Portative Organ sound ?

14 Feb 2005, 19:43

I am trying to get a close approximation to the sound of a Portative Organ by mixing various combinations of waveforms in my Patch editor.
So far i haven't come close.

For those who may not be farmiliar with this instrument, it was a little table-top Medieval Organ which features in the works of English composers such as Tallis and Byrd. The right hand plays the keys and the left hand controls the bellows from behind the instrument ( i think).

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as to how to replicate this sound,
as i have never heard of any manufacturer including it in their sound libraries. It has a very distinct wind/pipe quality to it with a great key-click, and is a pivotal sound in the Medieval repetoire.
I have tried using Piccolos, Flutes, Pipe Organs etc with a loud Hammond click, but to no avail.

Re: Portative Organ sound ?

14 Feb 2005, 20:44

I believe the instrument you are refering to is called a "Harmonium". You'll get better results by mixing accordion and reed-type wavs.

Re: Portative Organ sound ?

14 Feb 2005, 20:51

No, it's not a harmonium sound at all. I know the sound he's looking for, although the term portative organ was used for hundreds of years and there were many different sounding ones. It's a true organ sound, with a fair amount of "chiff" in the attack. It's kind of a momentary overblowing of the pipe lip, that in modern organs is sometimes controlled by notching the lip. The closest Fantom sound to it is the GM "Puff Organ." I've worked with that and the "Chapel Organ" as starting points to try and get a small baroque chamber organ soundm, which is similar. Also, there are gobs of organ samples out there. I Googled "Pipe organ samples" and was overwhelmed.

Ken

Ken

Ken