Virtual Theatre Pipe Organ Project

I initially got involved in building a virtual theatre pipe organ in October of 2001, after I realized that purchasing a digitally sampled electronic organ was out of the question. The smallest organ started at around $20,000. Even a retrofit (price varied between $5500 and $55,000, depending on who supplied the parts) would have been too much of an investment and I would still need to supply a MIDI-equipped console.

As I started to search the Internet for other possibilities, I came across Mick Berg’s PC Organ Project. It involved using a personal computer, Creative Labs soundcards, soundfont files, and a program called Building Blocks. I had an extra PC so that part of the project cost me nothing. Except for the Building Blocks program, my only other investment was for two sound cards, which cost me about $40 each. Depending on what one would use, the sound system is the biggest investment.

A few months into the project, Jim Henry contacted me and expressed an interest in my project. I instructed him to download the trial version of Building Blocks and sent him the structure I was working on. He was very impressed with what Building Blocks could do but he wanted something more reliable so he decided write his own program. Hence, the birth of the MidiTzer.

MidiTzer, a free download for IBM-compatible PCs, is a MIDI control program that emulates the relay of the Wurlitzer Style 216, a two manual ten rank theatre pipe organ. Many improvements have been made since its inception. It’s very user friendly and is set up to use the Bruce Miles soundfont files.