Building a VPO disposition

[samibe]

I received this request and thought it might be useful to the forum in general at least for those of us still figuring things out (and also to utilize the collective wisdom on this forum).

I need advice on creating my own dispositions. I have a few sample folders consisting of 61 notes each. I want to combine those sample folders to create a disposition for Jorgan or Hauptwerk. Can you please assist me on how to go about please? I might have to voice them say to 442hz so they match.
Greetings
John

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I'm only familiar with jOrgan. So if you want to make a disposition for Hauptwerk or GrandOrgue, someone else will need to weigh in.

For jOrgan the first thing you will need to do is set up a soundfont with a soundfont editor. I like Polyphone.
You will need to import all of your samples into the soundfont. Then you will need to associate each sample with the correct note and correct the tuning (if needed). You'll also need to set up looping for each sample.
You will then make an instruments (which will be the ranks) with all of the samples associated with each rank referenced to the correct note(s) and set the looping type. There are some other parameters that can also be set for the whole rank instrument (rank) or for the individual samples.
Then you will need to add each instrument to a separate preset. I find that I can do most of my adjustments to the samples and instruments so that I don't need to do anything else with the preset. The preset is what jOrgan references with its synth elements.

For more information check out the new jOrgan website www.jOrgan.info and the Polyphone website https://www.polyphone-soundfonts.com...ntation/manual

sam thanks for reply. Is it best if I import the wav files say for principal and make an instrument then do the trumpet etc

If the sample file names are named different between the two sets of samples they can all be brought in together. You can select all of the samples in a folder and drag-and-drop them into Polyphone. If the samples are named so that they would be hard to tell apart, it would probably be best to bring in the samples for one instrument and put that instrument together before bringing in the samples for the next instrument.

You could also make separate soundfonts for each set of samples and then combine them all together when you get done. (Or leave them separate and have more options for configuring channels but that is beyond anything I have done.)

[Johnallen]

Ehen tuning a few cents up, must I do 1 by 1 wav file or could I do all 61 wav filestogether?

[samibe]

Polyphone will allow you to select all (or several) of the samples and change most of the parameters altogether.
You should be able to select all of your samples (that you want to change) and that will show a table with all of the adjustable properties in rows. Select all of the cells in the Correction(cents) row, type 1, hit enter and it should put a 1 in each cell of that row.

[Johnallen]

Good can I add couplers?

[samibe]

You can add couplers in jOrgan.

To set up a jOrgan disposition, I copy one of the sample dispositions (folder and all), rename it, and open it. Usually I will delete all but one or two of the stops and ranks. You will need to import all of your soundfont(s) with associated stop elements. I keep a couple of original stop and rank elements to use as a reference (so that I can make sure I set up the new ones correctly) then I delete the rest of the old stops and ranks.

You can also use the sample disposition to figure out how to set up and link midi devices, expression shoes, link couplers, stops, ranks, pistons, fluidsynth, etc. together to get everything to function as expected.

As you get further into the weeds this page will become much more helpful: https://jorgan.info/page2.html
There are several user manuals that jOrgan community members have put together that can be downloaded from the "What if they don't work?" section of the page.

[Johnallen]

I am having some dificulty to open soundfont file in jOrgan to create disposition. Any help? Also can I design nice buttons for stops? I downloaded the ADC disposition andcit showed kindvof lists.

[samibe]

Before trying to bring in a soundfont, I would set up the disposition. This involves creating console, keyboard, synth, etc. elements. Then linking them together and associating them with appropriate skins and other external links. This part takes a lot of time and can be very confusing the first time. It is much easier to see how others have set things up and then tweak what they did to match what you have and are trying to do. This I why I would modify an existing disposition (probably not one of mine because I made special stop elements that don't look like stops). There should be a few basic (example) dispositions in the C:\Program Files\jOrgan folder on your computer (assuming you are using windows) (also it is good practice to place dispositions somewhere other than the Program Files directory). If there aren't any, you may have to download them from the jorgan.info website.

The main trouble (or misunderstanding) is probably what jOrgan does when you "import" a soundfont.
To Import, go to "File" then "Import", select "Soundfont", select "Next >", click the "..." button next to File, browse to the soundfont location and select it, select the Bank number (usually 0), check "Create Stops", click "Next >", Click "All", and click "Finish".
This doesn't import the soundfont because jOrgan can't import a soundfont. What it does is create and properly associate all of the rank and stop elements with the appropriate soundfont presets and each other. (Which saves a ton of time.) You still have to create a fluidsynth element, set its "Soundfont" property to the soundfont you "imported", and then set the fluidsynth element to be "reference from" all of the rank elements.

