Hybrid Organs

We are increasingly hearing about ‘hybrid’ or ‘combination organs’ in the organ world. But what exactly does that mean? A ‘combination organ’, the word says it already, is a combination between a pipe organ and a digital organ.

This combination can offer your church many different advantages. For example, you can replace your old-fashioned console with a, often less expensive, digital console. You also have the option of very simply adding extra voices to your current pipe organ.

Johannus Organs has been a forerunner with the development and building of ‘combination organs’ for the past 10 years. The advanced technology used for this purpose has proven to be very reliable and fast. An American pipe organ builder, who has now built many installations using our technology, put it quite simply:

“HYBRID ORGAN SOLUTIONS©: PERFECT RELIABLE PERFORMANCE AT ITS BEST
IN TODAY'S ADVANCING TECHNOLOGICAL WORLD”.

Option 1: We need a new console for our pipe organ.

You own a good pipe organ, but the electric console now needs replacing, as the keyboards and registers no longer function properly.

Solution:
Johannus Orgelbouw can offer you a complete console in such situations. This console will be custom made especially for your church.

The console’s information will be sent to our Pipe Midi Interface, which directly controls the pipes in the pipe organ, via High Speed MIDI.

The advantage of this solution is that you will benefit from the relatively low costs of the new digital console. Scale advantages mean Johannus’ consoles are generally less expensive than the consoles supplied by the traditional pipe organ builders.

Another added advantage is that the MIDI information is sent via a thin cable. You also have the option of connecting, for example, our MIDI Sequencer + to your pipe organ, as Johannus uses MIDI. This will allow you to always record your organ playing and play this back again at the touch of a button.

Option 2: We need extra voices for our pipe organ.

You own a good pipe organ, but you are missing a number of organ voices. However, your organ case does not have space for extra organ pipes.

Solution a)
In such situations Johannus Orgelbouw can offer you the Digital Stop Unit. The Digital Stop Unit is a module which houses the digital voices chosen by you. These voices will subsequently be reproduced in the organ case via loudspeakers.

A number of provisions will need to be built into the existing console to ensure the organ voices can be efficiently controlled. We will prepare an inventory per organ for this purpose. It goes without saying that this solution can also be very effectively combined with Option 1.

Solution b)
In most cases it is also possible to control new pipe voices with the help of our Pipe Midi Interface. In such cases new register controls will need to be added to the existing console. This solution can be effectively combined with Option 1.

There are, of course, several other possible situations and solutions. We can generally state that the best results are achieved in combination with electro-pneumatic organs. It goes without saying that you are always more than welcome to contact us for free advice.