☕ How I Built a Hauptwerk Chamber Organ

[@PaulL66]

Wow... And here I was so proud of myself for finally getting the smart dishwasher on the WiFi yesterday. Somehow, I'm no longer as impressed with my accomplishment.... And of course you're not patient, you're a project manager after all. Seriously, incredibly impressive work Richard!

[@dennistalbot9659]

Your knowledge of computers and software with wood skills have given you a super instrument of which you should be proud. An exciting project well done. I note the locked compartments presumably to keep Nala out. I hope many continuo performances will be enhanced by it. Well done!

[@dalerider3124]

As I understand, there are no pipes inside. Only the electronic components you named and speakers. Is this correct?

[@InventorZahran]

⁠​⁠@@dalerider3124Yes. It's an entirely digital instrument with no pipes.

[@mcpanorama]

A wonderful project, Richard. The chamber organ sounds lovely and the craftsmanship of the organ is beautiful. Thank you for introducing it.

[@jerrymartin79]

What a fantastic project. Congratulations! I am somewhat partial to the pine look! I admire your attention to detail around: securing the speakers and covers to prevent rattle. And I did notice your “instruction sheet” inside the front door with similar attention to layout!! Bravo!!

[@dalerider3124]

I must watch this again as I saw no INSTRUCTION SHEET.

[@davidwpb]

Hi Richard. Dave here. I happen to be a retired Architect here in Orlando, Fl. My work looks like the "prairie architecture" from the turn of the last century in Chicago. I would have made your organ a fitting instrument for any historical enclosure in England. Keep up the good work, and thank Caroline for being a good companion. Bravo!!

[@graphicconception]

Looks excellent. Great work! In the MkII version (!), I think I would make the keyboard work more like a drawer so that it could be slid into the cabinet for transport to save having to remove it.

[@phbrinsden]

Brilliant. As a fine furniture maker and avid fan of the king of instruments I definitely want to do this. The woodwork is easy for me and the electronic/sound group looks straightforward. I agree with you that the crowning item is the keyboard. I love it. You have inspired a new goal for me. Thank you.

[@NatalieJmedia]

This is extremely remarkable what a perfect project and end result.

[@TheCaffeinatedOrganist]

The Byrd was drop dead gorgeous Wow fantastic technique sir

[@georgemurphy2579]

Richard - you are a class-act! Thank you for this!

[@henryharesdene4164]

Absolutely amazing - You very cleverly organised the woodwork to avoid any major cutting - which doubtless saved you a lot of angst (if you hadn't been there / done it before). Also incredibly practical in its use to make a 'low cost' portative instrument - but with a reasonable reserve of power (so many small organs have no 'oomph').

[@eachellsfinefurniture4853]

Love it ! Beautiful sound ! I am a fine Furniture designer/maker and would love to design and “ create “ one ! Thanks for the inspiration!

[@JUANKERR2000]

'I built an organ over the holiday' - as one does!

[@snoolee7950]

He built a box over the holiday.

[@JUANKERR2000]

@@snoolee7950 True but he seemed so smug and self-satisfied with just a box that I was reluctant to piss on his chips!

[@JUANKERR2000]

@@snoolee7950 He seemed so smug and self-satisfied with building a box, albeit a complicated one, that I felt that it would be mean to piss on his chips by pointing out that it was no more than that.

[@trevororme4646]

Little Bertha is absolutely wonderful, Richard. We'll all be trying our hands at building one now, surely. I imagine (hope) that mine could be named (with brass Plaque in place) 'Little Bertha Opus 140' (with your name underneath) !! Well done, Richard, absolutely brilliant as always. You are INDEED an inspiration. Tx

[@765bigben]

So wonderfully done, Richard! As one who has responsibility for hiring chamber organs for choral performances, I'd give yours a shot for sure, if I weren't on the wrong side of the Atlantic!

[@ralphchou4719]

Little Bertha is a lovely instrument. Thanks for sharing your experience building it. It would be great if you could play it during one of your recitals to show off some Renaissance/Tudor pieces.

[@fnersch3367]

I have built 3 pipe organs but have yet to build a Hauptwerk. Soon I will give it a try. Nice build here. Thanks.