Edit: You also would need to associate all of the stop elements with the appropriate keyboard elements. If you want to use expression pedals, pistons, etc., you will also need to create those and set up the references properly.

jOrgan is a midi message modifier. It takes midi messages (from keyboards, stops, pistons, expression shoes, etc.), modifies them in various ways and in several steps, and then sends the modified messages to an output that understands and can use the midi messages. In our case that is fluidsynth (or one of the other digital synth elements included) but it could also be used to run signal pipe relays or a different sound engine. In order to get any sound from jOrgan, there need to be input devices, and output devices assigned to a console element. There also need to be several intermediate elements added and chained together so that the midi makes from the input to the output. For example, on one of my dispositions (IIRC) a midi keyboard would send midi messages which would get picked up by an associated "keyboard element". Then the keyboard element would relay the messages to the active stop elements which would then relay the messages to their respective rank elements. The rank elements would then relay the midi to fluidsynth which would generate an audio signal from the midi using the presets that the ranks reference. Summary: Notes on keyboard > midi data > keyboard element > stop element > rank element > fluidsynth (> sounfont) > audio signal.

If you want to get into the thick of creating your own disposition, I would recommend starting with some of the tutorials in Bill Skee's manual (Volume 2). The tutorial dispositions and skins are in the "C:\Program Files\jOrgan\dispositions" and "C:\Program Files\jOrgan\skins" folders respectively. I recommend copying both of those folders to a folder located somewhere other than "Program Files".

[Johnallen]

I managed to create stops but not sure how to create couplers any advice? I also did tutorial and learn to design. I see on your disposition there are more than 1 tab for manuals. Can younperhaps assist me on that please?

[samibe]

You will need to create a coupler element. It is a go-between for a keyboard and a set of stops. The key to setting up a coupler is making sure the reference from and reference to properties are set up correctly. The coupler needs to be "referenced from" a keyboard element and "referenced to" a group of stops.
For example, to set up a Swell to Great coupler, I would:
- Create a coupler element (it looks like a keyboard with a stop symbol next to it) named "Swell to Great"
- Select all of the Swell stops for the coupler to "reference to"
- Select the Great keyboard element for the coupler to "reference from"
- And click finish.
Once the coupler is created you can change some of the properties to get different effects. To create a Sub or Super coupler you can change the Transpose value to -12 or 12 respectively. I did that with some of the couplers in my disposition. I haven't experimented with any of the other properties yet, so I don't know what they do.

[Johnallen]

Thanks Sam 2 more things

How do I create pistons?

Can I use multiple soundfonts in 1 project? If so can you please list steps as I must choose sf in fluitesymph.

Thanks for you help it made things easy

[samibe]

I'm foggy on pistons. I created some a while back but it has been long enough that I don't remember the how they needed to be linked to everything. There should be some information in the example dispostions that would show you how they need to be linked together. I know that they require a "captor" element to set the pistons as well as a "combination" element for each piston. I think the "captor" needed to reference to the "combination" elements and the "combination" elements needed to reference the "stop" and "coupler" elements. I haven't figured out a fool-proof way of doing the cancel piston.

I'm pretty sure you can use multiple soundfonts. You can add multiple fluidsynth elements to a disposition and set the "sounfont" property of each one to a different soundfont. You will then need to make sure that the rank elements that use each soundfont are referenced to the correct fluidsynth elements. (If you "imported" the rank and stop information from each soundfont, setting up fluidsynth elements with the right soundfont property should work. If you created rank elements manually and they don't work, you will need to make sure that the rank elements reference the correct soundfont preset by checking the midi messages. I know how to check midi messages but I don't know how to edit them yet.)

Edit:
For multiple soundfonts, see page 20-4 of Bill Skees' jOrgan Manual Volume 4.
For pistons, see chapter 11 of Bill Skees' jOrgan Manual Volume 2.

[Johnallen]

Do you know how to add swell expression pedal?

[samibe]

I'm less familiar with setting up a expression controls. I think you will need to use a "connector" element and a "continuous filter" element. I think the "connector" element is what you link your non-keyboard midi device inputs to (in the "Customize disposition" dialog box). The "connector" element then links to the "continuous filter" element. The "continuous filter" element would then link to the swell "rank" elements. Beyond that, I don't know exactly what parameters need to be set at to control volume, or timbre, etc. of the "rank" elements. I'm also not exactly sure what the references "to" and "from" should be for the different elements.

Edit: I looked in a couple of existing dispositions.
It looks like the "connector" "references to" all of the controllable elements (switches and continuous) on a disposition (stops, couplers, pistons, captor, continuous filters, etc.).
It looks like the "continuous filter" elements don't "reference to" anything. Instead, they "reference from" the "connector", "rank", and "console" elements. That seems strange to me, but it seems to work.
It also looks like the "value" property for the "continuous filter" element might adjust how much the timbre changes with the volume.

[j reimer]

I haven't figured out a fool-proof way of doing the cancel piston.

There is nothing special about the cancel piston, except that it has to reference all the stops. So we would call it a "general piston". Just make sure that all the stops are off when you set it.

John Reimer

[samibe]

It's just that it can accidentally be set with something else.

I'm wondering if setting it with no stops selected and then removing the "captor" reference to it would make is so that it can't be reprogrammed. I'm not sure what the repercussions of that would be though.