tonyn

Just a short update. I am heavily into my first week of school for the semester, so I do not have much time for the organ. Plus my organ computer is now doing double duty as my school computer too, since it is the most powerful one I have at my disposal right now. I need a powerful computer for my programming software for school: Java compiler, Visual Studio 2008, multiple operating systems, etc. Next month I'll get another laptop for school work, etc. (my old laptop crashed last semester). I will also buy some computer parts, like a dual core motherboard with 4gb ram, etc. Those will then be for the organ computer and have linux installed. This is the weekend, and I had to take a break from my schooling, so I did some reasearch for the organ. I have a choice with the amplification of either trying to use the old amps, or just get some new amp kits. I think it would be better, and easier to just get new kits. There are some good descrete amp kits available in the UK, but I wanted a USA source. Plus I wanted 3 seperate amps to match my organ's old amp channels(3). My old amps were 2 x 40w and 1 x 25w I tried to get matching amps(same power 40wx2 and 25wx1), but found that doing more powerful amps would be a better deal, and all channels would have the same powers, etc.. So I found these 100w descrete amp kits I can either get them fully assembled for $80ea, or I would have to get the kit+heatsink for about $50 All they would need is the 2x25v transformers at $50ea, and 3 x 47k log taper pots for volume control(my old amps had separate volume controls for each channel). It would cost me $300(for kits), or $400(for assembled). It's a bit more than I wanted to spend but: Freq response is 3hz-200khz! I will also order 4 dout kits from avishowtech. I will also have to build a relay board for controling the leslie motors, etc.. On the programming side: I need to play with sound font editing software to add reverb, etc., filters to sound fonts directly. As far as outputing to separate channels: I could do that by sending out to maybe Jack Audio which may be able to send out to different channels. Or I can just load sound blaster cards, etc. I played with Myorgan, and didn't like it (not as customizable as Jorgan, and although it does have keyboards and pedalboards, they aren't as nice s mine), although with it you can send out to channels, and load real sound files. But real sounds can also be done in the soundblaster or fluidsynth s2 format. You can mix and match real with synthisized. Anyway that is what I found out. When I get farther along in my programming in school, I will see about what I can do to maybe make my own virtual organ software. I also plan to change over to linux for th virtual organ software, which will improve things too. Just to give you guys a picture to look at.. Here is a screen shot of a disposition of the Hauptwerk 3.0 sample organ that was reconfigured for Myorgan(or actually the program is GrandOrgue). GrandOrgue uses Hauptwerk 1.0 dispositions. I also got the free version of Hauptwerk 3.0 to play with. Didn't like either program, since they are not as customizable as Jorgan is. I did look at the disposition code of GrandOrgue directly, and there isn't much you can customize. It loads it's own keyboard versions, etc. Plus Jorgan has more support and is being updated all of the time with new features. But I'll look more into Myorgan to see if it is worth using it or not.

If anyone wants me to share my code and graphics with you so you can easily insert these animated keyboards and pedalboard into your Jorgan Dispositions and skins, please post an interest. Else I won't post them. Other than that I need help with Panoramic Tone, Reverb, Reiteration, Vibrato depth, Percussion Attack, Accent, Sustain, settings and filters for sound fonts and or Jorgan or fluid Synth. Termolo too, in case I want to do it virtually for some dispositions. Plus info on how to make or edit sound font files for Jorgan. Today I start Classes. So I need to change gears a bit and take my mind off of this so I can consentrate on my classes (at least for the first couple of weeks where it's the hardest to figure out what the instructors want, etc.). But I'll continue this "fun" stuff as I have time. I'll also try to check this thread out daily if I can. So please post if you want, I'll read it and respond back with apppreciation if you can help me.