[@patrickberry8691]

Fabulous. Have wanted to do this forever. Just not known the path to take. Not a builder myself, but know people. Are you willing to share diagrams, parts list, sizes, and instructions etc. Of most interest is how to connect keyboard to computer and getting stops to work etc. !!! Please. Have used my Roland keyboards connected via midi to hauptwerk early version to pretend I had an organ....but the Rolands were all sending the right info via midi to the computer and out would come music. Is it plug and play and that easy??? Thanks Look forward to hearing more. Patrick in Missouri.

[@georgenewman9025]

Brilliant! What a pleasure to see and hear! I’ll bet that keyboard is a joy to the touch. 👌

[@SamuelSleath]

Wow, it's great to finally see your chamber organ! I bet that was a fun project to do. Great work for the casing, the radiator covers are very imaginative! I'll keep you updated once I make more progress with mine. I might modify my keys so that it can be used with HW as well as pipes, making it more versatile.

[@beautyinsound]

I had hoped that you’d find it useful! Was it what you were expecting? I didn’t dare tickle with real pipes, although I did think about having non-playing pipes instead of radiator covers 🤔

[@SamuelSleath]

@@beautyinsound I did expect something similar! I've seen many HW cases that have non speaking pipes in the facade, but even they can cost a lot! Mine is made to hold 4 ranks of pipes, two for each manual (plus a pedal bourdon I will have to mitre to fit and make a windchest for) and isn't portable, just in an upstairs room (which I will make a case for holding the 4ft principal pipes). I'll email with some more photos!

[@PipeDreamerJacques]

@@SamuelSleath oh do share a little video here for us to see too!

[@MarcA711]

This reminds me to ask my monks at Clear Creek Abbey. What they use. It's not a pipe organ for now. Maybe in time! The guest master is the organist and choirmaster so maybe I can get you a video.

[@grizw0ld]

Fantastic work. Richard, thank you. And I suspect an equally big thanks to Caroline for her support. Roughly how many hours of work did it take?

[@davidredmayne7269]

Cracking chamber organ Richard! Just love the keyboard. Good job!

[@alunnoll3059]

Well done Richard - magnificent.

[@keithdavies6316]

Wow Richard you're a genius that's a Master Piece of work you've built just maybe you could add a third Manuel to our pipe organ no better still build a 3 Manuel console just kidding well done

[@georgebattrick2365]

Around 7:30 you say that it is difficult for the organist, and for the choir if they are behind it, to hear the organ. In "pop" concerts they have on-stage "monitor speakers" facing the performers to deal with the problem of the performers hearing themselves. You could put a small radiator grille window on the back face of each tower, that is, each side of the keyboard, with small speakers that you could control the volume of independently of the main speakers, according to what is required by the layout of the concert.

[@XY_Dude]

I say - Positiv-ly lovely! Perhaps, later a little aquarium pump and add some pencil pipes in there! You definitely have a crackin’ organ, dude!!

[@brianstewart3594]

where did you get the keybroad made its cool and is there a website

[@johnplatanitis5955]

Absolutely beautiful! You are a multi-talented man - that's for sure :-)

[@MsrAlaindeFerrier]

Beautiful souding and looks superb too Very well done! I Love it

[@wmvbeuz]

Little Berta will look beautiful with a transparant varnish. Believe me she’ll love it!

[@alexandrethemistoclesfilho]

Congratulations, buddy! Your organ is really amazing

[@beautyinsound]

Thanks Alexandre. I’m not going to deny that I LOVE playing it 😃

[@rogeraberger]

Greetings from Seattle, WA. This is great. Thanks for sharing.

[@roverrepairs1004]

Would you ever make an organ with organ pipes? Because that would be awesome 😎

[@roverrepairs1004]

@ThePipeGuy sorry but how long do digital/electric organ last? 10 years at most, pipe organs last hundreds of years with good upkeep and constant playing, true they may be the future but pipe organs will always be around

[@hendryvanwendel7043]

I love your videos very much and I hope that you make more videos like this.

[@philipboug]

Greetings from Victoria Australia .. Fan-Bloody-Tastic! Thank you!

[@JoshuaCaudell]

could this type of chamber be designed with a pedalboard for certain situations where a pedalboard is called for?

[@beautyinsound]

I suppose it could. This particular one wouldn’t work with a pedalboard though as there isn’t enough space for the organists knees…

[@youpenter]

What a joy to hear, thank you.

