Modartt revisit the richly complex world of the pipe organ, reducing one of the world’s largest instruments to a mere 30MB.
The pipe organ, with all its religious, ceremonial and imposing musical connotations, is an instrument seemingly as old as time. Its recent starring role in Hans Zimmer’s score for Interstellar re‑established its cinematic potential, but its huge importance in wider musical history predates that by probably 1000 years at least.
The majority of mainstream modern digital representations of pipe organs are either dire, limited, or both of those things together. Stage keyboards typically have one or two garish presets. A few general sample libraries do better, but most only offer a menu of preconfigured registrations of a single instrument. Doing a digital version of a pipe organ properly involves offering each of its single‑timbre ‘stops’ (of which there may be dozens) separately, and allowing the player to explore combinations of them. You ideally also want some reflection of the fact that real organs are often made up of several separate physical ‘divisions’, played by different keyboards. Some might have a swell mechanism: a Venetian blind‑style set of louvres operated by a foot pedal, allowing variable degrees of acoustic enclosure, for expressive purposes. Meanwhile, the subtle real‑world effects relating to the way potentially thousands of pipes are supplied with air or ‘wind’ is a science in itself.
For a long time, only specialist, large and expensive electronic organs principally meant for installation in churches or professional organists’ practice rooms have tackled these challenges. But the situation is changing, and Organteq 2 by the French company Modartt is one of the most recent software‑based virtual organs on the market, putting the colossal complexity of the real thing in the hands of the general user, and for an affordable price.
Organteq Basics
Like Modartt’s piano‑oriented counterpart Pianoteq, Organteq’s sound production is based on physical modelling, not sample replay. That offers advantages in mimicking real‑life acoustic interactions and allowing for tweaking of individual organ sounds (and even individual pipes) in a way that is tricky or impossible for sample‑based competitors. It also means Organteq is a minuscule presence on your computer: at an almost laughable 30MB it’ll be dwarfed by many a mobile phone JPEG. On the flip‑side, you need a modern computer to run it well. Big chords played on big registrations on my M1 Max‑chipped Mac got all the processing cores rippling away nicely.
On launching the software, what you see is to a large extent what you get. The basic multitimbral engine and the way that sounds are constructed are based around the three five‑octave keyboards that are visible, and the 32‑note pedalboard underneath. The naming of the keyboards (or, in more technical parlance, ‘manuals’) follows historical and geographical convention. By default, because Modartt are a French company, they’re Récit, Grand Orgue, Positif and Pédale from top to bottom. A user preference lets you switch to German or English equivalents.
The keyboard and pedalboard layout is non‑negotiable, but the stops (the individual ranks of pipes of different character, quality and pitch) available to each manual are user‑configurable. That’ll be particularly important if you’re aiming to recreate an existing organ, or want to explore certain kinds of stops. The middle keyboard can play up to 20 stops of its own, and the others (and the pedals) 10. Any keyboard can be coupled to any other though, so playing the lower keyboard could potentially trigger all pulled stops on the upper at the same time. And there are even more interesting possibilities that go beyond what typically happens in reality: more on those in the ‘Couples Therapy’ box.
Now is as good a time as any to note that Organteq 2’s MIDI implementation and mapping options are excellent. If you are in the ideal (and lucky) position of owning a three‑keyboard/manual controller (or multi‑controller setup) with a pedalboard, you’ll be all set. With only a single controller keyboard your options are certainly more limited, but it’s up to you whether you devote it to one Organteq keyboard or (with an‑88 note controller, say) dial in a split in Organteq so that the lower couple of octaves play pedals and the upper octaves one of the keyboards. These mappings can be flexibly configured, saved, and easily recalled, to adapt to using Organteq in all sorts of playing scenarios. Also, many types of MIDI message (note, CC, Program Change, MMC, pitch‑bend and aftertouch) can be mapped to pretty much any parameter or other action. There’s a dedicated page for setting that up; alternatively, right‑clicking a control like a stop knob will often pop up a MIDI Learn dialogue box.
