Allen organs are (as far as I know) unique among all organ manufacturers. In every other case, when you change a stop, the organ sends some form of MIDI message communicating this fact. This happens regardless of whether the stop was changed by hand or as a result of using a combination. Unfortunately, Allen organs do not send MIDI data identifying stop changes when a combination is used. This makes it impossible for any third-party MIDI software to know which stops are being used.
In version 3.3 I have improved the support for Allen combinations as much as it technically possible. This means that you have a choice of three ways of using OrganAssist with an Allen organ.
Note – Use of Alternative voices (if available) may produce unpredictable results.
1) Stops Only.
You can set up a layout for an Allen organ including only the stops. This will record and playback accurately provided combinations are never used. This should support all features in OrganAssist. However, any use of combinations on the console will cause the recorded stops to be incorrect.
New Experimental Features
The following features are experimental – please contact me to report how this works for you (good or bad). I have “bench tested” these features as far as possible but do not currently have access to an Allen instrument for final validation.
2) With Combinations.
You can now add combinations to your Allen layout. Please see below for some tips on easily creating combinations. Once you have learnt the MIDI for these stops you can now record pieces including both hand registered stops and combinations. HOWEVER, OrganAssist only receives information on which combination was used. This means the stops displayed on the screen, until you do a General Cancel, do not reflect the state of the organ console. However, tracks should record and replay correctly. Please contact me if this is not the case. Other features in OrganAssist may be impacted by the use of combinations – please report any issues you find.
NOTE – if the combinations are changed on the instrument after a track is recorded then the playback will use these new settings. If Combination 6 is recorded, 6 will be used during playback even if the resulting stops may be different. This is due to the way MIDI is implemented on Allen organs and is the limitation for all MIDI software.
Using this approach tracks should play correctly on the same instrument but will not play correctly on other organs.
3) OrganAssist Internal Combinations.
OrganAssist now supports saving combinations internally to override the Allen Combinations. Right-click on the General Cancel button to enable them. Set the stops and then right-click on the relevant combination button to save. When Internal Combinations are active a Memory Level display will be visible in the middle of the Playback control. OrganAssist supports up to 99 combination memories. Use the up/down arrows to select your chosen memory. You can Clear a Memory by right-clicking on the General Cancel button.
When using Internal Combinations, as a Combination MIDI message is received from the organ, OrganAssist immediately responds with MIDI messages to change all the relevant stops (either for a specific division or for the entire organ) to match the settings in the Internal Combination. This results in a “double” change of stops at the console but ensures that every individual stop change is saved into the OrganAssist recording. This means the recording is unaffected by future changes in the combinations (either in OrganAssist or on the instrument) and every stop change is available in the recorded track to be edited or to be played on another organ.
Using Internal Combinations should (I hope) ensure all features of OrganAssist work and all music is portable to other instruments.
Whichever of these approaches you choose, playback of existing recordings from other instruments should still work correctly.
How to create combinations the easy way!
When editing an organ, right-click to add a new stop. Change the Equivalent to “Combination 1” and set the Division as required. Make it the shape and size you want for all combinations.
If you now right-click to the right of this stop, to add another, OrganAssist will automatically created No 2 which will be horizontally lined up with No 1. Just keep adding them using right-click.
To create a new set starting back at No 1 (after adding 2, 3 …..), right-click just to the left of No 1, and add a new stop. This will be No 1 again and you can just change the Division, move it as required and then create another set. All that is left is to learn the MIDI for them.
To align one or more rows of combinations, drag a highlight around them and right-click to Align as Grid. This will space them evenly and in horizontal rows.