The organ now has four manuals up and running. It also has a stop tab rail (also working) for couplers and the like. This is taking up more space than it needs to but I've deliberately left a large gap for manual 5 if and when I decide to put it in.
Since taking this photo earlier this week, I've done a bit of decorative work on the manuals although it's quite discreet. Below each piston rail, I've installed a thin strip of wood which I've attached the felt strip to that goes along the back of the keys. It just emphasises the design a little. The sampleset is just the St Anne's, Moseley one as I was playing with setting up the tabs at the time.
This picture I posted onto Facebook a few days ago. Tons of comments and lots of 'ooh' and 'ah' and 'MY GOD, WHAT THE HELL'S THAT?" in there but all of them were extremely enthusiastic. I hope you are too.
Im really impressed with your blog - thanks for writing. Could you assist me with my own design?
ReplyDeleteIve ordered four keyboards from the website you suggest - bargain! Did you keep the dimensions for the keyboard stack (by any chance?)...
Also, could you assist me with describing how you created you pistons (and where you bought the parts)?
Hope to hear from you!!
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the very nice comments.
I hope I can help but I must admit that I was really 'learning on the job'.
Which dimensions were you meaning for the stack? Width, depth, height? Total depth from front to back with all four together? It's very possible I can give you those but don't want to muddy the waters with too many details in one go if you know what I mean.
The pistons were really easy. I bought the buttons themselves on ebay. If I remember correctly it was about £20 (including postage) from China to UK. Just do a search for 'momentary push switch' and wade your way through to see if you can find what you like the look of. I've just had a look and although I lost the will to live wading through the hundreds and hundreds that came up, you should find something that floats your boat.
Wiring wise;-
What hardware are you using? Have you started on that yet? I ended up going to Midi Gadget Boutique http://www.midiboutique.com/ The guy there is very, very helpful and really patient indeed. I asked tons of questions that he must of thought were coming from a simpleton. I didn't know how to solder when I started this!
The hardware I eventually went for is this(ish)
http://www.midiboutique.com/MIDI-encoders/hwce2-bundle3 although seemingly the exact one isn't on the website anymore. It was the hwce Max.
The wiring for the pistons. I got hold of copper wire (also available on eBay). I think I eventually ended up using stuff from the florists' wire section. As long as it's copper you're alright. I cut it to the length of the manual (left to right) so it ran the full range of the pistons. I then took ribbon cable and cut it to the length I felt was appropriate for the pistons to be moved in or out for maintenance. I went for about 3". I separated the ribbon cable from 16 wires down to the individual ones and stripped the each end to prepare for soldering. I soldered one end to one of the tabs on the back of the button (the ones I used were on-off so polarity didn't matter). I then soldered the other end of the wire to the copper wire (or busbar as it's known). At one end of the busbar I soldered a length of ribbon cable (about 3 of the individual cables). that acted as the 'common' or 'ground. That goes into whatever you use as the midi hardware. I then got another good length of ribbon cable (you go through MILES of it) and wired each of the buttons up with it (onto the second tab). You keep this ribbon cable together, in one piece - no need to pull it apart. The whole other end of the cable goes into the ribbon cable connector on the midi hardware.
Hmm, I know what I did and the above description doesn't make much sense to me!
Brilliant stuff!
ReplyDeleteIve stripped down one of the 61 note keyboards this morning and done some preliminary measuring. The dimensions I am after (besides all of them) are:
depth for each manual and height of each
distance in height between manuals to fit piston rows.
Also, did you keep each manual same distance and angle or did you amend the angles slightly for the top manual?
Thanks for the info on the piston setup... seems less daunting than I thought... (or maybe not!).
Im going to check out some of the links you've sent me now.
Thanks,
Chris
Hi Chris.
ReplyDeleteI gave a massive long answer then and lost it... Grrr! How's about adding me on fbook and we can communicate via that? Stuart Stokell. There's only me with that name in the entire world so I'm easy enough to find.
S