A clearer overview of proceedings, if you can live without the virtual keyboards, is the ‘Jamb’ view. It has the advantage of showing stops with their full names. The button part is also detachable, and if you can get it on a touchscreen will give you a stop selection experience closer to a real organ. There’s even a Double Jamb for those who’d like to surround their keyboards with stop controls.
Pulling Out The Stops
The sound‑producing stops themselves encompass flue (flute) and reed‑based pipes at different octaves, with some mutations (pipes sounding at a difference pitch to the note triggering them) and mixtures (pre‑configured multi‑pipe combos, often pitched very high, and sometimes ‘breaking’ and rotating pitch assignments so they sound similar across different octaves). Pitches range from sub‑worrying 32 foots to tweeter‑shredding 1 foots: 68 stop types in total, across the two different organ styles on offer. Whole organs can be saved (and later recalled) as a preset, and within a single preset up to a whopping 1000 multi‑stop combinations saved for instant recall, or to be stepped through like a set list. All stops cover a five‑octave pitch range: you can’t fool Organteq into going outside of this, either through transposition or coupling. But interestingly, some stops that are obviously really only meant for the pedals (like the 32 foots) can be used across the whole 61‑note span of a keyboard, if you configure things appropriately.
Organteq then emulates, as I briefly mentioned before, the way real organs have pipes arranged in physical groupings, sometimes on the front of the organ, behind the player, sometimes high above, and at other times actually enclosed in a case. These so‑called divisions (here, strictly one per keyboard) have a bearing on sound‑staging, and can appear with different characteristics in a stereo image. Relative levels of the divisions can be adjusted, along with their box dimension and presence, and each even gets a three‑band EQ. You can further adjust the stereo width of a pair of virtual mics used for capturing the whole effect, and decide to what extent larger pipes a semitone apart will emerge from either side of the stereo field, emulating how they’re often laid out in real‑world organ design. These built‑in soundstaging options are not as advanced as those in Pianoteq, say, with its virtual miking scheme and binaural options. A multi‑output scheme mitigates that: the divisions can be sent to separate stereo output pairs of a multi‑channel audio interface, to feed speaker systems that really could be in different places. Or they can appear in your DAW as four stereo pairs, ready for treatment with a reverb of your choice, or to enter a surround/Atmos mixing environment.
Expression pedal behaviour is very flexible, and goes beyond what most pipe organs offer in reality: no fewer than three virtual expression pedals, all with MIDI learn abilities, can certainly get all three keyboards/divisions swelling independently. But in fact any combination of stops can be assigned to any pedal, so the whole organ or different bits of it can be swelled from one if you like. Or, you can decide to virtually place individual stops outside the swell box, so they’re excluded from expressive treatment. That’s a default in real life for certain solo stops, like trumpets, and also for pedal stops, but in Organteq 2 it’s all up for grabs.
There’s yet another expression option too: the Crescendo pedal. Similarly MIDI map‑able, this pedal automates stop engagement, often from quiet single‑stop registrations with the pedal back, to thunderous full organ with it forward. Literally, as you press it, more and more stops are turned on. This feature does exist in reality, on organs which have more sophisticated digital control systems. The effect is not totally smooth — there are ‘stair‑steps’ as stops come on and off — and Organteq emulates that correctly.
I’ll also take this opportunity to mention the evocatively named Tremulants. Four are available, to act independently on the four divisions, and they dial in a sort of combo vibrato/tremolo, which, given the idea goes back 500 years, can sound surprisingly psychedelic. Used well, they’re beautiful. It’s a complex and subtle effect, achieved through modulating the wind pressure in Organteq’s physical model, and its rate, amplitude and waveform can all be adjusted.
The beautifully clear tabbed Settings panel lets you dig deep into all aspects of the design of your organ. Across these two tabs, for example, can be adjusted the characteristics of its four separate divisions and their virtual physical presence, and the selection of stops currently in use. Stop parameters can be adjusted en masse, or for individual keys.
