Ahlborn-Galanti Pipe Organ Hybrid

[cantornikolaos]

More about using a digital organ console to drive pipes...

I heard that all Drake series Ahlborn Galanti organs are fully pipe organ compatible. I am sure Rodgers models are too. With Allen's pipe interface, you can drive pipes with any new Allen, but I get the impression that Allen is not really thrilled about hybrid pipe organs.

Are older Ahlborn Galanti organs like the Chronicler or SL series also pipe organ compatible? Would it be a lot of expense (compared to Allen) to drive pipes through an AG or Rogers organ?

Should i just build a nice midi console out of a gutted Allen (or anything else for that matter) console? How good is Artisan?

[Moller Artiste]

I have a 3 rank Moller Artiste that is a pipe/digital with Artisan circuitry. There was a sound engine problem, however, the issue was resolved and the pipes/digitals play with no problems. I'm in the process of transferring the circuitry from the original 2M Moller console to a refurbished Allen TC-6 3M console. It's easy to purchase additional digital ranks – the price is reasonable and you download them from Artisan via an http site. The software can be a bit intimidating at first glance, however, after you learn how to use it, exchanging digital ranks or balancing the digital ranks is easy.

[radagast]

More about using a digital organ console to drive pipes...

I heard that all Drake series Ahlborn Galanti organs are fully pipe organ compatible. I am sure Rodgers models are too. With Allen's pipe interface, you can drive pipes with any new Allen, but I get the impression that Allen is not really thrilled about hybrid pipe organs.

Are older Ahlborn Galanti organs like the Chronicler or SL series also pipe organ compatible? Would it be a lot of expense (compared to Allen) to drive pipes through an AG or Rogers organ?

Should i just build a nice midi console out of a gutted Allen (or anything else for that matter) console? How good is Artisan?

Your questions are all over the place. Do you have lots of different questions about different types of organs? Why do you get the impression that Allen isn't thrilled about hybrid-pipe organs?

I have a demo of a classical Artisan organ using PCs that I think is in New York somewhere. It sounds amazingly French AND real. If you are wanting to go totally digital and you are looking at Artisan, you should also look at Hauptwerk.

[cantornikolaos]

The reason I get the impression Allen is not thrilled about pipe organ hybrids is the time they took to do it. Rogers started in the 1970s and has been doing it sense. I don't know at what point Ahlborn-Galanti began, but they do hybrids. I don't know if there any Allen hybrids that pre-date the MDS. The MDS was pretty decent and I bet it would make a good hybrid, but the tricks and expense involved make it seem to me that they never really had that in mind when they designed the MDS. I talked to an Allen tech and he said it would be about $15,000-ish to rig up an MDS-26 to a pipe organ. He said it would not be worth doing and I should get a newer Allen.

[cantornikolaos]

If I begin to type a reply, I usually get logged out after a few minutes, so I am beginning to make multiple short replies to maintain server interactions. So frustrating!

I do have a number of questions about different products and options. I like Ahlborn-Galanti. The drake series organs really impressed me. If I could get an AG-2100 with a console that was really pretty and without those ugly light-up stop switches and plastic manuals, That would be great! I want wood, moving drawknobs and wood manuals and a console that is beautiful and feels solid. Something prettier than a run-of-the-mill Allen.

I also think of salvaging an old console and junking the old electronics and making it a nice midi console. There is an old custom 3M Allen console from the MOS days. It is one of those deals where the stops were external with an SDDS configuration. The console is nice, but WAAAAAAY bigger than I need for a 3 rank pipe organ! It would make a nice midi console for a church that wants a nice digital and can't afford a new Allen or something. I'd still love to get that Allen 705 and use it.

As far as MIDI stuff goes, I want the completed organ to be as seamless and easy to operate as any pipe or electronic organ I've ever used. If I can get that with Artisan, that's what I want to use. The ease of use factor is a selling point for Allen and other digital organ manufacturers. You can rig up a MIDI organ on a budget and blow a new Allen out of the water, but it is not something the organist that is really a pianist at the average parish would go for. If I could rig you up a nice MIDI organ for a fraction of the cost of an Allen, and it sound as good or better, that is as easy to use as an Allen (or any other digital organ maker), Allen (or any other digital organ maker) would start losing sales.

[Admin]

If I begin to type a reply, I usually get logged out after a few minutes, so I am beginning to make multiple short replies to maintain server interactions. So frustrating!

Make sure you check the "Remember Me?" box when you sign and make sure you've set your time zone correctly in your profile, and you won't have any problems.