[@grimjim100]

It would look stunning in satin wood, a little more expensive but well worth it and in time will glow with a wonderful honey colour.

[@mariod7473]

Beauty in sound indeed, congrats.

[@calmingmusic6549]

Very nice performance of William Byrd (16:12)

[@nippocast]

Wow... fantastic work, the versatility of Hauptwerk organ is great! My homemade pipe organ has a sound that I like a lot, but definitely not as comfortable and versatile

[@viscountorganswales5334]

Now that is seriously a great piece of innovation Richard, Well Done Sir! One curious question though, why the extra Behringer interface? Did the direct audio out from the lappy not have enough bandwidth? so you had to use USB audio out? Thank you again for sharing this with us!

[@rmanzanog1]

Sorry, I think I know that, usually Asio is not present in laptops. Asio is a kind of low delay audio interface (low latency).

[@BigStew007]

What a great project. Thanks for sharing. BTW, how do the thumb pistons work? I could see some ribbon cable tucked away by the keyboard, but how do they connect to the laptop?

[@PipeDreamerJacques]

They undoubtedly run to a midi encoder board.

[@benjaminslayton4335]

If I was going to build my own organ console, and considered using a Casio or Yamaha keyboard, and I have thought about that, I would disassemble the keyboard and construct a proper keydesk around it. Then, it would not protrude too far. It would still look like a cheap keyboard, but hopefully, it would look like an organ console with something like a Fatar keyboard, which is already not uncommon.

[@chryselwood]

Great instrument - have you ever posted the measurements?

[@minka866]

Where I can find the keyboard ? In Brazil, there is a company that makes mainboards, keyboard and pedalboard pcb kit for organ. Many consumers utilize their components to replace old systems organ. The mainboard will not cost more than 100 usd. I didn't just buy one cause I don't know where I can find keyboards to pcbs. Pedalboards just a funiturer builds it, I think

[@Jake_Broer]

What a nice project! Curious to know if you ended up painting the radiator covers (which I think look really good as fronts) a bronze/shinier color to contrast the dark finish you said you did. Maybe another video showing off what you've done with it would be interesting.

[@beautyinsound]

I haven’t painted them yet - last year ran away from me but it is my intention to paint them, along with the whole organ to make it slightly darker 😊

[@AGOPalmBeachCounty]

Isn’t it great to get *exactly* what you want? Congratulations and enjoy!

[@shipsbells]

You are amazing!

[@Huwtube72]

Absolutely fascinating!

[@k_b7341]

Nice project 👍🏻. Two questions: if you rent out the organ, how is the procedure of turning it on - computer wise? Which G Minor piece is been played by the two violas at 15:22?

[@mutzurorgel4389]

I can't find any link to buy this manuals. Do you have a link? How much does it cost?

[@beautyinsound]

There’s a link on the screen in the video, at the point where I talk about it. Highly recommended!

[@mutzurorgel4389]

@@beautyinsound thank you I saw this page. But I did not found any prices. But I will sent a request. Could you please share with me, how much your manuals cost?

[@davidhamilton1981]

Amazing craftsmanship. Could this be a new calling?!

[@James_Bowie]

Nice job. 👍👍👍 Maybe piano hinges on the speaker cabinet lids would look a little less "kitchen".

[@bluefunkybassman]

So interesting! And the good thing about using Hauptwerk for this is that you could "accidentally" patch the fifth piston to a Tuba :)

[@smoothsilk47]

Good on you Richard, I actually like the natural colour your Organ is already, particularly when seen against the light church stone. I passed on to Gert Van Hoef what you said recently about his very clever masterful improvisations, I totally agree. That so impressed me, you praising a fellow organist, it tells us a lot about you!

[@bearpump]

OMG. The red shoes!

[@RSCMcountertenor]

With the pistons, can you select multiple ones for registration purposes, or only one at a time? Is the one on the far right a general cancel?

[@PipeDreamerJacques]

Hauptwerk allows you to program a piston to trigger a stop or a memory piston, so he could program them either way. It seems, based on his comment, that they simply activate the virtual stop tabs.

[@kathrynjones4507]

Amazing! Well done!

