Bückeburg, Janke Organ

Bückeburg, Janke Organ (1993-1997)

The town church of Bückeburg had an organ by Esaias Compenius the Older, completed in 1617. During the centuries, the organ was changed many times. In 1962, the organ was completely destroyed by fire.

The organ was recreated in its putative original form in 1965 by Emil Hammer, after the disposition noted by Michael Praetorius.

A new organ was built into the case thirty years later by Rudolf Janke, his opus 114, in the style of Mid-German baroque, reusing some elements of the Hammer organ. The organ is a free interpretation of the old concept of Compenius, and it wittnesses the legacy of the finest neo-baroque organbuilding practices of the late 20th century. Its refined voicing is highly praised by experts and its crisp sound can be admired by organ enthusiasts. The organ is designed on 3 manuals and a pedal, each division having its own principal chorus (Werkprinzip) and a multitude of solo voices. There are 47 speaking stops in total.

The temperament is slightly inequal. Measuring the temperament from the recorded audio does not always give exact results, but we found it similar to the Pythagorei 6-th split temperament, also known as Young II.

Further reading:

https://organindex.de/

http://www.orgbase.nl/

The reported Praetorius disposition, quoted from orgbase.nl:

Oberwerck: Grosz Principal 16', Grosz Quintadehn 16', Grosz Octava 8', Gemszhorn 8', Gedacte Blockpfeiffe 8', Viol de Gamba 8', Querpfeife 4', Octava 4', Klein Gedact Blockpfeiff 4', Gemszhorn/Quinta 3', Klein Flachfloeit 2', Mixtuur 8.10.12.14 Chor.

Rückpositiff: Principal 8', Grosz Nachthorn 8', Gedactfloeite von Holz 8', Nasatt Pfeiffe von Holz 4', Spill Pfeiff 4', Klein Rohrfloeit 4', Klein Octava 2', Klein Gedact 2', Suifloeit 1', Klingend Zimbel 3 Chor, Rancket von Holz 16', Krumbhorn 8'.

Brustwerck: Rohrfloeiten 8', Nachthorn 4', Offenfloeit (sol fornen an zu stehen kommen von Elffenbein) 4', Klein Gemszhorn 2', Holquintlein 1 1/2', Zimbeln kleine 2 Chor, Regal 8'.

Brust-Pedal: Hornbaeszlein 2', Bawrpfeifflein 1', Zimbel Basz 3 Choericht, Sordunbasz von Holz 16', Dolcianbasz von Holz 8', Cornett Basz 2'.

Pedal: Sub Principal Basz 32', Grosz Rohrfloeit Basz 16', Grosz Gemszhorn Basz 16', Holpfeiffen Basz 8', Grosz Nachthorn Basz 8', Querfloeiten Basz von Holz 8', Octaven Basz 4', Klein Gemszhorn Basz 4', Trommeten Basz 8', Posaun oder Bombard Basz 16'. Coppel zum Oberwerck und Brustclavier. Drey Tremulanten.

Features

The samples are offered in 48kHz/24bit resolution. The multiple releases have three levels: short, mid and long. Hauptwerk v4.2 and higher supported. The sample set is offered in plain wave format.

Reverb time

The reverb time is ca. 3 seconds.

Keyboards, pedalboard

The original compass of the keyboards is 56 keys (C, g3), extended in Hauptwerk to a3 via a dedicated mixer switch. The original compass of the pedal division is 30 keys (C-f1), extended to g1 in the sample set.

Tremulants

All ranks (except mixtures) were recorded with the Tremulant for the most convincing tremulant behavior. The ranks are marked "tremmed" in the rank description.

Requirements

RAM consumption: 6-channel surround

  • 16-bit, other settings default: 26 GB
  • 20-bit, other settings default: 44 GB (recommended)
  • 24-bit, other settings default: 48 GB

Screen resolution 1280x1024 px or more.

Polyphony of 8000 voices recommended for the full suround (4000 pipes minimum).

Surround format

The sample set is offered in the Surround variant (6 channels). There are front-direct channels, featuring the sound of the organ immediately in front of the organ case. The diffuse perspective captured the sound in the church, further from the organ. The rear perspectives is designed for the rear speakers of the audio setup. The perspectives can be mixed together freely to achieve any virtual listening position, or used separately - depending on the prefererences of the user. A dedicated "mixing desk" is available in Hauptwerk to mix the sound to the desired level.