The Sound
Trying to describe how an organ sounds is a bit like doing the same for a synth. There’s a mind‑boggling amount of variation and range, but it’s normally possible to identify some broad characteristics and tendencies, and that’s certainly true here.
The bottom line is that Organteq 2 almost always sounds classy and entirely plausible, in both its German and French guises. The same cannot be said for many lesser electronic and digital organs which, though perhaps still entirely usable, are as dull as ditchwater to listen to, and not remotely reminiscent of any actual acoustic, pipe‑based original. Here, many stop combinations sound superb, and there’s scope for large colour contrasts. Played in a practice setting, or indeed in a church through a quality full‑range PA, or mixed as part of an arrangement in a DAW, few will have any complaints. That success is underpinned by the astonishing flexibility of the modelling approach, and (adjustable) parameters like Wind Jitter and Air Noise, that introduce so much naturalistic animation to the sound. Organteq does a nice line in mechanical noises too, from the key‑attached trackers that actuate the pipes (which correctly make a noise if you play but haven’t pulled any stops), to the clicks and thumps of stop and coupler engagements. They all play through the fine‑sounding onboard convolution reverb, which ships with a useful range of impulse responses but can load others as WAVs. The level of noises can be adjusted, but it’s worth noting that there’s no emulation at all of electric blower noise, or of other random environmental noises like distant slamming doors (I’m serious) that a few sampled virtual organs indulge in.
Actually, comparison with the best of the sample‑based competition is interesting. There are, as you might well expect, some pros and cons. Where I generally preferred sampled organs is not only in the inspiring weirdness of some individual stops, but also way the best of them retain real weight and girth in the sound, and preserve the character of component stops, even as you add lots of the very brightest stops and mixtures into a big registration. I struggle to exactly put my finger on it, but I feel there’s a tendency in Organteq for bright registrations to end up glassy and generic, and to let the naturalistic veil slip somewhat. On the other hand, Organteq frequently feels more responsive and alive to the touch. Note endings in particular invariably sound natural and convincing, where in some sample sets they can be sluggish and give the game away with a woeful lack of variety.
If you’re feeling some déjà vu here emanating from this last paragraph it’s perhaps because comparisons between sampled pianos and Pianoteq have in years past ended going along similar lines: straight naturalistic accuracy versus playing experience and versatility. It’s all well into the realm of taste and personal preference, and potential purchasers should definitely try to make their decision based on first‑hand experience. At least Organteq 2’s functional demo download makes that easy.
Personal Organiser
Just as Pianoteq has changed the landscape for virtual piano sounds, and given players fascinating new options, so too does Organteq 2. It has the great advantage of now offering two very different organ sounds, both of which have real value and utility whether you’re a player looking for an authentic experience or a composer/producer ready to be inspired by meaty, fibrous French reeds or crystal clear German principals and jangling mixtures.
As with everything I’ve ever seen from Modartt, the implementation is of tip‑top quality.
As with everything I’ve ever seen from Modartt, the implementation is of tip‑top quality. Given the inevitable complexity associated with a no‑holds‑barred, sizeable organ, every aspect of the user interface is clear and user friendly. Lots of thought has been given to how users with all manner of controller keyboard setups can have a great playing experience.
At €269, for what is effectively a perpetual licence, Organteq mightn’t be a no‑brainer, but for what it offers it’s a bargain. It should go straight into the shortlist of everyone who’s looking for a virtual, portable, DAW‑friendly version of the king of instruments.
Couples Therapy
Couplers let you play one keyboard from another. They broaden possibilities for registration, letting you play additional stops from a single keyboard, and are great for introducing momentary contrast in the sound too, as you can engage and disengage coupling as you play. Here they’ll also help users with single keyboards, allowing them to access all keyboards without getting entangled in MIDI mapping.