[@petersumner7367]

great although I would have put the hinges on the speaker cabinets on the side or back, sounds amazing

[@beautyinsound]

That was a consideration, but then the locks would’ve been on the front. If I were to do it again I may do it differently... Thanks for your comment 😊

[@PipeDreamerJacques]

@@beautyinsound you mentioned it being a bit difficult to hear from the back. Have you ever considered cracking the side lids to let a little tonal egress out toward you while you play? (A la upright pianos)

[@danw1955]

Quite a nice piece of cabinet work you have there.😉 I would be craving at least one more keyboard and pedals though.😁 I started building a Hauptwerk organ back in 2007 or so out of a cast off Hammond church organ, and after getting about 1 1/2 keyboards stripped down and rewired for the 8x8 Midi encoder board(s), I started having health issues and lost interest in it. I came up with an easier and cheaper alternative similar to yours using a large (Casio WK-1800) workstation for the Great keyboard, and an old Roland EP-5 for the Swell keyboard. I run these into a 4-port Motu Micro-lite USB interface and from there into a MacBook Pro with Hauptwerk 4.2.1 installed. Using the MBP allows me to use the built-in optical audio interface to run to my home stereo which works fantastic to bring the whole house alive with the selection of cheap and free sample sets that I have available. I don't have any MIDI pedals available, so I just split the lower keyboard so that I can have my pedal section on the left hand. Crude, but it works! Keeps my mind active anyway.😁🎵🎶👍

[@richard1342]

Very impressive!

[@sfbirdclub]

What a lovely toaster.

[@beautyinsound]

🤣

[@bearpump]

God grant me patience and give it to me >stamps foot< NOW!

[@RSCMcountertenor]

How did you interface the manual? Isn't the manual for tracker action? I'd be interested in seeing a video on the keyboard. Thank you for sharing.

[@patrickberry8691]

Agree 100% please some explanation as to keyboard connection. I also cannot find the keyboard anywhere. Was it made special for you. I found the site and gentleman you mentioned in the video, but it is all in Italian and doesn't seem to speak anywhere specifically to the keyboard. Thank you.

[@michakierat9978]

Great project! Well done! Did the keyboard come already set up to plug right in with MIDI to USB? Can you provide a link to where you bought it from? Thanks!

[@beaumuse7890]

Could you provide a link where we might buy a keyboard like this? Love what you’ve done!

[@beautyinsound]

There’s a link in the video, Beau! 😊

[@beaumuse7890]

BEAUTY in SOUND Thank you so much for the quick response! I love your channel! I’m dying to configure my own virtual organ. We’re not sure that my Allen 301-B is worth repairing, but on to other endeavors soon if that proves to be the case.

[@philipallard8026]

Lovely sound. I imagine it was less expensive to put together than a pipe based chamber organ.

[@benjaminslayton4335]

If you put a Zimbelstern on it, it will literally have bells. Maybe adda rank of pipes and make it a hybrid. You'll literally have whistles, then!

[@gregturner2363]

Please help; I'm having a senior moment. But what is that piece that closes out this video? Thanks

[@beautyinsound]

RWV’s Chorale Prelude on Rhosymedre ❤️

[@gregturner2363]

@@beautyinsound - Thank you.

[@steveb1739]

...and the Choral piece in Winchester Cathederal?

[@beautyinsound]

‘And the glory of the Lord’ from Messiah by Handel

[@steveb1739]

@@beautyinsound Thank you! Of course. I should have known! An excellent job on the Hauptwerk, the authenticity of sound reproduction on these is fantastic. And I believe any number of sample sets are available?

[@ppos1]

I love your sight. I do have a question about the quality of sound I am hearing, it is so good. I have a Hauptwerk set up with 5 stereo channels and using a old comprenious 100 R Sample set. Using H P VIIII performance with an older tower computer and two M-Audio 10 - 10s sound cards . I could go on all day but the sound you produce is truly beautiful. Thanks Larry Southern Michigan USA

[@beautyinsound]

Thanks Larry - I spend a long time to make sure the audio is as good as it possibly can be as I know this is what people want 😊

[@mauricecoates3962]

Hi Richard, How I wish I had a Drone and could have flown it over you when recording this video. I am sure Nala would have been great to play with whilst you were trying to record. Seriously, though well done dear man for making little Bertha. As you may see from my picture as a Patron I too like making things organ related. Great also to learn about your lack of patience too. Best wishes, Maurice

