Low cost DIY virtual pipe organ using Hauptwerk

My low budget DIY virtual pipe organ using Hauptwerk
Put together over about 8 years with parts from thrift stores, including: 30 year old Casio CPS101 keyboards, $15 each from thrift stores (Deseret Industries in Utah); pedal board and bench, $40 from DI, Costco adjustable table, $40; Midiman 4x4 $35 from Ebay; MIDI cables, $14 online from China; Refurb. HP laptop computer, $100; touch screen monitor (don't know cost--gift from children, convenient not essential); Pioneer and Sony speakers, $25 from DI; Pyle amp, $38; StarTech sound card, $12; Sennheiser HD518 headphones, $45, Ebay; scrap wood and floral wire (works best), $5 for pedalboard; Hauptwerk basic edition, $250; donations to Piotr Grabowski, $350; Sonos Paradisi San Carlo Italian organ--like those I played in Italy, $50.
I played many organs in Italy, some were very old, one manual with few pedals, like San Carlo, others were new, like Mascioni's Azzio and Giubiasco. The antique organ in the pix was actually about a two miles from where we lived, not a half block--I was thinking of another old church. If you attend BYU's organ workshop in August, as I have, you could play the Tabernacle Organ in Salt Lake City.
In Italy we visited several organ factories and I met Andrea Mascioni in Azzio, whose family's company has built many wonderful organs. I asked him to have Piotr Grabowski (who I only knew from website) come from Poland to sample Mascioni organs. Piotr sampled Azzio and Giubiasco, and others on his way back home. We went to watch him sample the Azzio organ. It took him from about 8 pm until about 9 am to sample that small organ. He did it by himself with an Apple computer and very high quality microphones, which I helped him set up. I think that Piotr does a wonderful job, as a "labor of love," sampling organs and making high quality sample sets available without charge. If you download any of his organs, please make a donation to cover his expenses. Thank you for watching this video and for your comments.

[@stuartylad]

Hi, thanks for posting this video. It's great to see how other people get around various limitations with their own setups. Wiring the pedals to a spare keyboard seems a very straightforward and successful resolution. For what it's worth, I was a total rookie when it came to doing the midifying of my organ but genuinely, it's so, so easy. Greetings from Cumbria, UK

Looks great to use for practicing and pleasure :)

[@rmanzanog1]

Hi John, I have built some Midi kits for adding Midi to old pedalboard with small magnets and Hall sensors as switches, you can see a video under the name RMG1009 here in TH-cam. Some years ago I tried exactly your solution using an small Casio MA 150 and I worked perfectly.

[@NetoMusic566]

How much cost that pedalboard?

[@JLHoopes1]

I found the pedal board from an old hammond organ at a thrift shop. Actually, I have it in my garage right now. It would give it away because I have found a 32 note pedal board. I paid about $20 for the pedal board and $20 for the old Casio laptop to digitize it about $5 or $6 for the wood to make the frame. So it's all under $50.

[@user-sx4zj1jt6t]

do you have any tips for connecting the pedal keys to a keyboard with wire? I tried doing it my own way with twine and it wasn't working at all, so any advice for maybe how to connect it better would be appreciated.

[@JLHoopes1]

I used fine wire, the bendy green kind that florists use, and it's been working well for over 10 years. I put thumb tacks on the end of the pedals and drilled little holes in the keyboard keys, and attached the wires fairly tightly. Over the years some of the wires loosen and the key won't play, but they are easily tightened by twisting. Occasionally one will break and I just replace it.

[@user-sx4zj1jt6t]

@@JLHoopes1 Did you drill holes in the back of keys on the keyboard? Last time I tried this, I drilled holes in the front of the keyboard and I couldn't ever get the wire/twine to actually go on tight enough to actually become reliable. I think I will try again soon with this wire method you're using, thank you very much for your advice!