Organteq 2 Tutorial : General Overview

[Music] Hi everyone, and welcome to this series of video tutorials on Organteq 2. The aim of this series is to provide an exhaustive walkthrough of Organteq 2, the last physically modeled pipe organ of Modartt. We will see how to use its organ console, many features, and functionalities; how to customize your organ sound from the general characteristics to the individual voicing of every pipe. Hopefully, this series will also provide some basic information on the wonderful instrument that is the organ, for those of you who want to discover it. A last few words before starting: as you can hear, I am a native English speaker, so all these series will have French and English subtitles available.

Let's go! First, I want to stress out that you don't necessarily have to possess a real MIDI organ console, nor a pedalboard or very fancy controllers, to use Organteq. You can already have a lot of fun and exploit Organteq to almost its full potential with a very minimalistic MIDI setup. That's why, for this series of video, I will just use one keyboard controller and an occasional launch pad. So that is the main view of Organteq 2. We'll start with a short overview of the main GUI buttons. At the top, you have here a small MIDI player for playing and recording your performances or MIDI files.

Here is a drop-down menu of the recent MIDI files and the recently played notes on the keyboard. For instance, if I play: [Music] I have here my last played notes.

You have here a metronome with different tempo and time signature options. Then you see here the name of the current preset. Clicking on this button will open a drop-down menu where you can choose among the different presets. The star here is to mark a preset as a favourite. Side arrows let you navigate between the presets. Keyboard shortcuts are "N" for next and "P" for previous.

Auto-completion and filter search by character is implemented for easiness. For instance, for this video, I will use the preset Romantic ... Cathedral.

This button shows the name of the current MIDI mapping. A click on this icon will open the MIDI mapping: action mapping and keyboard mapping windows here. That will be the subject of the next video, so I pass quickly.

Note here that there is a "pin" button to attach the current MIDI mappings in case you want to keep it while browsing through the presets.

Let's go back to Romantic Cathedral. Then, this toolbar is for opening another preset window and different presets management features: copy, paste, and freeze filter. This is an advanced functionality that we'll see later on.

Then the lowest toolbar shows the current diapason and temperament settings as well as a general volume slider. A limiter then can be switched on or off: the organ has a huge dynamic range, so it can be quite useful. Then, a reverb mix slider with a switch on or off, and I will keep that button for the end of the video.

Let's now have a look at the main console view: here you have three manual keyboards (called divisions).

From the top to the bottom, you have (I just change now my MIDI mapping so I can play on the four different divisions).

So from the top, you have the Swell (or "Récit"), then you'll have the Great (or "Grand Orgue"), then you have the Positive ("Positif"), and then the Pedal.

[Music] For each of these divisions (or keyboards), you have access to different organ stops. You will find them on the side of each keyboard, some stop drawknobs to switch stops on or off. I will show you very quickly the 'Stop Edit' panel so we can see the full name here of the stops. A specific video on this panel will follow, but I just want to say two things for those who are quite unfamiliar with the organ. First, there are two types of organ stops: the Flue pipes, here in white, and the Reed pipes, highlighted here in red and distinguished in the main console view with a red felt on the drawknob here. Second, you will notice that each pipe has a number in its name. These numbers are actually related to the stop pitch and directly refer to its height in feet. Indeed, the pitch of an acoustic pipe is directly related to its height: the greater the height, the lower the pitch. The point of reference for all stops specifications (so for all stop numbers) is the lowest note on the manual or the pedal: the low C.

8 ft. is roughly the height of a flue pipe that produces this C of approximately 64 Hertz, so two octaves and a sixth below the A440 Hz.

So by some language abuse, the organ stops that will sound at the low C 64 Hertz when that key is pressed will be called: the 8 ft pipes. If you divide that length by two, your pipe will sound at the octave. For instance, I draw this 4 ft pipe. It plays one octave higher than this 8 ft pipe. Logically, this 2 ft pipe will speak at another octave ...

... and so on and so on. Similarly, if you double the length of the pipe, you will go an octave lower: this 16 feet, for instance.

Then, on the pedal, you'll occasionally have some 32 ft pipes whose lowest notes are almost subsonic: near 16 Hz for the low C.

Except for the octave and unison sounding stops (so 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1 ft), there are also stops that sound at other pitches.

They are usually following the whole series of harmonics. You'll have some fifth sounding ranks (for instance this one) and also major thirds. [Music] Here's the third.

[Music] And even some seventh sounding ranks. Okay, let's go back to the main view.

This wooden panel gathers all the features and functionalities of Organteq 2. I'll go very quickly here as each of them will have its own tutorial video.

