From Hauptwerk to Viscount
Not Your Grandma's Organ!
I realize this might ruffle the feathers of some of the purists out there, but I recently made the transition from a Hauptwerk-based home organ setup to a Viscount instrument.
I know there are folks out there who will think I’ve gone mad. It might come as a further surprise that I actually consider this move an upgrade!
In this post, I’d like to give you a quick overview of my experience. If there is interest, I am happy to go into more depth later on.
Hauptwerk vs Viscount
For those of you who are unfamiliar, Hauptwerk is a software application that runs on Mac or PC. It uses recorded samples of actual pipe organs to create virtual instruments. Users can play these instruments by connecting keyboards and other hardware to create an organ setup.
In contrast, Viscount organs are complete packages. The Physis versions run their own proprietary software and use modeling as the mechanism of generating sound. While some older Viscounts do use sampling, the Physis versions do not.
Until this point, it has been widely accepted that Hauptwerk has the best sound and the most realistic experience. I have been running a Hauptwerk-based setup for many years and I am inclined to agree with this.
Hauptwerk does an excellent job of placing you in the room of some specific church with a specific instrument. You can change this at will by installing additional organ packages. The software itself is deep and quite powerful.
However, there is nothing simple about using Hauptwerk. It certainly comes with the potential for frustration, and it is in no way minimal. My experience with Hauptwerk has caused me to look forward to the day where I can acquire a complete instrument that works out of the box. I just needed to wait on the technology to reach the point where I wouldn’t be sacrificing so much sound quality.
Viscount Physis Plus Organs
As I mentioned before, Viscount organs that are equipped with Physis technology use modeling rather than sampling. While the previous version of Physis was impressive, Hauptwerk still easily won the sound competition.
With the second iteration of Physis (known as Physis Plus) along with some of the new lower cost options from Viscount (such as the Cantorum models), I can honestly say that Viscount organs should be strongly considered as suitable instruments for practicing at home.
The organ I chose to replace my Hauptwerk setup is the Viscount Virtuoso 350. This is the American version of Domus series. This series, along with the Cantorum line, uses the new Physis Plus technology, which is good enough to move me off of the Hauptwerk platform.
At first, I was very nervous about this transition. Physis plus was brand new at the time, and very few people had a chance to try it out. I heard a few recordings, and I decided to take a chance. Now that I have had the instrument for more than a year, I am quite pleased with my decision.
Minimalism vs Realism
Now that I have kids and clutter everywhere in my house, I have started to appreciate a more minimalist lifestyle. I find myself gradually selling and giving away items and slowly undoing all of the accumulating that I have been doing in my adult life.
The nature of a Hauptwerk setup is inherently more cluttered. You have the organ console itself, which in my case consisted of multiple Midi keyboards, a pedalboard, and a desktop from Ikea. Additionally, the setup also requires an audio interface, speakers (or headphones), a subwoofer (if using speakers), along with a computer running Hauptwerk.
In contrast, the Viscount is a complete package. You turn it on and it works. In the past, this has resulted in giving up the more realistic sound of a Hauptwerk instrument. It’s also worth mentioning that the Viscount instruments have been prohibitively expensive in the states until the Cantorum line was introduced. It was pretty clear why everyone recommended going with Hauptwerk instead.
Some folks even purchased Viscount consoles and used them to run Hauptwerk so that they could have the best of both worlds. In this case, they would be skipping all of the Viscount internals and Viscount sound in favor of Hauptwerk, but they would still use the physical hardware to control everything.
With the Physis Plus technology and corresponding library of stops, I no longer feel that Hauptwerk is the obvious winner. I really enjoy the Physis Plus stops. They have warmth, personality, and feel incredibly realistic.
Additionally, the speakers equipped on these organs are absolutely outstanding. The Virtuso 350 has a seven speaker system with two 10-inch woofers. I no longer feel the need for additional speakers and a subwoofer, which has really cleaned things up. While the organ can still connect to these speakers, I have found it unnecessary in my specific environment.
Issues with Reverb? Not Anymore!
When the Viscount organ first arrived, I realized pretty quickly that the simulated acoustic was lacking. While Viscount has an amazing “dry pipe” sound (probably the best on the market), I didn’t feel the reverberance models were nearly as strong…at least out of the box.
However, thanks to a recent update, this is no longer the case. The new acoustic modeling is far more realistic and practical in addition to being very customizable.
The Clarion Call of the Organ
My favorite aspect of the new Viscount instruments is the clarity of the sound. You can hear every little detail from the onset of each note, the valve noise, release detuning, and so on. The sound is incredibly clear and present.
This is really the ideal practice instrument. I don’t want to be surrounded by the organ equivalent of holding a piano damper pedal down while I play. I need clarity and feedback from the instrument. I need the instrument to punish and reward my musical decisions, and I really do feel that Viscount does it best.
If I played in a very reverberant space, perhaps I would change my tune. Unfortunately, I have yet to find suitable settings that correctly simulate this. The more reverb I use, the less realistic the instrument sounds. Besides, there are many benefits to practicing in a dry environment where everything speaks very clearly.
If you’d like to hear a few audio samples, check out the post linked below:
What are Your Thoughts?
For anyone who stumbles across this post, I would love to hear about your experience with Hauptwerk and Viscount. Have any of you chosen Viscount over Hauptwerk?
Also, would you be interested in a more thorough look at the Virtuoso 350? I am happy to make some recordings and share the amazing sound from this instrument!
Interesting review. I've had HW at home since the days it was Crumhorn Labs and it was a great improvement over my 1970's vintage Wyvern organ. However we have recently got a Viscount Envoy 350FV (ranges are different in the UK) to replace our dying pipe organ and I have to say that I am extremely impressed. With 8 + sub channels of external audio it sounds very good indeed.
You are also correct that HW really needs an enthusiast - it's not ideal for someone that just wants to sit and play. I am (was!) an electronics engineer not a musician so ok for me but not for everyone!
If you are someone who really values the ability to play stuff on multiple different styles of organ then obviously HW is a good choice but if - like me - you just want an organ to play then the choice is not so obvious.
Steve