Here's another update on my keyboard pedalboard graphics. Yes it needs to look good to me! So I am putting a little time into graphic design. I removed the darker bottom so that more stuff can be put on the sides of the organ and look fine. Like I could do a Theater style organ with it's style and number of stops, using my organ's keyboard and pedalboard console and just surround it, like a theater organ does, with more stop tabs, etc.! Right now I just have the recorder, extra pistons, a combination memory incrementor, and brightness adjustment on each side, since all of my organ's stop tabs fit onto the top area. This Jorgan disposition and console is completely functional, except not all features or stops are active, that's all. It is setup with Baldwin 48h sounds, etc. But it is completely playable and recordable! Here is how I made my keyboard and pedalboard: The graphics for the keyboards consist of 2 png type graphic files for the white keys C,D,E,F,G,A,B. One for an up and one for down. These are non perspective. The black keys only have 2 files for an up and down, non perspective. To add a bit of perspective without making tons of key graphics, the first White C of the keyboard is narrowed and slanted to the right. The last B, and C are kind of together where one maps onto the other, and narrow and slant to the left (with just the last C slanted it didn't look right next to a non slanted B, so I had to do the B too). Then to build the keyboards I start with the Right slanted C, then use the normal White keys D-B, and repeat Octives with Normal White Keys C-B, and end the last Octive with the Left Slanted B, C. The pixel width and height(including the down graphics) are the same for all white keys and they are just put side by side. The black keys are half the size of the white keys and fit inbetween them (png graphics allow transparrent backgrounds, so where the black keys go, the white keys are transparent). The Solo and Accompaniment keyboards mimic each other except for the channel messages (Channel 1 for Solo, Channel 2 for Accompaniment), and y corodinates. The midi messages either activate or deactivate Activators, and the animation graphics to Equal 127 or 0(Note On/Off Midibox messages). Status = "equal 144"(Channel 1), or "equal 145"(Channel 2), Data 1 = "equal 36" for first C, and go up for each note, But once I figured this out I just inserted the note up sequence into code. Data 2 = "equal 127" for Activate, or "equal 0" for Deactivate. Activate or Deactivate messages are recordable in Jorgan. So initially I recorded the Activate and deactivate messages by pressing a key, and I then just changed the Data 2 value to "equal 0" instead of "equal 127" for note off (you can't record a 0 for note off, so you record note on, and change it to 0). This way when you press a key with a note on message it activates the down press animation, and when it is released with a note off message, it deactivates and brings it back to the non pressed state. These activators also have to be set to non locking. These elements can be made individually in Jorgan, but that is a lot of work. Once I figured out the code, it was easier to build the whole keyboards directly in the xml code by just copy and paste and changing a few values. Once the Solo keyboard was built, the ACC keyboard was just a matter changing channels, and y cordinates, etc., and pasting it into code. I will share some of this code with you later.. The Pedalboard only has 2 graphics for a white pedal and a black pedal. These are non perspective, since it looks fine to me that way, and are built simular to the keyboards, and are set to channel 13. Same thing as the keyboards: Midibox Note on/off messages either activate or deactivate for equal 127/0 Except there is space between some white pedals, as in my real organ, where there is a black part. The swell Pedal uses 9 graphics since it is a continuious filter. This was a bit hard to calculate, but it is close. This is set to channel 14 and takes the anolog out codes from midibox. There is a little math involved here and the threshold is set at .05 so Jorgan doesn't lock up. But this is posted with Jorgan documentation elsewhere, so I don't have to go into this part. These are all mapped onto a custom background graphic that fills the whole screen and is used as the main console, but has an organ in the right place to put the keyboards, pedalboard, and swell on top of. I have a multiple layer PSD(Photoshop) file saved that I can edit and change this around, etc. But the skin graphic is png. The stop areas and the rest of the main console is blank(just have a wood tone graphic) to allow stops to be rearranged or changed I have black rails to insert behind my stop tabs, and of course my stop tabs are custom graphics, I made to look like my mordern style on my organ, that also go on top of the main console. But I could easily put Theater Organ style stop tabs on top of this too, etc. Although I didn't do everything in perspective, I did just enough things in perspective to trick your mind into the illusion that it is all in perspective, I hope. Yes the odd stop tabs are back! Until I figure out what to do with them they are just put on the console next to the rails they go with. A still picture really doesn't do this justice, since the real neat part is watching these keyboards, Pedalboard, and Swell Pedal animate when you play the organ, or play back a recording that you recorded. But here you are:

Thanks. I understand what it is, but how to do it in Jorgan, etc., is the hard part. This is what I am having problems understanding right now and is hampering my continuation with the virtual part. I picked Jorgan as my virtual organ since it seamed to be the most customizable. The idea for me is to get a virtual clone of the way my organ performed, exactly! Jorgan is not too hard as far as getting the graphics, and asigning stops to sound fonts, etc. But to add the filters is the hard part, for me. Tremolo can be done with filters in fluid synth, Jorgan, etc., or in my case I want to use the leslie. Panoramic Tone also could use the box in the organ, which filters the output of the sound before the amp, but can also be done with adding reverb? to the sound in Jorgan, etc..? But then there is the reit, which I did look up as reiteration. This would have to be done virtually, since the circuits in the organ are gone. But trying to uderstand the differences between Panoramic Tone, or echo, Reverb, and Reiteration and how to add those filters to sound fonts, Jorgan, etc., is the hard part. Is it done to the sound font and then the sound font added to a sound font file, or is it done in Jorgan with Fluid Synth, etc.? If so, how would you do it and what is the differances between how you would do Panoramic Tone, Reverb, and Reiteration? My example disposition that I started with was from someone else that had done a Baldwin 48H. It has all of those filters except Reiteration and Termolo. I have been trying to figure out how he did those filters and can't easily seem to find it out. I have a feeling that he did it to the sound font directly, which means I will have to have sound font editor and make my own sound font files? Too bad I wsn't able to record my organ when it worked else I could have made sound fonts from it. But now I have to find sound fonts from other organs, and apply filters to them. I like Bruce Miles Wurlitzer sound fonts, since they sound great. But how do I apply these filters to them? Once I understand how to apply these fitlers and work with sound fonts, then I can do others organs' using them too! The default one will be mapped to my physical stops, exactly. But others may or may not, but use the touch screen instead for stops. I want to start with a defult organ that mimic's mine, but then pull up others organ styles to play too. Like a Baldwin210-Wurlitzer, etc.!

OK. Here's the final tweek of my animated keyboards and organ console. I added a bit of perspective by making the first and last C keys narrower towards the top. This gives a bit of perspective without adding more than one graphic to the skin. What do you think guys? I can easily insert this into ANY disposition to add animated keybaords and pedalboard, etc. The way I have it configured too is that I can make ANY length keyboard, any number of keyboards, and any length pedalboard, etc.

