Virtual Organ Keyboard Free Download
Senaida Flinspach
Organs, electronic or pipe, have fascinated me since childhood. During my High-School years I had access to a small Baldwin organ at our church, occasional access to a small Hammond (drawbars and all) at the Town Hall/Masonic Lodge, and occasional access to a real pipe organ arranged by my piano and organ teacher. At one time I had a (sort of) restored) old reed organ and longed to get access to a very large reed organ in an older church nearby, which unfortunately I was able to play only once.
During my college years at Houghton College, I had access to some older electronic practice organs, a mostly restored (but finicky) pneumatically controlled Moller pipe organ, and once (but only once!) I had the opportunity to play the large Holtkamp pipe organ in the chapel, normally reserved for use by organ majors. I was not a music major, though I was privileged to have two semesters of organ instruction under Dr. Charles Finney, mostly on the pipe organ at the nearby Wesleyan church.
After college I obtained two or three barely functional full keyboard Baldwin organs and managed to create one functioning organ using parts from all three. I contemplated building one of the then popular kit organs by Schober, but was never able to do so. Later on, I obtained (for the cost of moving it) an older, but still very functional, Allen C-3 organ, which I used for several years, always dreaming of the day I might have something more like a real pipe organ (or at least an electronic organ that sounded more like a real pipe organ.)
At some point while I had the Allen C-3, I learned about a small company called Crumhorn Labs that was developing the concept of using software running on a powerful personal computer to play back pre-recorded sounds from real organ pipes. I tried their demonstration program, but was initially disappointed to find that the most powerful computer available to me was only minimally able to run the software. At the time, the cost of a more powerful computer seemed to place this promising concept far out of reach, so for practical reasons it was back to the Allen C-3 for many years with occasional access to a real pipe organ. My wife and I also purchased a Kwai electronic piano that had some fairly credible, though limited, pipe organ sounds. Although the Allen remained playable for many years, it was eventually dismantled due to concerns about the deteriorating condition of its line-voltage wiring and its safety. I saved the keyboards, pedalboard and stop controls for possible future use.
Fast forward to about 2009 when I stumbled onto Hauptwerk, a commercially available software program that had grown out of the initial work by Crumhorn Labs. I was excited to realize that Hauptwerk would actually run on my home computer, a rather humble PowerPC Mac. For my first Hauptwerk organ, I used the Kwai pianos MIDI enabled keyboard, the PowerPC Mac, and some computer speakers to cobble together a system, which although very limited, was non-the-less very satisfying. Shortly after this I MIDI-fied the old Allen pedalboard and added it to the setup. Clearly Hauptwerk opened up all kinds of possibilities.
Over the next few years I assembled a credible, though hardly ideal, organ using three M-Audio keyboards, the old Allen pedalboard and original tabbed stop controls. The components were first stacked on a table, then eventually housed in a rough painted plywood case that could be easily modified as I explored various options.
The case has been modified many times since the initial construction in order to try out various projections for the keyboards, moving the stop controls up or down for the best access, or to re-arrange internal components.
The photo far below shows the current configuration. The M-Audio keyboards have been replaced with used midified pipe organ keyboards, additional stop controls have been added along with a new shop-built pedalboard.
The music rack, keyboard, and pedalboard are illuminated by strips of warm white LED strips obtained from AllElectronics.com (catalog number CAT# LS-12-WW) and mounted into a shop-made wooden strip with a frosted plastic face to help disperse the light. The intensity and color of the light is very acceptable.
The above Hauptwerk organ served me well for several years, but as plans were made for a retirement house, it became clear that I would not have a space large enough to adequately house a larger more Baroque-like console. After much consideration, I decided that my best option for a smaller space would be to construct a console that was lower, painting it off-white in the Colonial tradition so that it would blend into the room better and have a more gentle visual impact on the space.
I also made several updates to the sound system and the internal arrangement of the various components, first in a re-worked temporary console, and then last winter in a finished console as shown below. The keyboards are from CMK, pistons from Klann, and the pedalboard is the one described on this site. Most of the internal MIDI components are from Midi-Boutique. The monitor is mounted directly behind the glass music rack and has worked well in this location. It is readily visible when needed, but normally well behind the music and very unobtrusive; it can also be turned off entirely except when required for updates, configuration, etc.