I Hauptwerk
C-g3 [-a3]
II Oberwerk
C-g3 [-a3]
III Unterwerk
C-g3 [-a3]
Pedal
C-f1 [-g1]

Bordun 16'
Principal 8'
Viola da Gamba 8'
Holzflöte 8'
Octave 4'
Gemshorn 4'
Quinta 22/3'
Cornett 4f (ab b0)
Octave 2'
Tertia 13/5'
Mixtur 5-6f 11/3'
Fagott 16'
Trompete 8'

Tremulant

Quintadena 16'
Salicional 8'
Principal 8'
Rohrflöte 8'
Unda maris 8' (ab c1)
Octave 4'
Flöte 4'
Nasat 22/3'
Sesquialtera 2f
Octave 2'
Waldflöte 2'
Quinta 11/3
Mixtur 4f 1' 
Vox humana 8'

Tremulant

Doppelgedackt 8' 
Quintadena 8'
Traversflöte 8' (ab c1)
Principal 4'
Holzflöte 4'
Quintflöte 22/3' (ab c0)
Hohlflöte 2'
Terzflöte 13/5' (ab c0)
Sifflöte 1'
Regal 8' 

Tremulant

Untersatz 32'
Principal 16'
Subbass 16'
Octave 8'
Gemshorn 8'
Octave 4'
Mixtur 5f 22/3'
Posaune 16'
Trompete 8'
Trompete 4'


Couplers:

  • II/I, I/P, II/P, III/P. In Hauptwerk III/I coupler added. More couplers may be achieved through the Hauptwerk Master Couplers.

Accessories:

  • Tremulant for each manual (HW, OW, UW). The real organ has the Hauptwerk and Unterwerk tremulants combined. We kept the original labeling on the photorealistic tabs in Hauptwerk, but the tremulants are separate for HW and UW.

 

 

Screenshots

 

 

Console view:

This is the general console view. It serves to define the keyboard MIDI inputs for all the divisions. The active part of this view are the manuals, and the pedal. The stop buttons are also active, but too small to be useful for manipulating by a finger. Specifying the MIDI inputs is done by right-clicking on the desired manual or pedal.

 

 

 

Mixer view:

The virtual listening position is adjusted here. Dragging the sliders downwards means to mute the mic perspective, dragging them up is making it louder. The mixer settings can be stored, retrieved, reset. 3 different mixer settings can be stored/recalled any time. The switches on the right bottom make:
1.) the selection for the tremulant between the sampled tremulant and artificial (Hauptwerk model) tremulant possible.
2.) The blower switch should be always on. When off, the wind to the organ will stop and there will be no sound.
3.) The compass selector allows to play either the original organ compass, or the extended one.
4.) Pipe coupling serves to adjust the amount of "chorus effect". Higher slider position gives more overall mistuning to the organ pipes, possibly giving rich and tasteful organ sound. Lowest position of the slider offers the organ perfectly in tune instead (especially when combined with Hauptwerk Temperament charts).
5.) Pipe detune - sets the overall mistuning o pipes. In the minimum position, the organ is exactly in tune (when some Hauptwerk temperament chart is used).
6.) Mixtures fine tuning: toggle between the recorded natural mixture sound which is usually somewhat beating, and perfectly tuned mixtures.

 

 

 

 

Stops view:

All stops of the instrument can be accessed from a single screen. Each stop can be MIDI-learned by right click.

 

 

 

 

Left+Right Jambs view:

All the stops and other controls of the organ can be found also here. The layout for dual touch screens. The design allows for portrait or landscape orientation, according to the orientation of the touch screens.

 

 

 

Left + Right Jambs Vertical view:

the dual stop jambs offer vertical (portrait) orientation as an alternative.

 

 

 

 

 

Simple Jamb:

simplified version of a single jamb to allow for more readable version of the stop names on small LCD touch screens. There are two variants: landscape and portrait. All the stops of the organ can be found here. Physical pistons or draw stops can be assigned to a virtual button on screen by right-clicking on the button.

 

  1. Buckeburg Sample Set, vol. 1

    6-channel Surround variant of the sample set. Complete organ, 3 manuals, pedal, 47 stops. Works in Hauptwerk 4.2 and newer. (Limitation: Unterwerk and Pedal sound in 4 channels. Purchase vol.2 for the additional 2 channels.)
    Price: Excl. Tax: €0.00 Incl. Tax *: €0.00 Excl. Tax

    Detail & order

  2. Buckeburg Sample Set, vol. 2

    Direct channels of the Unterwerk and Pedal to complete the vol.1. Not a stand-alone sample set. Download and install vol. 1 first!
    Price: Excl. Tax: €139.00 Incl. Tax *: €168.19 Excl. Tax

    Detail & order