[cantornikolaos]

Thanks! That seems to have done it.

[michaelhoddy]

Really, any electronic organ with a MIDI interface can be made to drive pipes. If the MIDI interface on the organ can send stop on/off data as well as note data, AND you can turn the electronic stops off on an individual basis, it gets pretty easy to implement at least up to the relay and other equipment for the pipes. All of the major makers have done it, it's not really a unique feature.

Ahlborn-Galanti combined the above basic features with an external POMI (pipe organ MIDI interface) board to drive pipe relays, as well as a thermistor-based temperature sensor that installed in the pipe chamber to track the tuning of the digital organ to the pipework. In my time with and around them, I only saw one pipe/digital combo- a Chronicler III with I think 4 ranks of pipework. It was very much a custom job, as really any combination organ was, except perhaps the ones which came out of the Rodgers factory, which had their own issues of voicing and regulation in many cases. I also installed and played with a few of Ahlborn Archive module installations on pipe organs. As far as I'm aware, A-G's first hybrid organs were done using Chronicler-series organs in the early-mid 90's.

Really, the success of a combination organ is much more dependent on the abilities and artistry of the technicians and voicers doing the install than it is on the inherent capabilities of the digital organ involved.

And also, once again, none of the stock Ahlborn-Galanti organs were available from the factory with moving capture, and the smaller ones were not available with lighted drawknobs, just the stoptabs.

[cantornikolaos]

I agree that the success of a hybrid pipe organ's electronics has a lot to do with voicing and installation. I've heard Allen MDS organs that blow my doors off, but there is the one at my church. It also applies to totally electronic organs.

I played an Ahlborn Galanti SL-300 this summer and loved it! It sounded WAY better than the Allen MDS and it was just sitting in a showroom with console speakers! I didn't go for the light up rocker tabs. I'd love to put guts from a smaller drake Series organ inside a beautiful console and add my small pipe organ to it.

[arie v]

Hi Nikolaos,

I used to have an Ahlborn SL300 as a rental organ for maybe 3 years. I really got to like it as an instrument. Although an SL instrument, which was less expensive than the Chronicler line, this one had a good balance between number of stops and hardware. If one put the voicing hardware on, it was just as voiceable as the Chronicler series.

Besides adding the voicing rig to it, I also changed some components to the crossover for the internal speakers. Besides that I branched out the external audio from 2 channels out to 8 channels.

I always got compliments on how good the organ sounded, and I had it in concert halls, large churches, hotels, etc.

So, even if it didn't look like an expensive organ, it sounded much better than it looked.

AV

[cantornikolaos]

I wanted to do that to an SL-300. 8 Channels is pretty good for an organ from the 1990s! There was one in a showroom for $20,000. I thought that was high, but the sound was amazing! It sat in the showroom and I played it once in a while for the last 3-4 years. A church bought it recently and I'd like to go hear it.

[arie v]

Nikolaos,

I would say $20,000 just for the SL-300 console would have been on the high side. I am assuming here US pricing.

I believe that the SL-300 ceased production around 2005 or possibly 2006.

AV

Addendum:

I just found an A-G price list dated Jan. '06. In my judgement the standard colour SL-300 should have retailed for no more than $17,500 max. in the US. Even in the light oak finish, it would have been $20,000 maximum, but I doubt that many in that colour were brought in. From the price list, it is hard to know, whether the SL-300 was still in production, or whether there was still existing stock on them. In the late 90s and into the early '00s they were a popular model.

AV

[cantornikolaos]

Did the SL line begin production in 1995 or 1996? It blows the doors off my church's Allen MDS! I'm sure with some good voicing and a better speaker configuration, the MDS-26 could be pretty nice. My initial experience with the SL-300 is sitting at the console with speakers on the floor right next to me and no reverb added. It blew the doors off the MDS! When I cranked up the reverb, it was freakin' awesome!

[arie v]

Hi,

From the schematics I would say that the SL 250 and SL 300 started production in 1996, at least for North America bound product. These instruments were improved on in 1999, with better vinyl woodgrain finish.

I'm sure that the SL 300 would have a more pipe-like tone than a small Allen MDS model. With all the modifications and voicing I did on it, it was a very elegant, classical sound.

AV

[radagast]

The reason I get the impression Allen is not thrilled about pipe organ hybrids is the time they took to do it. Rodgers started in the 1970s and has been doing it since.

Really, any electronic organ with a MIDI interface can be made to drive pipes.

I was told that Allen waited to get involved with hybrid installations until they had a pitch matching system they were satisfied with.