PAB sample set review
The PAB or Palace of Arts Budapest organ is the first sample set from Inspired Acoustics for Hauptwerk. Released at the end of 2008, this set is offered in many versions: the largest version has 92 stops and this is to date (March 2009) the largest sample set available for Hauptwerk.
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Reviews from around the web
From Inspired Acoustics website
Jonathan Orwig's review (September 2009)
a Crow and new PAB demos on Contrebombarde
I finally have the PAB Pro, and since I was one of the skeptics (and have been for months!) I thought I'd publicly eat my nice tasty helping of crow, and admit this is a really fine set.
I've long wondered about a couple of things - some of the sounds I heard simply didn't convince me, and I doubted that it really sounded that way, but I had no way of knowing. Joe Felice (Hauptwerk forum member jcfelice88keys) and I went in circles discussing about whether or not to ride the gain (especially for an mp3 file), I really was not satisfied with what I heard when impulse reverb was applied.
I finally got hold of a pretty dry audio file and did my own experimentation with it -- then I wondered what a full-quality version would sound like.... finally I read rave reviews from other users who had played the instrument and heard it in full non-mp3 quality.
I also know some people have not liked the way IA has promoted, and have questioned their sincerity, integrity and motives....
I have to say that my skepticism has been satisfied -- I really think this PAB is a great set, and very flexible. I also must say that all of my contacts with Csaba have been exemplary -- he has been unfailingly helpful and professional, and I (for one) really think that he and the folks at IA want to see all of us succeed -- users, Hauptwerk and fellow sample producers alike.
We are so ready to assume the worst about people and their motives - I think really the world would be a better place if we tried first to think the best of people FIRST, rather than jumping immediately to the worst or negative.
So, I've said my peace <chuckle> let's get to the set:
- I think the PAB Pro really shines best when used with truncation (150~250 ms) and impulse reverb.
- I have done some experimentation, and I still strongly disagree with gain-riding or any compression of dynamics for demos. I think if a demo has a very wide dynamic range, it is FAR better to ONLY offer it as a 24 or16-bit WAV file...
- even with a huge dynamic range, I find that a non-gain-ridden 320kbps mp3 file sounds more natural to my ears (even though some of the quieter and louder passages might be a bit less than optimal). I also think it is imperative to encode the mp3 with a quality encoder and use good options
If you can't find a good stop combination for what you are playing, you aren't looking. I've tried several styles, and this organ can really change character based on what stops you select and how they are combined.
So, here are some of the links:
Johann Nepomuk David: - Lobe den Herrn http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/1467 - Allein Gott in der Höh sie Ehr http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/1466
David Johnson - trumpet Tune in D - http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/1456
Richard White - Prelude and Fugue in Eb - http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/1435
Falcinelli - a Notre Pere - http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/1429
Enjoy,
Jonathan Orwig
Madison, WI USA
Attila Pásztor's review (August 2009)
My main organ - before and now
Let me start with a few words about myself: my name is Attila Pásztor, I have a degree in electrical engineering and in teaching IT. Currently I am mostly teaching IT in a high school for talented children (in the Fazekas Mihály Secondary School) in Budapest, Hungary. Besides my science studies, I have been learning the organ and, of course, the piano for 10 years. Between 1989 and 1998, as the organist of the Zoltán Kodály Hungarian Choir School, during the tours I had the chance to play many-many organs in the U.S., England, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy and Belgium. In my free time, in the week-ends, I am performing organ duties in several churches.
I have been planning for years to have an organ at home for practice. An instrument with real pipes was out of the question because of the neighborhood; and I did not like the sounds, the stop sets and the quality of the materials in the console of the electronic organs I could afford (with 3 manuals and about 40 stops). I felt that no middle-class electronic instrument was adequate to play a wide range of organ literature.
