Meta Organworks has solved the biggest problem of digital organ building: Realism
A Meta Organ is the closest you can get to an acoustic pipe organ.
So, let’s get this out in the open—a Meta Organ has no pipes. This may be problematic for you, and we understand where you’re coming from. In fact, Meta Organworks founder, Dan Lemieux, a traditional pipe organ builder, had ignored digital organs for the vast majority of his career because they never felt or sounded very musical to him.
However, Dan’s view of the digital organ changed in 2015 when he began working with Hauptwerk software-based virtual pipe organs. Dan realized the potential to create a digital organ where one no longer has to settle for that pipe organ-like sound. With its balance of technology and craftsmanship, the Meta Organ produces a level of realism that is unparalleled in the realm of digital organs.
So, how do we achieve our unparalleled sound and realism?
The Right Sound Engine
First of all, the foundation of a Meta Organ is the best pipe organ sampling software sound engine ever invented, Hauptwerk. Over the last 15 years, this program has continually been refined and perfected. Hauptwerk delivers the most convincing pipe organ sound replication possible. The computers we build have been designed solely for the purpose of optimizing the Hauptwerk software sound engine’s potential, utilizing large amounts of memory (RAM) to deliver high definition pipe samples.
We select only the best sample sets available, and favor the newest ones that have benefited from the producers’ own R&D. Realism starts with great pipe samples! Meta Organs contain a collection of sample sets that reflect all the major schools of organ building throughout history and the world. We believe that the works of the great master organ builders should be respected and curated into a new space while maintaining the original vision of the builder.
Curation
Interpretation
Meta Organworks picks up where Hauptwerk and sample set producers leave off. Raw pipe samples have to be made to sound realistic and beautiful in a new room, which is not an easy straightforward task.
Based on our 20 years of experience in acoustic pipe organ work, we have perfected how to utilize multiple pipe samples by voicing in order to suit a new performance space.
The key is to let the original builder’s vision remain intact, while, at the same time, making the pipework sound naturally beautiful and psycho-acoustically believable.
One mistake that old-school digital organ companies make is a lackluster audio system, with many being similar to home stereo systems in the 1980s. In contrast, Meta Organs use multi channeling and high definition, state of the art, professional audio equipment. No matter how many pipes are played, the computer algorithm distributes the pipe load evenly across all the channels, which makes for a much more realistic sound.
When our founder, Dan Lemieux, began building speaker based organs, he made a pledge:
“What comes out of the speakers, must sound exactly like what I have heard for the last 25+ years in the chambers and cases of real pipe organs.”
The Right Sound System
It’s not just another digital organ, it’s a virtual pipe organ.
Meta Organs contain a collection of sample sets that reflect all the major schools of organ building throughout history and the world:
Keidrich
Ruckers Harpsicord
Baroque Harpsichord
A two manual harpsichord.
St. Etienne
French Romantic Cathedral Organ
This Cavaillé-Coll French Romantic organ resides at the St. Etienne abby in Caen, France. Since 1975, the organ is listed as a national cultural heritage. This is the instrument the famous French organist, Marie Claire Alain, chose to record the complete works of César Frank.