of flutes. These are then topped off with a Mixture(s) and reed(s). The Swell organ has lesser choruses than the Great organ but has a far more developed reed chorus as expected. The typical soft string and Celeste stops are available for accompaniment and the other flues in the division should provide a complimentary foil for the Great. The Choir aims to be an alternative and lesser Great organ with the addition of flute based mutation stops and a solo reed(s). Where the Solo is provided, this represents the typical solo voices that would normally be found in that division and in the larger instruments, a more fully developed string section is divided out to act as an ancillary division along American lines. The Pedal organ is well developed in all cases and designed to provide the necessary backing to the rest of the organ as well as acting as an independent division in its own right. Much of the design is based on instruments by the major English organ builders, especially those by Willis, Hill, Norman & Beard and Harrison & Harrison that can be found in numerous cathedral, parish church and town hall installations throughout the UK. There is a small nod in the direction of the Organ Reform Movement and in the larger instruments a very definite nod towards the American Classic Organ.

The overall voicing, balancing and choice of stops is intended to produce the typical grand English Romantic sound. Capable of providing the typical Anglican church music requisites as well as being more than competent as recital instruments. Our organs avoid the excesses of earlier church organ design in the last century or so such as the nadir of the Edwardian organ and the over zealous Reform Movement.

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