I wasn't quite happy with my virtul organ console so I fixed it. This one uses the whole background to put the organ onto it. The organ isn't proportional, since I needed to make it fit right and allow nice sized pistons that can be pressed on the touch screen to be put on top of it. But I think it looks good now. Take a look:

Just an update. I am starting my spring classes this next week so I will only have spare time to work on the organ. I had to reconfigure my animated keyboards and pedal board in Jorgan as activators instead of notes or keyers, since as notes they were trying to double play notes, etc. This caused a lot of latency, so bad that you had to play like a snail! But now that they are activators, they work great! You see them animate as you play the organ, and they are recordable so that when you play back a midi file they animate too, just like Miditzer! My son loves this part, as he likes to record his playing and watch it play back on the keyboards, etc.. To me , it's a good teaching thing to show him how to play(he can follow along from a recording, etc.). The alignment of the keys is crucial to have them look and work right. This is why I did it in PSpad for exact cordinates. The Jorgan disposition xml files are pretty simple. You have new referances ids for elements, that you can just add in sequence. Those ids are referanced for console locations. This will align the keyboards and pedalboard onto a disposition that is zoomed at 55%. This sizing I found to be just right to be able to get enough stops on a virtual console, but yet be able to push them from a touch screen, and see the text on them, and also be able to have room for the keyboards, swell pedal, and pedalboard on the bottom. The text is true font type and can be aligned nicely on the tabs. The keys are a bit too small to push from a touch screen, but who wants that anyway when you have real keyboards! They are just indicators on the screen, that's all! My code is saved in text file to insert into any disposition! It is preconfigured to take midi note presses for channels 1,2 from the keyboards, and channel 13 for the pedalboard. All that needs to be changed is where the reffernce ids start at. I can take a wurlitzer disposition and add keyboards and a pedalboard to it too, easily! In the skin I made the png graphics of course, and in the skin xml they are configured like pistons. You can put writing on them too, if you want. It's also orderly in the skin's xml code too. If you want me to show you the code and post the graphics for the skin, etc., let me know. While I was at remaking thimgs I decided to finish up with my stop placements and alignments too. So now I have to work on sound font files. I am trying to figure how the Vibrato, Panoramic Tone, and Re-it work in Fluid Synth and Jorgan so I can load sound font files in and filter them as my organ origionally did. This is where it is taking me time. Right now Vibrato stops, and Panoramic Tone stops work, but Vibrato Depth, and the Re-it stops and knob do not. Tremolo is to control the real leslie, so it doesn't work on the virtual console(but the stop will control the real leslie stop on the real organ). What is Re-it, I need to know the differences between these filters. I want my disposition to act EXACTLY like my organ did, but with better sounds form real instruments (synthisized of course, since Jorgan only changes picth frok one sound, as what midi is about, but this is better than my old organ's electronics anyway),etc. I may move up to real sound later, once I am farther into java programming. But that would be like re-writng a whole jorgan clone, etc. Which would be quite a bit of work. For now I'll work with what someone else has done, instead of reinventing the whole wheel, so to speak. I need to spearate ranks and where they are sent out to the channels using fluid synth, etc. This will take time. Anyone know who to do this in Jorgan and fluid synth? As far as physical construction, well.. I am happy with the virtual for now and need to get it mimicing my organ, exactly, before I decide on mapping the virtual stops to physical. I also have to decide on wether I want to make my stops momentary, which will be nicer than non momentary. But that would require douts and leds for indicators. Either way my dispotions will work with the physical stops, I hope. I'll breadboard them first to test. Here's my new console. All of the stop tabs are in the right numbers colors, and styles as on my real physical organ. I custom made these in photoshop to look like my organ's. But there are a couple of extra tabs on my virtual consoel right now, that came with my example Baldwin 48H disposition I used as a start. Once I figure out how they work, they will be deleted. I also need to resize my stop rails to be longer (the black pieces that go behind the stop tabs to make them look right). This I'll do in photoshop(they are already in the skins, I have one for each rail). As you can see my top light is neater too, since it is from a real picture of my organ's light, and it does cast a light onto the virtual console when the power knob is turned on. The stop tabs with X's on them are not activated yet, but all others work.

