Free organ MIDI files ready to play??

[jbird604]

Does anyone know if there exists a website where one could download (for free or perhaps with a donation) a wide variety of organ pieces in MIDI (type 0) format, ready to transfer to floppies and play on an Allen organ? Thinking of the standard pieces that one hears in organ programs, Bach, Widor, Vierne, that sort of thing.

Asking for a friend ;-)

[Admin]

The Contrabombarde site has MIDI files for some of the pieces, but of course, they're matched to the specific Hauptwerk organ that the piece was performed on. And, that's the rub with MIDI organ files. No two organs have the same specifications, so whatever MIDI files you come up with will likely have to be edited to accomplish the registration changes and to match the appropriate MIDI channelization.

Pieces by Bach and other Baroque and Pre-Baroque masters are probably most easily adapted as they are less dependent upon the tonal resources of the organ.

[AllenAnalog]

I've downloaded many MIDI files from the Contrebombarde site and then used a utility program to change the channel numbers to match my Allen organ. Once you log in you can do a search on that site and check the box to only show the pieces with MIDI files attached.

In one of those rare situations where simple turns out better, since the MIDI interface for the ADC series organs is only note-on and note-off, the organ ignores all of those sysex and other Hauptwerk-specific MIDI messages. Of course the downside is that I have to register by hand as I'm playing back those files.

The biggest problem is when the recording was made on a 3 or 4 manual instrument and I have to decide where to put those choir or solo notes since my ADC-5300 is a two manual instrument.

The Allen web site has some MIDI files available too. I must admit I got moist eyes when I first loaded the late, great Tom Hazelton's MIDI files (from the Allen site) into the Peterson relay that now runs the 55-rank Kimball pipe organ in the ballroom at Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall. Even though we met only a few times, he was always gracious and helpful.

[jbird604]

One can probably open the files in Cakewalk or Sonar and then edit the MIDI channels to match the organ you want to play them on, though of course, as Larry notes, many will have been recorded on four or more manuals. Then, with my Allen R-230 I'd face the possibility that the embedded stop changes might do weird stuff, since the R-230 probably responds to just about any kind of MIDI signal in the stream.

Perhaps I should stick to downloading from Allen's own website for my purposes. I'm primarily interested in hearing the R-230 open up and play some blockbuster pieces just for my own entertainment, and unfortunately I can't play well enough to take advantage of all its possibilities.

[csw900]

Hi

I have over 600 Estey organ music rolls containing a wide variety of music. Available from my website https://midimusic.github.io
There is also the means to play these rolls available free from the site i.e. eplayWin32 and eplayOrgan. I am currently working to make these programs compatible with Allen organs but am having difficulty finding the final few NRPN codes. Those who could help will not help (Allen Organ).

I would like to contact someone who can help. Some NRPN's I need are undocumented and it would be very useful to talk to someone with an R-230 or similar organ who can use it to record some midi.

My email address is in About on the above site.

csw900

[ThomasBland]

Instead of programs like Cakewalk or Sonar to modify the MIDI channels, I suggest using the free program Sekaiju. When you load a file, it shows the various tracks with the input channel (you can ignore this) and output channel shown. It's a simple 3-step process. 1) Change the output channels on each track you need to move, 2) Clicking Save (or File then Save As if you want to preserve the original file), then 3) Yes to the message "XXXX MIDIEvent's channel is different from that of track outpit channel. Are you sure to fix these channel to track output channel ?"