I met the Hauptwerk software first in 2008, and by using the resources on the Web (demos and forums), I decided to create (to have manufactured) a 4-manual console with a pedalboard. Unfortunately, I could not afford the excellent manuals of Laukhuff (used widely in Europe), so I ended up using the manuals of the Canadian Classic Midi Organ Works. The pedalboard, the bench and the console was made by Váradi and Son Organ Builders http://www.varadi-orgona.hu/html_eng/main_eng.htm, with whom I was working together on many organs (I helped creating the microcontroller-based controls). I think they made a beautiful console; you can find pictures at http://www.aticomp.eu/orgona/pictures.html.
My first sound sample library was the Litomysl (if I remember correctly, this was the only 4-manual library), followed by the Notre Dame de Metz Extended, Zwolle, and most recently PAB (Professional, then Extended). I like playing Bach on the Zwolle library and Franck on the Metz, but for about half a year I have been only using PAB, and I hope you’ll soon understand why. The above-mentioned libraries feature wet samples, which is really good for the listener (if not listening for a long time), they even cover a few small mistakes of the performer but they are not ideal to learn the pieces. The performer usually sits at a console much closer to the organ, and hears the instrument in a different space perspective than those for CD recordings. So far I have seen only two instruments where a console is placed in the middle of the audience (the Synagogue in Budapest and the Church of St. Eustache in Paris). There it is almost impossible to play fast pieces evenly. Wet samples sound cool only in an acoustically neutral space (such as a room), they are unenjoyable already in a classroom. I do not like the totally dry samples, either, because in the recordings made extremely closely, the characteristics of the pipes are very different (whoever tuned an organ, could experience this). The acoustic modeling of the mass of the pipes and the organ case could help but I know of no such developments. Using semi-dry samples having only a small amount of (concert hall) reverb, such as PAB, you can learn the pieces very well (you can hear the uneven fingering, phrasing mistakes, etc). And to give a true-life performance of the pieces learned, all you need is either the PAB Extended sCSA (offering a church reverb by default), or an adequate reverberation program. This latter one has the advantage that everyone may set up the reverberation parameters according to his own taste and requirements, and it also puts a lighter load on the computer. I use a second computer (of less power) for the subsequent reverberation (the sound is transmitted digitally), and the cost of the necessary programs (Plogue Bidule and Knufinke SIR2) is low even compared to a sound sample library.
A few thoughts on the organ of the Palace of Arts:
The organ of the PAB is one of the largest concert organ in Europe (5 manuals, 92 stops, 134 ranks, double action), which is placed in a concert hall with variable acoustic parameters. You can find more information about the organ at http://www.mupa.hu/orgona.jsp (in English). The organ is a modern ‘symphonic organ’ and I have the honor of knowing the Hungarian designers of it personally. In my opinion, this instrument is adequate to perform all the existing organ literature without any major compromises. Artists giving concerts (Olivier Latry, Philippe Lefebvre, Thierry Escaich,...) praised the organ highly, mentioning that a concert instrument of this size must be registered and played differently than a medium-sized church instrument. The manufacturers of the organ solved the issue of having an impressive sound in a somewhat dry concert hall (most naturally, I heard the instrument myself as I live in Budapest). I am only missing a Trompete 4’ in the positive work and a glockenspiel – never a bigger problem!
To me the expression ‘symphonic organ’ means that this instrument is capable of bridging the various periods in the history of music. The stop set and the voicing allows defining a medium-sized (35-stop) neobaroque (http://www.aticomp.eu/orgona/pabnb.jpg) and a 60-stop French Romantic (http://www.aticomp.eu/orgona/pabfr.jpg) instrument as well. The pictures show the settings for the couplers, the tremulants and the string stops. If you have the PAB library, listen to the ‘sound sets’ shown in the picture (without the tremulants, the Voce Humana and the Unda Maris). They sound to me quite like the above-mentioned instruments.
The sample library created from the instrument keeps the huge dynamic and rich voice range of the organ. The difference between a single note of the quietest stop and the tutti is about 80 dB. Naturally, the sound samples of smaller instruments cannot have such a wide dynamic range. If you have the necessary tool, you can even measure it. The huge dynamism of PAB cannot really be enjoyed in a room with speakers (especially if you have neighbors); perhaps if you use excellent headphones. Because of this, one usually normalizes the organ samples (sets the sound system) so that you can ‘survive’ the tutti, which, unfortunately, results in having some of the stops of libraries with a large dynamic range very quiet in themselves. Unfortunately, the human ear tends to hear the quiet sounds also of less color.
