The new digital organ console of the Angster organ of the Cathedral of Pécs, 1997

The new organ console of the Cathedral of Pécs
In the spring of 1997 we were commissioned by the bishopric of Pécs to construct an organ console with a playback funtion. (Concert without player function.) It has a large setzer-combination capacity, enabling easy performance of concerts, and the console is moveable for occasional performances with an orchestra. This unique assignment set us a great challenge and we had little time. The console looks elegant, its corpus, made of solid oak, was placed on the moveable platform. The organ, its keys, stop-tabs, pistons, roller, and balanced swell pedal are operated by a multiprocessor electronic card and a computer through fibreglass wire. The computer is only needed for the recording and the playback. The assignment was completed with three electrical engineers in two and a half months. As a result of this co-operation, it has become possible for the first time in Hungary to play back a musical piece without an organist. The aim was not to "mock" sacred music, but to use the function in the tourist industry, in musical education, at concerts, and in CD recordings. A new feature of the console is that while the stored musical piece is being played back, the organist may improvise, play a solo or may change the stops. The console of the organ in the Cathedral of Pécs has:

• 4 manuals and pedal,
• 256 setzer-combinations,
• 4x64-position roller program,
• the setzer and the roller programs can be stored on a magnetic disc
• unlimited program storage,
• thumb pistons with Hall batteries, without contact,
  
• a shutter-mover with relay motor,
• minimal computer configuration: IBM PC 486/8Mb, RAM/1.2 Gb HDD
  

The applied electronics can be extended up to the following parameters:

• 6 manuals,
• 2048 setzers,
• 16x64-position roller programs,
• several consoles can be connected to the organ chest.

[<<back]