Building a Custom jOrgan Fluidsynth Disposition



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Basic Requirements:

  • Install jOrgan (Installation)

  • Install a Soundfont Editor (Vienna if you have a soundblaster card, or Viena if you don't)

  • A usable Soundfont (sf2) file

Step One: The Soundfont

Create or edit your soundfont so that you have all the organ ranks that your disposition will use.

[There are other tutorials available online that will help you in this step. Some people use synthesis software to create organ sounds using additive synthesis, others use real recordings of actual pipe organs (with blower noise removed) to create their soundfonts.]

Step Two: Create your jOrgan disposition

  1. Start jOrgan

  2. Click on File -> New from the top menu

  3. Enter the name of the disposition that you want to create (and navigate to where you want to save it)

  4. Click on 'Save' to create the blank disposition

Step Three: Import your Soundfont

  1. Click on File -> Import from the top menu

  2. Now click on Soundfont, and click on Next

  3. In the File text box area, click on the [...] button to open the file navigation dialogue

  4. Navigate to where your sf2 file is located

  5. Select your soundfont, then click on the OK button

  6. Click on the 'Select Stops' to enable the automatic creation of the corresponding Stop elements in jOrgan

  7. Click Next

  8. Select all the Stops/Ranks that you want to have from the soundfont (if you are not selecting all the presets, then press Ctrl and use the mouse to select all the presets that you do want to import, make sure to select both the Rank and Stop elements of each one)

  9. Click on Finish to import these presets into the jOrgan disposition

Step Four: Create and Arrange the jOrgan virtual console

  1. Enter Construction mode by clicking on the Construct Organ icon (ruler/pencil/triangle icon)

  2. You will now see all the imported Rank and Stop elements from the soundfont presets

  3. Click on the imported elements to find out which icon represents a Stop element and which icon represents a Rank element

  4. In the Elements column, find and select the Console element

  5. Create a name for your console, configure the screen property, and then select the jOrgan skin that you want to use (something like C:\Program Files (x86)\jOrgan3.14b1\skins\classic.zip)

  6. Now enable the Skin view (View -> Skin from the top menu)

  7. With the Console element still selected in the Elements column, select the graphic for the console background from the Skin view

  8. Now click on the References tab of the Console Element (at the bottom of the Element column)

  9. Click on the Add Reference button (three + signs)

  10. Add all the Stop elements, but not the Rank elements (press down the Ctrl key and use the mouse to select all the Stops (speaker icon with the 'power' button overlay)

  11. Click on Finish

  12. You will now see empty boxes on the console screen with the Stop name next to the box, and all the boxes stacked on top of each other

  13. click on the top box to select that Stop element, then select the Stop graphics from the Skin view

  14. Drag and Drop that Stop to its position on the virtual console screen

  15. Repeat the last two steps until all the Stops have a graphic from the Skin, and are arranged on the screen

Step Five: Create and Configure the MIDI inputs / Manuals

  1. Back in the Elements column, click on the Add Element icon (also three + signs)

  2. Enter 'Pedal' into the Element Name textbox

  3. Select the Keyboard Element type from the available type selection and click Next

  4. Select all the Stops that will respond to the Pedal Manual

  5. Click on Finish

  6. Now select the MIDI input to the Pedal Manual from the Keyboard element's Input property

  7. Repeat these steps for the Great and for the Swell Keyboard elements

Step Six: Create and Configure the Fluidsynth MIDI->Sound engine Element

  1. Back in the Elements column, click on the Add Element icon (also three + signs)

  2. Enter 'Soundfont' into the Element Name textbox

  3. Select the Fluidsynth Sound Element type from the available type selection and click Next

  4. Click Next again to get to the Referenced From selection screen

  5. Select all the Ranks

  6. Click on Finish

  7. In the Fluidsynth Sound's Properties dialogue screen, select the Soundfont text box, click on the [...] file navigation button

  8. Navigate to your soundfont and select it, then click on the 'Open' button

Step Seven: Save and Test your custom disposition

  • Click on the Save icon to save the changes that you have made

  • Exit Construct organ mode

  • Enable the Keyboards view and test the Stops/Ranks that you have imported to the disposition.

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