[@jrzzrj]

👍

[@maxsharp-oreilly3026]

Dear Richard, I know you like to keep your channel focussed on your music making, but I was wondering whether you'd consider commenting of some other music making - or lack of! As you may have heard, Sheffield Cathedral permanently closed its choir a few weeks ago, resulting in multiple redundancies as well as a huge loss of opportunity for young choristers. What are your thoughts on this? I'd be more than happy to talk to you about this further. And, as always, thank you for another amazing video! -Max

[@georgemurphy2579]

Max - very tragic that these great offerings are disappearing.

[@jrzzrj]

👍 My word....what next?

[@beautyinsound]

Well that would be telling!! But let’s just saying it’s something ‘fairly’ similar. It’s current in the design phase.... ie going through various prototypes in my head! 😂

[@WineGiftBoxMaker]

Beauty in KZbin - my bucket list included wanting to build a 2 or 3 rank pipe organ (all wood pipes), but then I met a Hauptwerk Organ over several cups of coffee on a 3+ hour Sunday Hymn tradition. And now to learn you have done this project - now I think I'm on a new track (or rank) . I agree with your comments on the Keyboard. My issue with arthritis taking control of the fatness of my fingers; I need a tiny more space between the black notes - or thinner blacks. Thank you for the introduction of Little Bertha - my wife will think this is a much more possible project. Another desire is to build a portative for small group singing (Bible Studies, Home Churches, etc). My home business is building personalized wine gift boxes of Baltic Birch - personalizedwineboxes.com ... they are laser cut and engraved. Hence my thought I could build wood pipes, after all, they are just real skinney and long wine boxes! Take care folks, see you on Sunday

[@jlee29170]

Clever boy.

[@hautboisdamour2199]

Little Bertha LOL. I call mine the "Wee Organ"

[@TheRobinj13]

I think I’ll give up now!! 😂

[@gwagnsso]

Hm yea. Want one.

[@kurtsnider3859]

Cool❣️🎶🎹🌈

[@snoolee7950]

Let's talk about you need to get a 4-wheel piano mover dolly to move your organ box, before you tear off those little couch wheels you put on it. And maybe a RME Babyface Pro D/A converter for your audio output. tah tah. Thanks for the keyboard information. Very nice. Here is a search term for you. Don't wait. "NK Furniture Movers Dolly, Rubber End Caps with 4" TPR Wheels" Here I made an image post for you. DO NOT get the cheaper wheels. There are a lot of cheap dollies. You want the pro type like this i.imgur.com/zEgfaRB.png And maybe you want something with pneumatic wheels so you can role over sidewalks and stuff without jarring the innards of your contraption and shaking it apart. You may be able to affix the innards with velcro and straps from music supply catalog, like for A/V professionals.

[@campanarolombardo3109]

Innovation? Future? What are you talking about? It is NOT a real instrument, it would not replace in ANY way a real pipe organ. I have no words. Open your ears and eyes.

[@jeromeschmitz8504]

Speakers...

[@zaneclone]

It's about time that organ was stained.... ;)

[@Offshoreorganbuilder]

An interesting video, and congratulations on your project and, most especially, on your playing ability. From a real organ-building construction standpoint, however, the 'organ' is (to be kind) very poor, but that is entirely understandable and as it should be. (What do you need an organ-builder for, if someone can build something equally good, at home, with materials from the local hardware store and some tools from B & Q? You wouldn't ... and you can't!) The instrument obviously has its uses, but, for me, I cannot accept the sound, and that may well be largely due to the reverberation you added. I see you in the garden and I hear a fairly large organ in a very large building, and it sounds FALSE in a big way. It would sound more convincing, in my view, had you recorded it absolutely 'as is' in a room. Then we could hear what it really sounds like. Another objection I have is that you have far too many stops. This is understandable, I admit. The temptation to add whatever you want - because it is possible - is very strong; but when I see a case of that size and out of it comes all the stops you have there, again, I cannot take it seriously. None of this detracts from the instrument's usefulness, of course, and I am sure you must be very pleased with the result.

[@AL-ns1jm]

My friends and parents are dead. so no i did not see them, only one female friend of me for a few minutes.