Complete Solutions for Hauptwerk organs
Welcome to the Silver Octopus Studios website.
We offer a complete solution for Hauptwerk installations for home or church including consultation and advice, design and planning, hardware and software plus final installation and tonal finishing. To our knowledge there is no other company in the UK that covers every single aspect of a Hauptwerk solution from one source.
What makes us unique is that we record and create our own sample sets including custom specifications to suit individual requirements.
Please use the sidebar on the left hand side to navigate around the site in greater detail.
Sample Sets
We have been involved with church organs for nearly five decades. Initially working with conventional pipe organs, we moved into the world of pipeless instruments during their rapid technological expansion in the last quarter of the twentieth century.
With over 30 years experience in creating sample sets for organs for other digital organ manufacturers and since 20003, for the Hauptwerk software platform, we are one of the longest established sample set producers.
In addition to our "off the shelf" sample sets of existing or composite instruments, we are also able to create custom instruments to suit individual requirements.
We have a library archive of many hundreds of stops to choose from sampled from instruments throughout the UK and elsewhere.
DISCOVERIES
This page has come into being as a result of some of my observations regarding YouTube in another earlier posting.
How often do we come across things which "open our eyes and ears" by accident or perhaps because someone has recommended something that we were previously unaware of. For me personally, during my lifetime, I have been introduced to many pieces of music etc. in passing which I would never have discovered if someone hadn't told me.
Therefore, the purpose of this page is to introduce visitors to all sorts of things that they might otherwise not have discovered. For the most part these "discoveries" are to do with music or performances of music but there may be some that are unrelated to music or organs in any way and are included because they are just interesting.
Of course, many who read my website pages will already be totally aware of some of the composers, pieces or performances that I intend to suggest but some will have a far wider knowledge of a particular composer or their pieces than I could ever hope to have. In other cases, my suggestions may be completely new. Some may have a note(s) attached, others not. Obviously, my leanings are towards the classical side and also towards the organ but I can be quite eclectic in my musical likes and dislikes so there will be other genres.
It is quite likely that as a result of this page, readers may suggest their own discoveries to me (via email), and some of these will be totally new to me. These may therefore warrant inclusion here.
One other aspect of this is that having been introduced to a composer or a performer, this may very well lead to the discovery of more of the works of a particular composer or performer by readers / listeners.
I will start the ball rolling with the following.............................
Jacob Collier: World O World:
I first discovered the remarkable Jacob Collier a year or so ago and was very impressed with his work. I can't say that I like everything he does but there are some things that he has done that are quite mind blowing. His 'a capella' multi-track singing certainly warranted the several Grammy awards that he has achieved but lately he has penned some highly original songs which are very pleasant. However, it is his World O World that is stunning in its emotional impact especially at the end. What an incredible choir and what an incredible sound.
Jacob Collier - World O World (Official Score Video)
Poulenc: Concerto for two pianos:
I have known this particular piece for many years along with his Concert Champetre, Aubade, Piano concerto (single) Organ Concerto and Les Biches to name just a few of his works. Obviously, I like Poulenc a lot however, this performance by the Jussen Brothers stands out particularly. The Jussen brothers are quite a phenomenon in themselves and it is worth listening to their other YouTube presentations. The whole concerto is very fine but I have chosen the second movement as being particularly excellent as an introduction.
Lucas & Arthur Jussen – Poulenc Concerto For Two Pianos | Second Movement (2017)
Just purely for fun, check out their Strauss Die Fledermaus encore as well.........
Rachmaninov: Piano concertos
The Rach. concertos are so very well known to almost everyone. Which one is anybody's favourite probably vies between No 2 and No. 3 with possibly No. 3 coming out on top. No 1 and No 4 tend to be performed rather less. There are of course that many performances and most of them are fairly excellent so it is difficult to single out individual performances.
I always liked the Earle Wild performances but thanks to YouTube, I have recently discovered several others. Sticking with Rach 3, I suppose the one that really comes out on top for me is the Alexander Gavrylyuk Proms performance conducted by Thomas Dausgaard. I find the Daniil Trifonov performance quite mesmerising because he is so completely manic and I quite like the Alexandеr Malofeev performance but it doesn't quite reach the emotional heights of the other two. However, what completely blows my mind is the SOLO performance (piano and orchestral transcription) by Christopher Falzone (very tragically no more) who has YouTube performances of both no 2 and No 3. There are a few others by other arrangers mostly Far Eastern performers but the Falzone performances take some beating.
Rachmaninoff-Falzone Concerto op. 30/3 (transcribed and performed by Christopher)
Hardware
We can supply everything that might be required for a pipeless organ installation from the basic console, amplification and speakers to the computers, software and audio interfaces needed.
The various components are sourced from a number of specialist established manufacturers and supply houses most of whom we have been involved with for many years.
In addition, we have a number of contacts who specialise in obtaining and converting former consoles for use with the Hauptwerk platform.
Contact Information
For further information, please email us at
E-mail:
charlesbraund@gmail.com
or
info@silveroctopus.co.uk
N.B. Some sample sets may not work with basic older versions of Hauptwerk or the entry level version of the new Hauptwerk V and above because these editions do not include some of the features that are necessary for our libraries to work fully on the Hauptwerk platform.