First, the couplers here that send notes from a keyboard to another keyboard. For instance, I play here on the Great (Grand Orgue). This coupler will send all notes played on the Great to the Positive. Same for the Swell (Récit). Then you have three customizable expression pedals to modulate the dynamic and volume of your organ.

[Music] Here are the four monophonic couplers of Organteq 2. They are quite a novelty. For instance, this one will send the highest note played on the Great to the Positive. Just below the monophonic couplers are the four Tremblants (or Tremulants). For instance, I'll activate this one. [Music] [Also Music.] So this is the Tremblant.

Here is the crescendo pedal which triggers a pre-recorded sequence of stops, couplers, and tremulants switches. Note that the switches that are triggered with the crescendo appear ghosted on the main GUI.

Then you have the general cancel button to switch off all the devices and stops.

The Tutti button which activates all the stop switches. On the left: 10 combinations buttons that store and trigger different organ console [Music] states (called 'combinations').

[Music] Then you all you'll have these buttons that open two alternate views that Organteq 2 offers. They are called 'Jamb Views'.

This is the jamb view. Keyboard shortcuts are "J" for the 'Single Jamb' view, which is attached by default to the main window but it can be, as you see, detachable, and "K" for the 'Double Jamb' window which is detached by default. Let's go back to the Jamb Views. They gather all the organ console information in a very condensed and minimalistic way, without the graphical representations of the keyboards, pedals, and so on and so on. They were designed primarily for touchscreen users but are also quite useful for regular computer use. The stop switches are sorted here by division: Swell (Récit), Great, Positive, Pedal. You can switch on and off several stops with a single mouse drag, which is quite convenient.

On the right, you have the crescendo pedal. Note again that stops that are activated by the crescendo are also ghosted.

Then you'll have the three different expression pedals. Then you will have here the combinations buttons.

Here the different tremulants, couplers, and monophonic couplers. Then the 'Cancel' and 'Tutti' buttons. Finally, some last quick words on the Settings of Organteq 2. This button opens the eight different settings pa

This wooden panel gathers all the features and functionalities of Organteq 2. I'll go very quickly here as each of them will have its own tutorial video.

First the couplers here that send notes from a keyboard to another keyboard. For instance I play here on the Great.

(Grand Orgue) This coupler will send all notes played on the Great to the Positive. Same for the Swell (Récit). Then you have three customizable expression pedals to modulate the dynamic and volume of your organ.

[Music] Here are the four monophonic couplers of Organteq 2. They are quite a novelty. For instance this one will send the highest note play on the Great to the Positive. Just below the monophonic couplers are the four Tremblants (or

Tremulants). For instance I'll activate this one [Music] [Also Music.] So this is the Tremblant.

Here is the crescendo pedal which triggers a pre-recorded sequence of stops, couplers and tremulants switches. Note that the switches that are triggered with the crescendo appears ghosted on the main GUI.

Then you have the general cancel button to switch off all the devices and stops.

The Tutti button which activates all the stop switches. On the left : 10 combinations buttons that store and trigger different organ console [Music] states (called 'combinations').

[Music] Then you all you'll have these buttons that open two alternate views that Organteq 2 offers. They are called 'Jamb Views'.

This is the jamb view. Keyboard shortcuts are "J" for the 'Single Jamb' view, which is attached by default to the main window but it can be as you see detachable, and "K" for the 'Double Jamb' window which is detached by

default. Let's go back to the Jamb Views. They gather all the organ console informations in a very condensed and minimalistic way, without the graphical representations of the keyboards, pedals and so on and so on. They were designed primarily for touchscreens users but are

also quite useful for regular computer use. The stop switches are sorted here by division : Swell (Récit), Great, Positive, Pedal. You can switch on and off several stops with a single mouse drag which is quite convenient.

On the right you have the crescendo pedal. Note again that stops that are activated by the crescendo are also ghosted.

Then you'll have the three different expression pedal Then you will have here the combinations buttons.

Here the different tremulants, couplers and monophonic couplers. Then the 'Cancel' and 'Tutti' buttons. Finally, some last quick words on the Settings of Organteq 2. This button open the eight different settings panel of Organteq 2, and each of them is used to customize a specific

feature of Organteq 2. Each of them will have its own tutorial video. Okay so that's it guys! Next week on the next video we will see how to set up your MIDI controller, your MIDI mappings and basically how

to set up all your MIDI environment to make the most of Organteq 2. Until then, don't hesitate to check our website modartt.com to listen to some Organteq 2 audio demos.

[Music] Cheers !