DIY multi-manual Hauptwerk console

About

May the force be with you, visitors!
I have decided to start running this website to share the knowledge – how to build an affordable multi-manual console for Hauptwerk and other MIDI software. The whole setup is not yet finished because I am focused on electronics and programming mostly, not on woodwork or finish (and I have no space to work with wood, actually).
My history is short: I have always loved organ sound. But being a rookie I had no real understanding what an organ is. Starting with fabulous Roland A33 I tried to play something sounding like a BWW565 with any available VST and preset. And I loved the sound sometimes, despite how horrible it appears to me now….
One day a little thought came to my mind: “Maybe there is some software dedicated to make a sound of an organ?”. Really clever, huh?…

May 19, 2018 20:44

Small update: OLED displays

Just a small update with OLED displays. Way more cool!

December 13, 2021 22:39

New buttons

Added new buttons and monitor support. Buttons would be without backlight, for loading oragans and temperaments, I guess. They are assignable anyways. Monitor has no touch screen, most of the functions should be available from the console. For settings, I guess, wireless mouse is more than enough. Here is what’s it looks like with the […]

January 6, 2019 16:00

Making piston board

…WORK IN PROGRESS… Making thin piston board to fit it between keyboards while keeping standard organ dimensions is not possible without specially designed backlight buttons. No matter how hard I’ve tried to find some good buttons with backlight, I did not succeed. Well, I did have found short buttons but they are without backlight. And […]

January 6, 2019 15:41

Site updates

Sorry, folks, I’ve been extremely busy with my main job this year. Progress with the site is awfully slow.

January 6, 2019 12:00

Pedalboard

…in progress…

November 20, 2018 22:53

Mainboard and MIDI connections

November 20, 2018 22:52

Pistons and indication

… in progress…

November 20, 2018 22:52

Concept: Advanced Hauptwerk console

The first idea was using three MIDI keyboards in one case, connected through MIDI merger. But when I had started to dig into it, I’ve found that 4 channel MIDI mergers are not cheap, and there was a new idea to use Arduino board to build my own MIDI merger.
After a while, by progressing in C++ and AVR capabilities I have grown to custom boards and done prototyping with Arduino Mega and Arduino mini.
So, here is the block diagram of what I have now…

May 20, 2018 18:30

Velocity-sensitive DIY MIDI keyboard

After some searching through wildly available low price keyboards I have stopped with Behringer UMX610. The major “pro” for the keyboard is keys constuction with fairly long “fall” allowing to build a cascaded setup with them. Mechanic part is good enough for a cheap semi-weighted keyboard. The … in progress …

May 21, 2018 01:26