It is an interesting experiment to listen to multiple sound sample libraries by setting the amplitude of a note of the Principal 8’ of the main work to the same level (e.g. by using the gain meter in the software of the sound card). If you try this, you will hear that some of the stops in the PAB have a real character (only that you have not heard it before). I would not like to make comments on the mensure and voicing features of the different organ builders; and I cannot decide whether a Cavaillé-Coll organ is better than a Schnittger. None of these people can build organs today. Nor can I know what Bach or Franck would say about e.g. the PAB organ (but I know that Bach ‘left no stone unturned’ to try any new organs). I am always happy when I can use an instrument with clear sounds, when there is a variety of stops and the noise of the action does not suppress the sound played (I am talking about real instruments now). I had played an organ with pneumatic action and Barker levers action for two years and I do not long to be back. I am happy that the couplers (marked ‘e’) are not additive (P+I and I+II does not mean automatically P+II).
In my opinion, the PAB sound sample library has the following advantages:
The graphical interface of the library is very sophisticated (I think currently it is standing far out in front of others). All the console features are implemented. It is extremely useful that the direction of the sweller pedal can be reversed (I can get used to the organ I will play). It can be used perfectly with one monitor; with two monitors it offers a photorealistic look; the reverse couplers (pedal-to-manual) and the 100 direct combination frame selector buttons can also be useful for many. In the console view, the features are exactly as in the original electronic stage console. The LED displays also truly follow the original instrument, with an exemplary aesthetic and operational quality. Pipe organ sound libraries made for the Hauptwerk platform often claim to preserve the values embodied in the instruments, which in my case means not only preserving the sound but also a functionally true implementation of the console features and a sophisticated graphical interface. When talking about preserving the sound, for me the really important part is to preserve the sound of the organ and not the acoustics, the sound as heard at one point in the church. That is why I prefer semi-dry sound libraries.
The modeling of the original combination system of the organ is also exemplary; the registration is much easier. Please note how difficult it is to store the same registration multiple times so that you can use the built-in virtual combination system of Hauptwerk, as that is only capable of stepping through the virtual combinations during play (beside the 8 starting values). I feel very sorry that even the latest Hauptwerk version (3.23) does not include a modern combination system (considering Europe, such as the one in PAB) that would not depend (greatly) on the sample library.
Pedal division allows to use only the pedal couplers above a certain division point, and below that only the pedal stops. Together with the sostenuto function it can be useful when improvising.
The two swellboxes offer a huge, continuous dynamic range. Having two whole works in the sweller is ideal for both romantic and modern organ pieces. The attenuation of the sweller (just like in the real instrument) is huge (at least 30 dB).
The independent aliquots (fifths, thirds, sevenths,...) allow a more sophisticated and more variable registration, e.g. you can define different Cornets (having more principals, more flute, more sevenths...).
The two mixtures of the main work can be used well together and alone.
Implementing the chamades as a separate work, together with their couplers mean that they can be used from any of the manuals.
The organ is particularly rich in reed pipes. The three trumpets of the main work are not very strong (they can also be used for German Baroque pieces). There is a well-chosen number of reeds in the positive as well (although I know that many find the Clarinet strange); the Basson and the Trompete are stronger, the Dulcian and the Cromorne are quieter but more colorful. The swellwork has the traditional 5 French reeds (it follows the French Romantic traditions both in the way it is built and it is voiced), the solo work features an English horn beside its strong Tuba. The pedal reeds are well-defined but not unpleasantly loud.
The manuals feature 16' stops full of character (Principal, Rohrbourdon, Quintatön, Viola and Gedackt).