Well my animated graphical keyboards and pedalboard are finished in Jorgan! I took real pictures of my organ's keybaords and pedalboard to make them with! So they look pretty much like real,ones! Then, through graphical editing in photoshop, I turned them into non perspective pictures. Perspective is what you see with your eyes or a camera. Objects get smaller at the top. To keep this would make each key different since each would get smaller differently. Then, in photoshop, I cut the keys and pedals off, using only one octive of white keys, one black key, and the last C key, one white pedal and one black pedal. This makes for less skin code and less files. I could have kept perspective, as Miditizer, but that would have meant a key picture for every note. I cleaned up the keys in photoshop to also look good and sharp, editing them down to the pixel level(I am a perfectionist). They are just big enough to play with the touch screen, but small enough to fit, and allow the pistons to be pushed from the touch screen too. So they are a little out of proportion as to my organ too. But to allow the touch screen to be used, this had to be done. Only so much can fit nicely on the screen without scrolling it, so I wanted it just right. I think they look good. Almost as good as Miditzer's. Programming them in took a bit of work. To save myself some time I edited the xml disposition directly(I like to use PSpad and Notepad for this type of editing). That way I could do whole octives at a time by just copy and paste, and changing a couple of values. Besides, knowing me, I like neat and organised code too, so my areas in the disposition for this are neatly organised so I can easily reference or change them later in code. The keys and pedals are also aligned perfectly to x and y corordinates, in line, etc. As you can see my virtual console has good alignment. I used a couple of tricks to do that. One was by having a grid graphic in my skin to call up for my console background. The other was assigning exact x and y corordinates in code. Like I said, I am some what of a perfectionist, and like my graphics perfectly aligned and looking perfect too. The graphic work took me a couple of days to get it perfect. There is more involved to this than you may think, if you not only want it to look good, but work good. This was edited in photoshop at the pixel level too! When a key is pressed it has to have a bit of a black key showing(bottom half), align right with a black and white key, etc. The orginional pictures had to be adjusted for this. This is where my artistic talent came into play, since the key and pedal down press pictures were artistically done! I didn't take pictures of keys or pedals beign pressed, it would have been hard to physically do and take pictures of, and not worked well for comptuer animation. So the down press pictures were computer made from the up press pictures. I also had to add black lines on each side fo a key so you could see the keys better, and cut some of them off on each side too, etc. When a key is up, there is also a shadow under it, when down it moves down into this shadow area, etc. The end result is what you see, and is close to what Jim Henry did, in a way, I think, for Miditzer. I may still make them look better! But at least they look good and work well as is for now. These keyboards and pedalboard work well. They are assigned as keyers, or notes. They take midi messages from the cores, and animate. I can assign them pitches to play notes from the touch screen, but if I do it iterfears with the Jorgan internal keyboard channel settings. So they are assigned a pitch above hearing for now(127), so you don't hear double notes. It's an either or setting that Jorgan doesn't have in code, so this is my go around for it, for now. But they do animate and play tones , etc., when you play the organ's keyboards, and can be recorded and played back. They will animate from the computer keyboard or touch screen, but won't play any tone that way, that's all. Else they are fully fuctional every other way. I wanted this feature, like Miditzer, to help teach my son to play, by recording pieces, and the playing them back for him to follow. Besides, it's just neat, and I like neat things. So far I don't know of anyone else with this in Jorgan. If you want a copy of this, let me know. Now that that's all done, I can now consentrate on adding more stops and instruments and filters. Nice thing about my setup, with the touch screen, is that my physical stop part can wait until I have the virtual done. In the meantime my organ is completely playable by setting stops, etc., with the touch screen. I just to have to add more stops, instruments, and filters, that's all. The virtual console will also has a bit more than my physical organ has, like the led meter, main Accent adjustment, extra pistons, a set piston, general cancel piston, recorder, and memory settings. Here's a screen shot of some keys and pedals being played:

You are luckier than I am having compelte schematics! I only have the owners manual. As far as the electroncis I am tracing and guessing. My organ guy was supposed to send me the main ones I wanted, but he didn't. I may want the parnoramic box and circuit, etc. I can buy compelte scehmatics for $40 but I am short right now. BTW here's an update on my Jorgan Disposition: I DO have working animated keyboards and pedalboard on the skin almost like Miditzer. They play from the organ's keyboards and pedalboard, and even from the touch screen. The tocuh screen only animates. I did have them playing with the touch screen too. But I got a loop, and it didn't wok right, so I disabled playing notes from the touch screen. But who wants to play ti that wau anyway? It even animates from a midi recording (althoguh the recorder isn't perfect yet, maybe in the next version of Jorgan he will, or I will get it completed). I worked hard on the keyboard and pedalboard graphics. I wanted as few graphics as possible for the keyboards and pedalboard. Therefore they are not persepctive. If I had them in perspective, then I would have to make 2 notes(one up , one down), for every key and pedal! By having them not in perspective, I only have to make 2 for one octive. I took pictures of the keyboards, and then through my artistice talents, cut the keys apart and made an up and down graphic for each key and pedal. The black keys and pedals only have 2 graphics since they are all the same. I also designed rail sfor the keyboards, and stops, to put the keys and stops onto. As you can see, I only have one octave built so far. It takes time and it's like building a keyboard, note by note, virtually. But it's nice to see it work, etc. So far I haven't seen anyone else do a keyboard in Jorgan. Here's a couple of screen prints showing my playing some keys and a black pedal. See if you can see what notes they are.

I couldn't wait to post this! I just added a Midtizer, etc., type keyboard/pedalboard to my Jorgan Skin! It took a bit of graphic work(made from real pictures from my organ). Then I made some pedals to push and they do work in Jorgan! Right now I only have 3 pedals added, and havn't done the keys yet. When you press a pedal on the physical organ it pushes it on the screen too! You can push a pedal on the touch screen or via mouse, but it only shows it being pressed, no notes are played that way. But even so, it is a nice indicator. Besides, who wants to use a mouse or touch the screen to play. But I'll see if I can get it working that way too, later. I just want to finish the graphic work before I tackle the rest, so you will see the stops all over the place as I configure them. But I jsut wanted to give you a peak at what I have planned for the virtual part. Here's a screen print:

Well I was able to load 3 sound font files into Jorgan: Baldwin 48HC Wurlitzer 260 And a FX file The Baldwin 48H has 50% of the stops, instruments, etc. of my Baldwin. What I don't have with the Baldwin 48HC sound fonts, I an use the Wurlitzer 260, which will put me at about 99% of what I have. My Baldwin has some 1' flutes, etc., that neither sound font file has. So I can jsut pick another instrument to replace those. The fx file has some neat stuff too that I may use. I have some stops that I need to figure out what they do and how they work, like: Percusion Attack 2,2 2/3, and 2". What is Percusion Attack? Flute and Reed String Accent. What is this? What is Re-it, and Re-it speed? Is it "Reverb"? The rest I have or can figure out. I'll post a screen print of my new skin with all of

