This little 2-manual organ with sound sampled technology, from the ground-breaking Italian firm Viscount. It’s a wonderful product.
Here it is, myself playing, wired into the amp & speakers (SR Technology 700MX (1 x 400, 2 x 150W RMS speakers) I usually use for the Roland piano:
And this, from a Christmas concert in Baltinglass (microphones were too close for a relaxed recording, but I couldn’t do anything about that…..it’s complete chance that this was recorded at all):
The benefits over and above my other hire organ, or indeed an organ you can hire elsewhere? Portability, but still a good quality sound. The heaviest piece of this kit is just 20kg, whereas the average digital organ console weighs in or around 140kg.
The pedalboard too, weighs just 10kg vs the usual 40-ish. I chose a particularly light 25-note version. You can play almost all music on it.
Indeed it can operate without a pedalboard, with a harmonic bass facility allocating any pedal stops drawn to the lowest note being played.
This all means it is extremely versatile. A gallery location for a one-off gig? No problem. Speed of delivery and set-up is also reduced substantially. And it’d quite suit an outdoor occasion…..a wedding perhaps.
The table and stool, although rudimentary, are consistent with the 1967 ISOB (Incorporated Society of Organ Builders) standard dimensions, so this is quite a comfortable organ to play. The relationship of pedalboard to keyboards is bang-on normal……no need to keep looking down to check.
Speed of delivery will be an asset too if, say, for a funeral, short notice is the way and the venue has no in-house instrument, or it’s not up to the job.
It comes with its own sound source too (2 x 40W: 4 speakers x 2 channels), quite capable of filling a chapel that seats approx. 200 without any assistance. Alternatively, the audio outputs can be plugged into pretty much anything.
And of course it comes with all sorts of facilities already on-board - transposer, pitch, temperament adjustment, MIDI, a sequencer. All sorts.
The biggest beauty perhaps is that it behaves like an ordinary pipe organ. None of this keyboard confusing splitting etc.. You can see at a glance exactly what’s what. And, yes, the Swell expression pedal effects…..YAY…….only the Swell :-) (It can however be set to effect the whole if that were to be preferred. As an organist, I would not wish for that myself).
Here’s someone much more capable than I demonstrating:
Not the best photo in the world (it never occurred to me to take one on the day) but here it is out on hire to Dublin City Choral Union in Westland Row. Conducting is Duncan Brickenden and I played.