The quality of the sound samples in the library is extremely high. The microphones used, the applied sound recording technology (e.g. the recording was synchronized to the manuals of the organ) and the software-based post-processing resulted in having the deepest (32') and highest stops of the instrument sound in a balanced way (using a quality monitor speaker or headphones). If you have the chance to use the 24-bit samples, you can hear that the sounds are rich in harmonics, yet they have no noise and sound clearly.
My current computer (Q9650 Core 2 Quad CPU @ 3,33GHz (+10%), 8 GB DDR3-1333,...) allows a polyphony of around 9500. When performing fast pieces, the semi-dry library with short reverberation times (and with subsequent reverbs) is really useful: if you had samples with 6-10 s of reverbs, the computer could not play many stops and couplers. The performance of the computers is ever growing (not mentioning their price), but in case of really large instruments, I expect that the only feasible way is to have the reverbs post-processed.
Finally, I would like to mention that the architects of the sample library not only sell their product but also provide excellent support (and not only for installation). I received countless pieces of advice from Csaba Huszty, from fine-tuning to implementing secondary reverberation. I am looking forward to their new sample libraries. Their home page is at http://www.inspiredacoustics.com
If you are interested in recordings made with my virtual organ, you can download them from http://www.aticomp.eu/orgona, or you can find some recordings at http://www.contrebombarde.com (username: pasztor).
Francois Ratte's review (February 2009)
An organ for the rest of us
If you've read Rob Stefanussen's review, you already know how great the PAB sample set is, and Rob is a lot more qualified than I am to analyze and critique a sample set, because he a professional organist. As for me, I'm just a really "amateur organist" who loves pipe organs.
I titled my review "An organ for the rest of us"; in the Hauptwerk community there are professionals, with years of musical training, earning their livings playing and teaching the King of Instruments, able to recognize the sound of each and every rank, who can explain the differences between organs built in different era, who will register the organ exactly as it should for a given piece.... then there is the "rest of us", amateur with a wide range of training (from none to semi-professional), who loves the pipe organs and often can only dream to play the "real one".
Hauptwerk with the PAB PRO sample set makes this dream come true for many of us; the Pro version, with its 92 speaking stops (controlling 134 ranks on five virtual manuals) gives us a wide palette of sounds. From Baroque to modern organ literature, you will find the stops that will allow you to play your repertoire.
For the amateur with a limited repertoire, just changing the registration will give a whole new dimension to the piece. Improvising some chords and playing with the crescendo wheel will transform the organ from a little, soft sounding instrument to a monstrous, melodic monster with its separate 16', 8' and 4' Trumpets en Chamade and 32' pedal ranks.
Quality and versatility are two words that perfectly express what this sample set is; but the PAB is available in other versions. A new one is the PAB Medium Edition with CSA (some kind of scientific acronym to basically say "with some nice reverb added"). The PAB is semi-dry sample set; it is recorded a concert Hall acoustic, not one from a large church or cathedral. Thanks to the magic of convolution, Csaba and his team added some reverb to the Medium Edition.
This 45 stop, slimmed down version of the PAB PRO (but still a powerful instrument), offers a lot "bang" for its price; same great sound quality as the PAB PRO, wide palette of sounds, this set comes out of the box in 2 versions; the semi-dry and the sCSA; the sCSA (s=shorter version CSA) offers an acoustic similar to a good-sized church. The sound, articulation remains clear with enough room presence to make you feel "there". My teacher prefers the semi-dry one ... 'better to reveal the mistakes I make' he says! It's up to you to choose. And available as a free download for the Med Edition owners, you can get a third version with a longer version of the CSA, let's call it "cathedral like", lots of presence (better to hide some of my organ playing mistakes...).
Hours of fun exploring the possibilities of this set, great sound, various reverbs available. I truly like it.
Is it a "10"... well since perfection doesn't really exist in this world, I'll give it a 9!