Like I said: I am also an artist and like graphics to look right. The old piston graphics from the skin I had, didn't have piston graphics that visually showed a piston pushed out or in. They had pistons that light up, but that's hard to see, and didn't look right to me. So I made the piston graphics to look better, and show wether they are pressed in or out, so you know when they are pressed or not! This Baldwin dispositon actually will work with my real pistons that lock in place too! Here is screen shot of my virtual console with the #1 virtual organ piston pushed in. What is neat about this dispositon is that it works EXACTLY like my organ without making anything momentary! When you push a piston it sets the right combinations without reseting the manually pushed stop tabs, nor changing the stop tab settings. It just overides those manual settings with the pre-programmed combination settings instead. When you cancel those pistons, the stop settings go back to what they were. Just like my organ physically did! So this mimics my organ pretty close! Here take a look(#1 piston is pressed), you should see that it is pushed in, and the others are out.

Just an update. I won't be doing any more physical modifications now until I have the software side worked out and figure out wether I want the stops non momentary or momentary. I don't want to go an make them all momentary and then decide not to, since the springs, once they are moved, maybe hard to get back right. So, I have been working on a Baldwin Disposition and skin in Jorgan. I took someone elses Baldwin 48H skin, disposition, and sound fonts. First thing I did was the graphics for the skin I am heavily into nice graphics too, plus I am an artist. So I wanted to make that look good too. I wanted the stop tabs to look more like mine, so I made my own. Plus I didn't want the virtual screen to scroll, wanted the tabs big enough to activate with your finger, but small enough to fit nicely onto my 1024x768 non wide screen 15 inch touch screen. My continuious pots are better than continuious sliders, since they take up less room, and look like mine on the organ. I have designed tons of modern style stop tabs in my skin in all of these colors: White, Black, Red, dark red, green, dark green. There are 2 types, some are flat topped(like mine), and the others not flat(also like mine) There are 3 or 4 versions of each color and type, that are used for different text lignments on them. They can use red, green, or black true type fonts aligned as per text for taht stop tab, and the type of stop tab! Then I made some nice continious 20 step pots, and a power switch to look and work like mine. This wasn't easy to get the alginment for the line around the pot right, it's not perfect but close. I then took a picture of my swell pedal that is fully functional in Jorgan with my swell pedal! It looks real nice when it moves! I also have a continuious LED meter that also works when you move the swell pedal. I also have red,yellow, and green LEDs for indicators in the sklin to use, plus a transparent light bar on top that lights up the top of the console like my organ lights mine! Next I will be making keyboards and keys, and a pedalboard that work on the skin, just like Miditzer! But they will be from real pictures from my organ! I only took pictures of the top octive keys pressed and not pressed, then I can use those across the keyboards to animate them, etc. This virtual organ isn't complete, but It's a start, and does work well with my organ. I still need to add more instruments that are like mine , and get the Re-It, Vibrato depth and Recorder to work better. But it does have panoramic Tone, Vibrato, and Brightness working. The Brightness was taken from the Baldwin 48H disposition and I don't know if it's Reverb or what. Since it does work, and I may use it's settings for soemthign else, I just left it as is. The main pistons(I still need to add one more) work simular to mine too! The extra pistons are from the Baldwin 48H disposition. They work, and I may leave them or remove them. The recorder works, but not perfectly and to need to change to window mode to load midi files, etc. I couldn't find any Baldwin 210 sound fonts, so I will have to grab some from other organs (i.e. like Bruce Miles Wurlitzer 260, which has everything), and just map them to my stops. My skin.xml file is huge(many lines of code) with a lot of code for all of my neat graphics. There is more in the skin than you see, so I can pick more things later to put on the virtual console (like yellow LED indicators for stop tabs, etc.). Here's a couple of screen prints of my Virtual organ as it is right now. Everything you see works except Re-it speed, Vibrato depth, and Tremolo(it will control the real leslie motor instead)! The power switch even adds a noise filter! If anyone wants a copy of my Jorgan disposition and skin(wait until you see the keyboards!) files when I have it all working, let me know.

Well everything is figured out for my hopeful placements: In the top area of the organ there are the stops, but also a metal enclosure for some electronics from the stops. Unless there are any leslie motor control circuits there, or reverb(although I do have a nice virtual one), Most of those electronics can be stripped out. That, hopefully, will at least leave space for the computer motherboard, and some or all stop midi circuits (I also have the area behind the keyboards for the stop midi circuits). On the sides of the keyboards can be power plugs, the power adaptors for my midi circuits, and hopefully, the power supply for the computer motherboard. To the left and right of the keyboards, in front, under the Solo, I will cut out the wood, and insert the front panel usb, card reader, and DVD drives. In the speaker area will go amps and speakers, or any power circuits, etc.. I also just figure out how to mount the computer keyboard and mouse: I will switch keyboards over to one that has a touch pad. Then I will just put it on a swing arm, like the touch sreen, that can be swung in and out as needed. Right now I am consentrating on designing some nice virtual organ skins and dispositions for Jorgan to mimic my Baldwin 210. I want to work on that end to get it all figured out so I know how to send mesages out, and also to configure my instruments right. Between the Baldwin 48H disposition, and the hammond(I like the hammond reverb), etc., Plus I'll photoshop some things too, I have all of the parts for a nice virtual console. I also have various sound font files to use from Bruce Miles and others, etc. I may use some from the Wurlitzer, etc. Fortunetely I have the old owner manual as a reference as to how the ranks are configured, and sent out to the speakers, etc. This is important if you want nice sound. By loading sound fonts into various fluidsynth channels, hopefully this can be sent out those channels to the 3 organ channels/speakers. I want to share this info with you, but that would require a lot of typing from the info from the manual. But if you have a simular Baldwin(i.e. RVBottomly), and you have a question on something that I may have in my manual, that may help you, feel free to ask and I'll look it up for you. BTW I am working on turning this all into a blog now too for good documentation for me! But I'll keep updating this thread too, so you can always go here for refference too. I hope I am helping some guys out there with this thread. It's meant as documentation for me, as a reference for me, and to share with others too.

