Felice Platania (Sicilian) 1827
Principale 2do
Voce Umana
Flutta
Flauto in 8va
Flauto in XII
Cornetta 1 3/5

Principale
Ottava
XV
XIX
Tre di Ripieno
Contrabasso
Rinforzi
Tira Ripieno
 

New

+

Download link 

Balzan Parish Organ

Samples recorded at 24bit 96000Hz by: Mark Bugeja MD MMCFD (Malta) © 2013
Sample-set owners: Mark Bugeja & Panos K. Ghekas © 2013
Samples processing, sf2, disposition & odf: Panos K. Ghekas (Greece) and Mark Bugeja (Malta) © 2013
Photos: Sarah Bugeja Kissaun (Malta) © 2013
Graphics: Mark Bugeja (Malta) © 2013
Beta Testers: Graham Goode (S. Africa) and Erik De Schrijver (Belgium)
Balzan Parish Organ History: Click Here
Balzan Parish (Church of the Annunciation) History: Click Here
Thanks to: The Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Kalcidon Vassallo for allowing me access to the organ and accomplishing the task of recording the pipe sounds and to Eng. Robert Buhagiar and Dr. Hugo Agius Muscat and our Beta testers for advice, information, suggestions and guidance given to make this sample-set better.

Music Samples: click here


Link to the Order Form to obtain any of the free versions of this organ:

 
jOrgan version
Main Console of Balzan Virtual Pipe Organ

Controls Panel for Balzan VPO

Balzan.disposition (jOrgan [sf2]) characteristics:
  • Samples at 24bits 48000Hz
  • 12 samples per octave full compass
  • Single loops
  • Tracker, drawstop, blower effects
  • Dual Screens
  • Individual control of sound elements in real-time on screen
UPDATES:
  • Dec. 2013 (v1.1)
    * Fixed "pistol firing" sound when opening disposition and when coming out of construction mode;
    * Disposition updated for use with latest jOrgan version 3.20 and up, no backward compatability!
    * Added two more disposition models by Jean-Pool Cemieux, both 2m/p extensions and dry;
    * Added Midi file performance on Mendelssohn by Jean-Pool;
    * Some other minor fixes and improvements.
    ----------------------------------
    For samples of music using this VPO, please click here.
  • Sincere thanks to
  • Jean-Pool for his new extended models and his Mendelssohn performance
  • John Aquilina (Malta) for his 5 performances.
This is an extended version of Balzan organ for 2M+P. The pedal compass has been extended to 25 keys and a solo trumpet added. Since this is a separate soundfont, it can only be used with dsound or WASAPI but NOT ASIO.
Controlling GO with jOrgan

Closely coupling the GO-engine to jOrgan to only take care of producing sound has the advantage that building an organ disposition can then be done completely in jOrgan. This would make it possible to use a large number of existing sample sets recorded in .wav format.
.
Pending the availability of this close coupling between jOrgan and the GO-engine, the next best but already feasible alternative is to use jOrgan as the GUI to drive GrandOrgue. The benefits of this approach are the use of the elegant GUI construction inherent to jOrgan and the benefit of .wav format recorded sample sets.
.
Thanks goes to Erik de Schrijver for taking the initiative of preparing the files and a step-by-step guide to setting up jOrgan and GrandOrgue to play our Balzan Sample-set.
.
The zipped files can be downloaded directly by clicking the button below. You will also need to order the free, wet, (original) sample-set for GO from the button at the top of this page if you do not already have it. Donations towards this project will be gratefully appreciated. We spent hundreds of hours creating this set but I am very happy that it was an enormous success! I say "I" not "we" since Panos is no longer with us. However, I am still obliged to see that his family continues to benefit from the legacy of the work he has done, through your donations.
Balzan for Reaper
This is the direct download button for Balzan for Reaper, an sf2 player.
Thanks to Nicholas B MacNutt. 

IR Files

For those who would like to have the special IR (Impulse Response) files from Balzan Church's environment they are being included here for separate downloading. These would provide a good solution for those with the dry sets of Balzan Organ to add the original Balzan Church reverb. 

We plan to do an IR data base of all the Maltese Churches we visit as we sample their organs.

Kontakt 5 version

This is one of 3 interactive consoles as seen on the jOrgan

front-end (Maltese Modern Organ 1 v1) based on the Balzan sampleset that has been completely re-worked for Kontakt 5 player.


Here, you will find 3 organs represented by the file names:

- Platania_1827_Organ_ (434Hz_Va)   -> Original, Valotti temp.
- Chamber_Organ_ (a-440Hz_Equal)    -> Original, Equal temp.
- Extended_2m) p_Organ_ (440Hz_Eq) -> Extended, MMO


See also here.


You can hear Panos Ghekas play on the MMO-1 v1 here and here

ARIA version

GrandOrgue version

Balzan Organ (DRY-MOIST) v1.0 for GrandOrgue v3.1.1691

This is the dry-moist version best for playing in a church or hall

  • Pure wav files at 24 bit 48000Hz
  • Multi-sampled, 12 samples per octave, full compass
  • Full tracker, drawstop, blower effects

Balzan Organ (WET) v1.0 for GrandOrgue v3.1.1726
  • Pure wav files at 24 bits 48000Hz
  • Multi-sampled, 12 samples per octave, full compass
  • Multi-loops
  • Multi-releases
  • Full tracker, drawstop, blower, original church bells

* NB: Alternative odf has been added. This includes the missing labels, sets Blower and Fx switch off by default and the Fx switch also disables the stop on/off noises. All functionality has been retained.

Hauptwerk versions

Now we are finally offering a dry and a wet version for HW 4. To order your free link, click on the button at the top of this page.

To play this set in the original Vallotti-Tartini temperament simply install this temperament which is included in the package from Hauptwerk itself.

Ringtones for Phones

Balzan ringtones by Nicholas MacNutt

Extended Versions

Extended versions for GO and HW4 are available upon a donation made towards the project.

An extension to the pedals has been created for the GO version. The pedals now spans from C1 to F3. The pedal folder and new odf are available from us upon request. Obviously you need to have the extended wet version for GO. You can email us here for the link. Hopefully we will have a similar update for the extended version for HW4 too, soon.

Like any other software, dispositions may present issues that have not been detected before. These will usually be very minor. We, nevertheless, value your feedback and comments so please do write to us. We really would like to hear from you and we thank you most heartily in anticipation.
Any commercial use of this sampleset is strictly prohibited.
Uploading this set to any other site is not allowed.
Link to this site for download.
Full licensing details are included in the download package.