Rob Stefanussen's review (December 2008)
Rob Stefanussen (Utah, USA) When I heard the first PAB demos, I was concerned by the rather dry acoustics. That didn't change when I first loaded it, either. After playing so much of the Metz and Hinsz, I had become used to the huge acoustic. I've spent a lot of time, lately, working on some of my pieces, and I've been surprised at how quickly my ears have adjusted. Over the last few days, I have come to greatly appreciate the clarity and richness of tone that this sample set delivers. All of this is not to say that it's not nice to have a lush acoustic. Fortunately, with this sample set, you don't necessarily have to compromise the lush acoustic for all the other goodies this sample set has to offer.
I played through Virgil Fox's arrangement of J.S. Bach's "Nun Danket", which starts out with relatively light registration, and works up to full organ at the end. Anyone who has seen the score knows that this piece is incredibly demanding in terms of registration. Even on the largest sample sets currently available, multiple significant compromises have to be made in the registration of this piece. In contrast, the PAB had everything this piece called for, with some headroom for creative additions. I can't tell you how nice it is to actually have stops like a 10-2/3' in the pedal when a piece calls for it! One mark of a world-class organ is, not only to be able to register a wide range of pieces with little to no compromise, but also to be able to do so in slightly different ways. From what I've experienced, that would accurately describe this sample set.
Another item which I believe deserves mention is the many features on this organ, and the level of detail with which these features have been implemented. This organ has two enclosed divisions which accurately replicate the original organ's unusually dynamic swell boxes. A welcome change from the current status-quo is the availability of so many flexible couplers. The solo, swell, and positive have unison sub and super couplers, and there are even more options for sub and super coupling between manuals. The PAB organ also has 2 configurable crescendos, which are surprisingly useful, due to the instrument's large tonal resources. On some smaller instruments, the crescendo is less useful, because the changes in registration are about as subtle as a shovel to the face. With the PAB, the crescendo produces a subtle buildup that one could actually consider using in a performance. The highly professional console, stop jamb, and crescendo pages also deserve mention. The PAB sets the bar a few notches higher for virtual organ graphics. The entire console was modeled in 3D, and the appropriate views were rendered using this model. The end result is an amazing virtual console and stop jamb pages that are a pleasure to use. The indicator lights on stops are also very practical without looking too "digital."
The quality of the samples is top notch. The samples are clear, colorful, and convincingly presented. The organ is also very well balanced. I was particularly impressed with the 32' stops in the pedal. I'm also thrilled to have a full compass for a change (time to start learning Lemare's transcription of "Ride of the Valkyries"!)
Price
This sample set screams quality from top to bottom, and that brings me to one of the most important points: price. Currently, sample sets range from about $5 - $25 / stop. From what I've heard, you generally get what you pay for, but that is certainly not always the case. In terms of sound and "look-and-feel", the PAB seems like a very high-end sample set, yet it weighs in at less than $10/stop! Some have suggested that the price of this sample set should be brought down even further. To this I would respectfully disagree. I'd say that the price of the PAB is a steal as it is.
Acoustics
One of the biggest concerns about this organ is the relatively dry acoustics. For me, it's taken a few days to adjust, but I've come to enjoy the out-of-the-box sound of the organ just fine. Having said that, a bigger acoustic is really not that hard to get. I recently tried micdev's wonderful tutorial on Sonar & Pristine Space using demo software. The results were very promising! The tutorial is very well written, and I'd say that anyone that is willing to take the time to go through his step-by-step tutorial would be able to get up and running easily.
If you don't already think that this an absolute must-have sample set, I can't see how the ability to have effective reverb wouldn't make this set a no-brainer for the fence-sitters. I've determined that Sonar and Pristine Space would cost about $350 if you shop around. I'm planning on ordering the software soon. If you went this route, this organ would cost you $1,250 (though the reverb could be applied to any organ). That's still a steal.
Conclusion
All in all, the PAB is a fantastic sample set. The samples are top-notch. The console and stop jamb graphics are way ahead of their time. The price is a steal. The semi-dry nature of this sample set makes it suitable for practice, installation in churches/concert halls, and the addition of convolution reverb. For anyone that's sitting on the fence about this organ: If my experience is any indicator, it would be hard to go wrong with this sample set.