Well I like DIY. Plus I am an old time solderer that has been doing it before the "green thing". To me water and electronics don't mix well :) Any solvent that does it and doesn't detroy anything else, is all you need. Isopropyl Alcohol, Acentone, Methal Ethal Keytone, are all solvents used in flux cleaners, and to clean plastics, etc., without destroying them. Plus those are used in mixtures in a lot of your commercially sold flux cleaners. So why spend the money when you can be a chemist and make your own! The purer the Isolpropyl Alcohol, the less chance for left over residue. 99% is about as pure as you can get it, but 91% will work too. Acetone(nail polish remover, make sure it's 100% pure though, Walmart), and Isopropyl Alcohol(available at any pharmacy) are cheap and easy to get too. Removing flux is no big deal. Basically you want to remove the flux so debre won't stick to the circuit boards later, causing shorts, etc. It can also remove solder splashes, whiskers, etc., and lets you see if you left any unwanted solder on your boards, better. Blasting air on them gets the solvent off before it drys, that's all. You can used compressed air for that, or blast it off any other way. I have a small compressor that I use for air brush painting, that if I didn't want to spend money on a compressed air bottle, I could use too. I just use Alcohol and Acetone. Using Metal Ethal Keytone instead of Acetone will slow the drying time too, if you want to go that route, and add that instead to your mixture. Some people leave the flux on? It depends on the circuit board too, more chance for shorts, the more you want nothing sticky on it, etc. In factories that can afford it, they completely clean them even with ultrasonic, as I have done when working in a factory. So whatever works for you and you want to spend the money on ...

Did I tell you that I am a poor college student right now? I do have some money saved from my business that went bankrupt this last summer, but I am basically living on grants and student loans right now. So, unfurtunetely I am pretty much tapped out for money until my student loan alotment comes in for this semester, which won't be until the end of next month. Right now I can't place any more orders from avishowtech even. But I do have enough parts to do some breadboarding. Plus I need to also work on the virtual organ configurations too, since I haven't delved much into that other than try to figure out how others have done it. But I kind of reserved that for last anyway, since with taking Java programming this semester, I can apply that to it. So over the next month you may not see many pictures of construction, other than some minor breadboarding. I do have dins and a core. Plus LEDs are cheap and I can do some simple breadboarding and programming to interface it to Jorgan. I may also delve into Myorgan too(haven't really looked much into that program). But I will do coding, and share that with you. My ideas are all here and they should work. Plus I DO have a virtual organ that fully plays! It's just using the touch screen(I got that so cheap I should have got 2 and split them, oh well...), and the sound is just with 10w computer speakers(but surprizingly they are loud enough for my small living room right now). I looked into trying to figure out how to light up the tops of the stop tabs without cutting them off. There are SMT type LEDs that may work, but how to make a thin acrylic lens that will fit on top of the stop tabs and defuse the light. Those SMT type LEDs need to draw less than 20ma too. If all fails the simple thing is just drilling holes into the stop tab board above the tabs and insert normal yellow/red/green LEDs there. On the Jorgan, or virtual side, I will design a skin that has LEDs that light up in Jorgan above the tabs, etc, and have those changes send out the midi code to the Douts to toggle them too. This way I can see it virtually before I commit to it physically. My default virtual organ skins and consoles will mimic my Baldwin physical console. This is where some graphic work comes into play. To start, I do have enough example dispositions that I can grab some from those, and then make my own custom ones too in photoshop. Anyone have any ideas on how to light up the tops of the stop tabs? The stop tabs are opague, so LEDs won't light them up from behind. I want to light the tops with some type of thin acrylic or other type of flexible translucent or clear plastic maybe, that optically is a light guide or lens for the LED, that transparrent intrument labels can be put on, like decals(I can print them up), and lighted somewhat like backlighting LCDs. I want this lens with the SMT type LEDs to be about 1/32" thick, and 3/4" x about 2", so it covers the whole top and lights it up. I need to do it with LEDs that don't draw more than 20ma too.Of course Ideas are one thing, makign them another. Most likely the best way is for ME to experiement with this idea, and see if it works.

