The Mighty WurliTzer Lives Again. A VirTual Theater Pipe Organ Simulator Rig

High powered PCs aren't just for gaming. This Ryzen 9 rig is essentially a virtual musical instrument. This application puts as much emphasis on audio as a gaming setup puts on video. Its primary function is to run an app called jOrgan which simulates pipe organs and is controlled via external MIDI input. The app creates a fully customized organ simulator data file called a 'disposition' based on the user description of the type of organ desired then uses this data along with sample files and MIDI input from the organ console to activate a sample player that outputs to an external audio system.

The setup is essentially a huge sample player controlled by a vintage Theater Pipe Organ console with 3 manuals or keyboards, 117 stops and 9 MIDI channels playing through a 700 watt RMS speaker system consisting of two 15" three-way cabinets and two independent 15" subwoofer cabinets. The high quality audio output is provided by a Personus USB audio and MIDI outboard interface, about the audio equivalent of a 4090. The room the organ is in was essentially built around the organ when the house was built. The instrument is the equivalent of a 24 rank (rank=a set of pipes) 1,800 pipe Theater Pipe Organ. For those in the know about theater organs, it is a little larger than a WurliTzer Publix I, with one less keyboard.

Soon after the rig was built, I expanded the RAM to 64 gig. This is not shown in the photos. The rig is also used with a DAW (Cakewalk) and looping app (ZeroX) to create, edit and loop the 3,500 samples (so far) used in the organ simulation as well as to voice and balance the instrument. The DAW is also used to program the percussion sequencer, an Arduino based unit I built and programmed to be used as a 'drum machine."

Since I chose to include an Nvidia 4070 in the build, I may have to explore gaming some time as well. The Unigine Heaven DX11 scores are through the roof! The audio from games and movies on this sound system has to be heard to be believed.