cheap keyboard with realistic pipe organ sound

[wegmann4]

Hello,

I'm really new at this domain and I would really like to have a simple electronic keyboard that reproduces very well the sound of a BIG real life pipe organ with really BIG number of registers and pipes and everything :)
This is the sound I want to real closest to: https://youtu.be/57irEFSyCtM

Start your recommendations right away :D

Thank you!

[rjsilva]

What's your budget?

[andyg]

'Simple electronic keyboard', 'cheap' and 'the sound of a BIG real life pipe organ with really BIG number of registers and pipes and everything' don't usually go together.

As rjsilva said, what's your budget? There are a few single manual organs on the market, both new and used, but we can't advise you further without more info from you.

[Silken Path]

Oddly, my Roland piano has some drastic pipe organ sounds that aren't far from that example... But I suspect that one or two inexpensive, but good, MIDI controllers, such as the red Behringers that people buy to harvest the manual inside, and Hauptwerk or GrandOrgue with a touchscreen monitor, laptop, or all-in-one would get you the MOST registers. However, you'd need a pedalboard, too. MIDI pedalboards are pretty expensive, but if you're handy you can convert an old pedalboard to MIDI to use with a virtual organ. Hauptwerk also works with a large number of manufactured organs.

And hmmm - could this be an example of where that new Johannus "One" could come in? http://www.johannus.com/

[radagast]

Some of the newer home keyboards from Yamaha, Roland, Casio, and maybe some others, usually have a sound that is supposed to be a large pipe organ. The realism is going to range from dismal to passable (using some imagination). If you have a music store close by, I would suggest auditioning some of them. They will have built in speakers which mean you have to listen through good set of headphones or external speaker system to get an accurate idea of how good it is.

[rjsilva]

About 20 years ago I had an Ensoniq TS12 and did Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor using the sequencer. I don't remember exactly what organ sounds it had by default, and I think I created/modified some, but I was able to use a few different registrations. You can find a TS12 or TS10 used for around $600+ today. Didn't sound fantastically realistic though, but they did have excellent effects especially for the time. The effects were 24-bit and flexible.

Still would be really helpful to know how much wegmann4 wants to spend.

[radagast]

This is an example of what to expect.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ir-PVSRx3_8

[organman95]

Some of the newer home keyboards from Yamaha, Roland, Casio, and maybe some others, usually have a sound that is supposed to be a large pipe organ. The realism is going to range from dismal to passable (using some imagination). If you have a music store close by, I would suggest auditioning some of them. They will have built in speakers which mean you have to listen through good set of headphones or external speaker system to get an accurate idea of how good it is.

While I think the "pipe organ" sound on keyboards has certainly sounds better than it did in years past, I still don't like it. Way too shrill to my ears, no matter what manufacturer has it. The cool thing I like is that on the larger keyboards many are making single stops now, that can be layered/combined together. I played a Kawai recently that has a decent 8' Principal and 4' Octave that paired quite nicely to my ears.

[myorgan]

While I think the "pipe organ" sound on keyboards has certainly sounds better than it did in years past, I still don't like it. Way too shrill to my ears, no matter what manufacturer has it. The cool thing I like is that on the larger keyboards many are making single stops now, that can be layered/combined together. I played a Kawai recently that has a decent 8' Principal and 4' Octave that paired quite nicely to my ears.

Organman,

AMEN!!! to the way too shrill part. I've noticed that about any church organ patch on any keyboard I've played. However, I can clearly tell Andy was involved in the development of the Kawai sounds. They allow a specific family of stops, as well as a specific pitch or combination of pitches. That helps tame the savage beast.

OTOH, on my Technics SX-PR604 (the Technics SX-PR600 was too fake IMHO), the Cathedral Organ is too shrill. However, if one goes into the advanced controls, the equalization parameters can be graphically edited on a choice of bands while immediately hearing the result.

Now back to the shrill sound. If one is playing the piano on stage in a larger venue (without feeding it through some tech's sound system where they can totally ruin the sound out of ignorance), the shrillness of the sound disappears in proportion to the size of the auditorium. While on stage it sounds shrill, the high frequencies don't have the carrying power of the lower frequencies. Therefore, when it reaches the audience's ears, much of that shrillness is tamed and then sounds balanced.

Michael

P.S. Is it me, or do too many sound people lose the high frequencies in venues due to feedback fears? To me, it makes everything sound tubby and fat/hollow sounding.
P.P.S. I've seen a Technics SX-PR604 listed out West for as low as $500. Not sure why it's so low.

[Leisesturm]

The reason why keyboards that have organ patches sound shrill is because there is no 'gravitas' to the sound. The internal speakers are, at most, 6" to 8" and that just isn't sufficient to provide enough mid-low and low bass to counterweight the easily produced upper pitches. This is the same reason that many budget pipe organs sound shrill: there may be as few as one 16' stop to counterweight several 4' and 2' stops and maybe mixtures too. Put enough foundation under the exact same complement of upperwork and the total effect sounds 'grand' instead of 'grating'.

[KOC62]

Well, ... if one could do the same test with a good set of headphones to assess the "tonal balance" we can then separate the speaker and room acoustics from the actual organ sounds to assess the source of the shrillness.

[organman95]

Organman,AMEN!!! to the way too shrill part. I've noticed that about any church organ patch on any keyboard I've played. However, I can clearly tell Andy was involved in the development of the Kawai sounds. They allow a specific family of stops, as well as a specific pitch or combination of pitches. That helps tame the savage beast.

Who is Andy? I may want to speak with him about the organ patches on Kawai...

[Silken Path]

Andy is AndyG here on the forum. We can't cover him in accolades enough...

[myorgan]

Andy is AndyG here on the forum. We can't cover him in accolades enough...

Sorry, I should have clarified. Once you've participated in certain Forums enough, you learn the major players in each area. Obviously, AndyG is one of them!:-B

I apologize for assuming. We all know what that does!;-)

Michael

[organman95]

Sorry, I should have clarified. Once you've participated in certain Forums enough, you learn the major players in each area. Obviously, AndyG is one of them!:-BI apologize for assuming. We all know what that does!;-)Michael

Well I know you, John, and Arie LOL