As with most Romantic and later‑era organs, coupling is done with a virtual latching pedal, which can be MIDI mapped, and Organteq has no fewer than six, located either side of the swell and crescendo pedals in the main window view. Exactly what each does is determined by the Coupler tab in the Settings window shown here, so it’s a very flexible scheme. Octave coupling is available too, so anything you play is mirrored an octave up or down (or indeed both together) on other keyboards, allowing for some imposing and at times frankly scary tone stacks.
Organteq 2 has a further ace up its sleeve, which comes into its own if you have only a single MIDI controller keyboard: Monophonic Couplers. Four are available, and they variously send just the highest note played on the middle keyboard to the one above or below it (where you might have set up a suitable solo registration), and the lowest note to the pedals. This really does let you achieve three‑way multitimbral splits, as if you were playing two keyboards and pedals, with ease, so long as you’re playing block chords of three notes or more.
One Becomes Two
As the name suggests, Organteq 2 is Modartt’s second go at a virtual organ. Version 1 was an exciting arrival back in 2019, but it modelled only a single type of organ, of the French Romantic style associated with the work of the 19th Century builder Cavaillé‑Coll. You can do a lot with those, and they’re essential for playing the works of, say, César Franck or Olivier Messiaen. However, if your thing was German baroque (which is the other main, now rightly revered school of organ building and repertoire, what with JS Bach and all that) it didn’t really cut the moutard.
Organteq 2 starts by fixing that main shortcoming, with a full complement of German baroque sounds on offer, alongside the French. This will be a game‑changer to trained players versed in the subtleties of the organ world, and for anyone interested in Organteq as a generalist there’s just a bigger range of sounds on offer, so everybody wins.
In essence then, Organteq 2 is two organs, often presented in factory presets as one (French) or the other (German), but with a few ‘fantasy’ combos of the two thrown in for good measure, or that massively layer the same stop over and over with bizarre synth‑like detunes and so on. Other than this occasional folie it really is a true, purist, virtual pipe organ: there’s absolutely no crossover into the world of later theatre organs or tonewheel designs like the Hammond B3.
Tuning
The history of the pipe organ spans just about every trend going, or that has ever gone, in tuning and temperament. Forget A=432Hz conspiracy theories: the reality is much wilder and more interesting. Appropriately then, Organteq can adapt to lots of different base pitch standards, from A=390 to 470 Hz, and offers 12 different historical temperaments. However, while individual notes or broad note ranges can be detuned beyond that, there’s currently no way to configure user temperaments with sub‑cent resolution, or to load Scala files. And if we’re getting really nerdy, that base pitch range would ideally be wider too, to accommodate even more niche historical standards.
Alternatives
Given the pipe organ is quite a niche instrument, and not necessarily the thing you’d naturally reach for in your next drum & bass glitch fantasia, there are quite a few interesting alternatives out there.
Spitfire Audio’s Symphonic Organ is a preset‑based design, while their Union Chapel Organ exposes individual stops; both are Kontakt‑based. Garritan’s Classic Pipe Organs covers more ground, with six somewhat smaller organs (not always a bad thing...) spanning the Renaissance to the present day, 75 stops in all between them, running in the Aria player.
The industry standard, meanwhile, is undoubtedly Hauptwerk. While far from cheap, it’s very sophisticated, designed largely to be used standalone, and the practice weapon of choice for many professional organists, Hauptwerk includes an AU/VST link plug‑in to incorporate it into a DAW environment. There’s currently no equivalent DAW tie‑in for another very fine virtual organ, Sweelinq, which has recently arrived on the scene. This uses a subscription pricing model and its excellent‑sounding sample sets are all included at no extra cost: currently nine are available, with more being developed.
Pros
- Huge timbral complexity.
- Useful even if you only have a single MIDI controller keyboard.
- Massively configurable, from selection of stops to virtual wind pressure.
- Ludicrously small installation size.
Cons
- Despite 68 stop types, not as much timbral scope as some sample‑based competition.
Summary
A super new option for French Romantic and German Baroque organ sounds, utilising all the strengths of physical modelling.