Good news! I decided to upgrade my Jorgan(my version was 3.7) to the latest stable release(3.8.2) to see if the midi recorder was up to Mitidzer abilities. Well, almost. You can now load and save midi files by name. But not from the skin yet(you need to close full screen and use the Jorgan recorder pane). My son likes that feature of Miditzer. Anyway: While finding newer dispositions that someone else made(why make it from scratch when you can use someone elses as a start) take advantage of the new Jorgan 3.8.2 features(instruments are ranked, now, etc.), I found 2 new Baldwin dispositions The 48H is a 60's model Baldwin, but it does have the stop arangements I do, a Solo and Accompanment keyboard, one expresion pedal, but just not as many instruments. It has percusion, and Panoramic Tone and Vibrato too! Plus I have a hamond disposition that has reverb! So all I need to do is inport sound fonts for more instruments, add the reverb from the hammond, etc. At least this will save me a bit of headache instead of starting from scratch to mimic my Baldwin console in Jorgan. I may stil decide to use the real Panoramic Tone, Reverb, etc., circuits for that, since I will have the relay circuits to control them. That's like using the real leslie for the Tremino. Nothing like the real thing. That's if they can take the output from the sound of the computer easily for those other circuits. But at least I can go virtual with them.

OK. Reading as everyone suggests here I have done! I have researched Jorgan dispositions, Douts drivers, and midibox code. For my panoramic tone, reverb, etc., I have found some Jorgan dispositions that I maybe able to mimic in software. But I'll leave those circuits intact, just in case... Yes, Dins can be set to toggle douts and latch them! It's something like @toggle instead of @notepress, or soemthing in midibox128.syx (I have it written down somewhere). As far as relay circuits for the leslie, etc., avishowtechs Doutx4 board can have ULN2803s inserted in place of the 220 ohm resistor networks(used to current limit LEDs) to drive relays. I only need one ULN2803 on one dout board to drive up to 8 relays, more than needed. So one dout board will have 3 x 220 resistor networks for LEDS, and 1 x ULN2803, to drive 3 x 8 = 24 LEDs and 8 relays. I have a total of 78 stops, so I only need 3 x Douts of 32 outputs = 96 outputs. 8 will drive relays, so 96 - 8 = 88, more than enough! When a stop is pressed, the core it sends a toggle program change type signal. This routes to the douts to toggle in midibox, and sends the midi message out to the virtual organ program, etc. 8 LEDs will match the 8 relays outs for those indicators, one 74HC595 will drive the LEDS, and another the relays. I haven't looked up the specs on the 74HC595's yet. Do they latch like flip flops and stay latched, or not? If not: They don't need to be latched for the LEDs, since the scan will be so fast you won't see them not lit. They are onyl indicators anyway. But I'll need to latch to the relays to stay on or off, with flip flops. But I am sure the 74HC595's already are. Else I may have to see about substituting one 74HC595 out for a flip flop IC for the relays. Simple(in theary). I may also get an Ain and Aout for possibly LED meters. But I don't want to overload the stop core.I do have 3 pots on the stop baord, but the core inself can take up to 4, so I am OK. So now I know what I need to order from avishowtech and, in the menatime, to breadboard out with components, etc. I'll breadboard a Doutx2 with 2 x 74HC595, 2 100nf caps, 8 220 ohm resistors, 8 Leds, and a ULN2803 for relays, and solder up a core and Dinx4 board. I am also using a hammond organ disposition for reverb, a dispositon that is simular to my Baldwin with vibrato and percusion, etc. I'll mix and match from ones that are there, and then add my own customization to it. Once I have a Baldwin 210 disposition, I'll then know how to map out other organs to my stops, etc., for more organs. So breadboarding and virtual organ programming I will be doing next...

I have another delema! As far as the stop tabs and the leslie motor control , I have that figured out. But there are 3 other features of my organ I don't have much idea on: 1. Panoramic Tone This has a unit in the speaker area for it and a stop tab for it. I have done some googling and some people call it Baldwin's reverb. Can I mimic this in Jorgan or software? I couldn't find any dispositions or referance to it for Jorgan. If I can't mimic it in software, I may have to preserve that circuit. I think it is just a matter of running the computer sounds through it before the amp, right? 2. Vibrato and a pot to adjust it's depth. What's Vibrato, and can this also be mimiced in software? Do I keep it's circuits? 3. Solo and Percusion Re-It? Plus there isa pot to adjust the Re-it speed. Also same thing: Can this be mimiced in software, or do I keep the circuits?

Well I temporarily am closing up the organ for now while I solder up some Dins, etc. I'll modify the stop tabs later, once I figure out what I want to do with them. But, before I closed up the organ, I just wanted to do a partial trace of the leslie motor control wires. I want to keep that old leslie circuit and wiring intact, all I will insert is relay circuits from the dins, etc. It looks like that wiring and circuitry (I didn't remove any old circuits that were part of the leslie motor control) is pretty much intact and easy to trace out, etc. Good. I will keep that cabling circuits and those wires intact(white green and grey wires). But I can strip out the rest of the organ circuits now. Except for the light control, which I may switch to LED(I'll see).

