Recent Organ Design Innovations and the 21st-century - Stichting ...

player to reprogram the keyboard to arrange the tones in any order. For example, the Obertonwerk
could be programmed to arrange all of the tones in ascending pitch order, allowing a five-octave
keyboard to play a span of one octave with more than sixty (unequal) subdivisions.
While the stop specification is readily accessible and can easily be seen to draw from the whole
range of the symphonic organ tradition, many of the most original innovations outside of the
Obertonwerk can be found in the mechanical and electronic interfacing of the instrument. Eschewing
the traditional stop knob, tab, or button array, the console will feature two very large touchscreens on
either side, where the attendant stops can be activated. Though the organ contains elements of many
symphonic organ styles, stops representing these diverse traditions are not designed to be used
together. On the touchscreens one will be able to select the “French” organ, the “German” organ, or
preprogram any kind of subset. Additionally, through the touchscreens one will be able to “draw on”
any stop to any desired partial length. Partially drawing stops offers fine regulation of tuning, pitch, and
voicing and was a popular technique among composers of spectral organ music since the 1960s,
including Ligeti, Hambraeus, and Scelsi. With the touchscreens one can partially draw a stop to any one
of 128 steps and program it into the combination action. Generating a similar effect across the whole
organ or a specific division, several Sperrventilen can likewise be set to open partway and can be
adjusted in real time using the touchscreen graphical interface or through the Walze, offering a level of
control far beyond the trial and error approximation techniques necessary in traditional mechanical
actions.
Though it boasts a massive mechanical action, the organ can also be played remotely, either
through integrated recording mechanisms, or by interfacing through any compatible computer. An
electric action working in parallel with a fully mechanical stop and coupler action has never been
attempted on an organ of this size and complexity. Peter Bengtson, a Swedish software designer,
composer, and organist, is carrying out the programming of the instrument’s electronic components.
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