One of the software gadgets I have found (probably one of the better things since the discovery of inside toilets), is a program called Hauptwerk, which is a virtual Pipe Organ program.

 Hauptwerk is a generic computer simulation of a pipe organ. It is a computer program into which you can load different pipe organs and play them using a MIDI keyboard or keyboards. In place of, or in addition to MIDI keyboards, you can use a sequencer to control the organ. It is a specialized form of 'virtual sampler', some other examples of which have recently become available with the rapid increase in computer processing power. It receives MIDI data and produces pipe organ sounds using recordings that have been made of a real pipe organ, hence giving very realistic results.

Unlike many home keyboards and professional synthesizers, which are often sample-based, Hauptwerk has been designed to take advantage of the high processing power and relatively low cost of computer memory to give a far more accurate rendition of an organ than is possible on most keyboards, synthesizers or samplers. Whereas synthesizers and samplers usually use a few small samples, recorded at intervals across the keyboard and time-stretched to provide the remaining notes, Hauptwerk uses a large (three to five second) MP3 recording for every pipe in the organ. For a small parish church organ, this may amount to well over a thousand individual samples. All of these must be stored in memory at once so that they may be recalled instantly when a key is pressed.

You will need a fairly modern and powerful computer to use organs of any size, although there are some cut-down versions for those with lesser systems.

The design philosophy has been to make the interface and functional detail of the program as close to a real pipe organ as possible, whilst being general enough to allow many diverse organs to be accurately simulated. This has been a difficult goal, and although most common mechanical details are accurately reproduced, it is by no means perfect and some of the more obscure features will be forthcoming.

There are already several third-party sources of organ samples available to play in Hauptwerk. Organs from all around the world are being recorded and are Hauptwerk ready, complete with the acoustics of the building! What a concept: the pipe organ almost perfectly reproduced, yet without thousands of pipes, switches, solenoids and God only knows what else to maintain, and all fitting into a small music studio. I love it!!!!

Hauptwerk is not a free program. They offer a trial version that makes a sound every few seconds. If you wish, you may pay the registration fee and get rid of the chirp sound. You can go to http://www.crumhorn-labs.com and check it all out. They have just released version 3 which is loaded with new features.

Some interesting Hauptwerk resources:

Milan Digital Audio ... Providers of Hauptwerk sample sets for your Windows PC.

Lee Christopherson ... Builder of a huge 5-manual Hauptwerk Virtual Pipe Organ.