Meet the Meta Organ
A Meta Organ opens up a whole new world of pipe organ possibilities, the same way the smartphone has for your life in general!
Meta Organwork’s unique approach is to take the best of current technologies and wrap them in ‘old school’ pipe organ building craftsmanship, artistry, and values to deliver to you a complete musical instrument voiced to your space and ready to bring your performances to life.
How Meta Organworks has solved the issue of Longevity
For decades electronic/digital organs have been driven by proprietary technology that lasts between 20 to 30 years- they were treated as practically throwaway appliances with service and repair being costly and difficult to secure. All that changes with a Meta Organ. The technologies we use are universal and therefore readily available, interchangeable, and affordable.
A Meta Organ is the last organ you’ll ever buy! That’s a bold statement but that doesn’t mean that it will never need repairs or that parts won’t wear out. What it does mean, is that the technologies that we use are universal and therefore readily available, interchangeable, and affordable.
Universal Technologies
A Meta Organ uses a Windows based PC, a professional quality sound system that utilizes brand name audio components, commercial grade touch screens, or traditional organ hardware. All these elements were created by multinational corporations that have invested millions into the research and development of their products. Contrast this with the tiny industry of pipe organ switching systems (which are all specialty computers) and the proprietary world of digital organs. If any element fails on an older proprietary digital organ, chances are that that particular model has become obsolete, parts are no longer available, and it can’t be repaired. Meta is leading the way in the paradigm shift from proprietary to universality in the organ industry. We believe this shift is in the best interest of the church and will help keep the pipe organ alive and vital as an artistic medium for sacred music.
People have this notion that a personal computer is problematic, but the reality is that you’re asking it to do a million different things and it’s online getting all sorts of evasive elements from the internet. If you make a PC be a unitasker and never put it on line, the truth is that a PC is extraordinarily reliable. A Meta Organ’s computer is serviceable like any other PC. It has been designed, built, and programmed by us to serve as the “brain” of your organ and is never put online. This singular purpose considerably extends the life of the computer. And, rest assured, should you experience difficulties with your organ’s computer, all your software and sample sets’ customized settings that we have created for your church are backed up and easily restored by either Meta’s comprehensive tech support or a third-party computer technician.
All our organs come with lifetime tech support.
A Purpose-Built PC
Non-Proprietary MIDI Organ Hardware
The actual organ hardware is the only specialty element in a Meta organ but if the organ hardware were to wear out, they are all built on standard, universal MIDI technology and can be replaced in the future by any MIDI hardware. MIDI circuit boards, keyboards, pedalboard, pistons, and swell shoes are available from several suppliers and are so simple and easily copied that they are generally not patented by the companies that make them. So even if an original manufacturer were to go out of business, another MIDI supplier’s equipment could be used.
We’ve spent a lot of time and money on designing and executing prototypes that have come to be the Meta Organ’s console. Our goal was to create a beautiful piece of traditional cabinetry influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement (Mission style), Danish Modern, and Japanese ascetics. We build both fully hardwood consoles and high-quality oak veneered plywood consoles for environments that may see more extremes in humidity conditions. Either style is a well-made piece of furniture built with traditional craftsman methods and precision CNC manufacturing technologies. It is built to last for generations, is easily moved, and can also be refinished.