Thinking about Reuter 822 (and friends)'s MIDI playing capabilities, I was thinking that perhaps all of those MIDI files could be used to populate a computer analysis of organ literature in order to generate a unified specification that avoids notes "dropping-out". Maybe the end result would be a straight organ. Still, it would be interesting to find out how much (or little) notes clash on a unit organ playing "the literature".
With proper registration, notes do not drop out, this is a hang over from the days of the organ reform movement. For example we had Christmas carol singing at our Christmas party with a church organist playing. The basic registrations used for much of the playing were:
Great: 8' Tibia, Flute; 4' Octave; 2' Piccolo (each of these ranks are fully independent)
Choir: 8' Diapason; 4' Octave(from same rank); 2' Piccolo , used for contrast
Pedal: 16' Diapason, Bourdon; 8' Bourdon; Choir to Pedal coupler
Combinations like this have virtually no drop out problems when playing on the Great. If octave notes are not present, there are no drop outs when playing on the Choir. Generally, when playing on the Choir, the independent 2' Piccolo tends to always fill out the melody line.
When playing on a unit organ, the organist is responsible for picking the appropriate ensemble sound. In non-unit organs, the organ builder has selected the appropriate ensemble for each manual to his taste. The results are tasteful almost regardless what the organist selectes as the selection is usually limited. Of course with either a straight organ or a unit organ it is possible for the organist to make stop selections that do not sound good. With the unit organ, due to the greater variety of stops on each manual, it is easier for the organist to "mess up".
I love the greater versatility of the unit organ as I can select stops that suit my mood of the moment, of course there are limitations with either type of design; a skilled organist can make either type sound good. In summary, proper selection of stops for whatever type of music is being played will usually eliminate the "drop out" problem.
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