New version 3.0 of the most amazing virtual piano keyboard. In this article, you will learn how to use the features of this amazing piano app. Session Town has the best online piano games, including this piano simulator. But, to be honest, this is much more than just a game.
You can play the online piano simulator in many ways. If you have a touch screen, you can play chords and melodies with your fingers. You can also use the mouse. Many people prefer playing with the computer keyboard.
New feature! Customize which keyboard keys play which musical notes. We have chosen some default keys, but you can customize them as you like. The system is case-sensitive. You can select numbers, letters, or signs. It's up to you!
A sustain pedal is very useful to play any piano. And we have included it in our virtual piano. While the sustain pedal is pressed, the notes will keep ringing, even if you release the keys. Once you release the sustain pedal, the notes that were released will stop. Most piano songs use a sustain pedal.
You can learn to play piano songs online with the virtual keyboard. When you click on the "play" button, you will see the played notes highlighted on the keyboard. If that is too fast for a given song, you can try the previous and next note buttons to go at your own pace.
If you have a real piano, the virtual keyboard is a great addition to learn new songs. You can play the Online Piano using a real piano that supports the MIDI technology. How does it work? Let's find out.
The musical notes' names are A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. We use the white keys on the keyboard to play those notes in that same order. If you see a music keyboard, you will notice that black keys make groups of two black keys followed by a group of three black keys. It is always a pattern of two and then three black keys. The white key that is just before the last black key in the group of three black keys is the musical note A.
You can find many keys on the keyboard that use the same note name, but when played, they don't sound exactly the same. The complete set of music notes names is called an octave. The piano keyboard has many octaves. Our virtual piano has six octaves.
We have tested the online piano keyboard on many devices to ensure the best experience. Including smartphones, tablets, iPads, laptops, and desktop computers. The best Web Browser to play the virtual piano keyboard is Google Chrome as it is the one that supports the MIDI technology.
We have other virtual instruments and piano games for you to play online. Play the virtual drum. Improve your timing using the online metronome app. Or learn sight-reading with the online game. We are always happy to hear from you. Comment below.
So what is the recommendation for a virtual B3? I would be using this with a "soul" dance band, so the B3 should have a sound like what might be heard on James Brown or Tower of Power - i.e. classic pop/rock B3. A good sounding Leslie emulation needs to be part of the package - either part of the virtual B3, or a recommended separate app.
I am sure the purists will say the RD-2000 keyboard is a poor choice for B3 playing. My response is 1) I am not really a good enough B3 player to notice these kinds of differences; and 2) I'm a poor smuck playing in a working dance band, so portability and quick easy set-up are perhaps more important considerations.
Kind of debating this myself, but in my case trying to keep my rig to two boards...I've been more in "synth mode" and might (might) sell my Electro and get a knobby synth. Of course, I used to have one and sold it to get a better organ keyboard a few years ago, and regret it LOL!
However, the more convenient alternative would be iPad--the main draw being that I don't need a stand for it, it can velcro to the right side of my MODX7. Going to try out the Garageband organ (not sure it's exactly like the Logic one) and maybe purchase Galileo 2.
I think the ipad is going to win out just due to logistical convenience though, IF the organ sounds decent (and IF I do sell the Nord). We've had a couple drunks crash onto our stage through the years and I fear what would happen to a laptop (or heck if a band member bumps it, definitely I'd need a rock solid--and heavy--stand for it, so it's more stuff to bring). Also, I use the ipad already for some lyrics and to adjust my monitor mix.
Cross-platform (Mac/PC) frontrunners are Blue3, VB3 II, B3X, and B5 (from GG, GSI, IK Multimedia, and Acoustic Samples respectively), all but the last have free demos. The first two let you separate the organ component form the Leslie component, so you can insert other fx or mix-and-match organ engines vs. rotary sims. The latter two don't, but I think you can probably bypass their rotary sims, which would let you use them with an alternate one. IK and GG also sell their rotary sims separately.
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