In midibox when you read a din momentary button press, it can also toggle the Douts , thus having the latch. The Douts basically, as I see them, are just a bunch of digital toggle switches(flip flops) and LED/Relay drivers, controlled either by internal midi messages from the core and Dins, or externally by midi messages output from the computer. This is set in midibox with the MIDI-IN, etc., not the virtual organ programs. At least that was what was posted by someone in the beginning of my long thread somewhere. So it should work well, I hope. Jorgan should also see a press, and toggle it. No need to have midibox constantly send a stop tab press to Jorgan. Once a stop is momentarily pressed on the touch screen too, Jorgan reads it, toggles it, sends a midi message out to the core so the core can toggle a Dout/LED. If a piston cancells otu a stop, it is cancelled in Jorgan, and a midi message is sent out to the core to toggle or clear the Dout/LED. I don't like the idea of flipping back and forth the stop tabs either. But to make them momentary is easy. Maybe your stop tabs can be done the same way. Then you can also use your stop tabs and make them momentary too! Some stop tabs you may keep non momentary(like for the leslie, etc.). The pistons may also be able to be easily modified too to make them momentary! By making the stop tabs momentary, and having Douts for the toggle latch part(and LED/Relay drivers), the virtual organ program can toggle them, plus the dins will manually toggle them too by momentarily pressing the stop tabs physically, etc. Complete control from computer to manual(you can manually active/deactivate, or have the computer do it with the touch screen, etc.)! This I know can all be done. It's just a matter of programming it to work right. Plus I think it would be neat to push a virtual stop on the touch screen, and see it light up an LED on the organ showing that stop is activated from the computer! Plus , to me, this is the right way to do it. BTW: In Jorgan (I played with this), you can set the pistons to not toggle certain stop tabs. You may not want this for the leslie, so it can just be controlled manually with non momentary stop tabs, etc. I may do this so those circuits are manual, but still close relays that have 2 sets of contacts,(one for dins and the other for the leslie motors). But still have douts to light up LEDs, etc. This way neither the pistons nor the computer have control of the leslie, but can read it to know it's active or not. In Jorgan there would be no computer control of the leslie, but it can read the state though. Options options... Now that I know I can easily make the stop tabs momentary or keep them non momentary: I'll breadboard some circuits(I'll breadboard a Doutx1 for testing too) and solder up some more Dins and a core to test it out with, plus test out midibox and Jorgan configurations to see how it works.

I don't know, but Baldwin must have thought out that part with easily being able to make them momentary too! All I had to do for the lower stop tabs to make them momentary was screw out the screws that the springs are attached to to have them spring back. The neat thing is, if you wanted, by screwing the screws the other way you have momentary Off(they spring the other way). So maybe you can , with a little reversing of springs, like me, make your stop tabs momentary too! Now I DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANY MODIFICATIONS TO THE STOP TABS OTHER THAN MAKING THEM MOMENTARY, AND THEN USING THEIR OLD CONTACTS! For the LED indicators, I will require thinking out where to mount them, that's all. So, actually I can plan out my Din/Dout and Core placements now and at least wire up dins and program midibox for the correct program changes, and wahla! I'll also have to think out where I will mount a relay circuit board for controlling the leslie motors too. Plus while I am at it, since I plan on the computer motherboard going in the top area, where the midi circuits can also go, I can see where it would fit too. I need to think this out before drilling holes into the metal of the top area, where there presently is old circuitry that will be removed for new midi circuits, etc. The only thing then is to get Douts, LEDs, relays and maybe an Aout(for physical LED meters), etc. I know, they are dusty. I'll have to clean them up some.

That was easier than I thought! I already have an old stop tab momentary! ALL I did was move it's existing spring behind, and now it's momenatary! That spring locked the stop tab down, now it pushes it back up! If your organ has a simular type thing, it also could easily be reversed to make the stop tab spring back, thus making it a momentary push button! Got to love these organs with by not doing much, you can have what you want for midification! So that should work for the top stop tabs! Now, hopefully it won't take much to make the lower stop tabs momentary too! The lower stop tabs are a bit different.

Actually I maybe able to make my stop tabs momentary! All I need to do is find a way to put springs behind them so they don't go all of the way down, but make contact with the old spring contacts, but spring back, thus making them momentary! Then for LED indicators I'll just drill small holes above them(or into them, I'll think that out) and insert LEDs. Too bad they are not translucent. But maybe I can do that too with dremel cutting off the tops and cementing translucent acrylic covers on them! This would do what I want and be neat too. It will take work, but maybe the best way to do it. Update: Better idea, and easier for lighting up the whole tops of the stop tabs! Drill a hole for an LED into them, but: Just cement clear thin acrylic, or clear plastic, onto the tops. The acrylic, or plastic, will defuse the light and make it light up the tops! I'll need a couple of extra stop tabs with which to experiement with, time to call my organ guy again.. This way I don't have to do any major redesign, and can use my old stop tabs. Fortunetely too, the instrument writing on the stop tabs are not etched in. So if I decide to change their names, I scrub off the old labels and put my own on them. I just need to find a way to do this!

OK. After some more thinking maybe I CAN use my old stops. But I do want some indicators to indicate that the virtual organ programs know when a stop is active, etc. The piston cancelling, setting, etc., is the tricky part. If a stop tab is non momentary, how can a piston in the program cancel it, etc.? Do you have to reflip the stop tab to reset it, etc.? Plus with a non momenatary will the PIC keep on outputing Midi mesages and possibly swamping the virtual organ programs with constant messages, or does it look for a change and just output with a change? If it's momentary then you just push it to reactivate it, and only one message is generated, which would be nicer. Flipping back and forth while playing could also be confusing, etc. Still a need for LED indicators to know. Either way I can't see NOT using LEDs and Douts to drive them, to at least have some physical indicator to let you know that the virtual organ has activated or deactivated a stop tab, etc. The stop tabs are a hard one to figure out what to do with. The pistons, to me, SHOULD BE MOMENTARY, and should be easy to do. All you need to do, at least, is cut the covers off, and figure a way to have them push momentary push buttons. I'll do this part next in my midification, since it should be easy to do. This has been my delema. I need to breadboard some of this out to see how it works, and what I want, or can live with, etc., which is next...