SampleForge VPO
SampleForge VPO lets you take ranks of recorded pipes from different sample sets and put them together into one organ. It matches their tuning, levels and acoustics so they sound like one instrument, and gives you a console designer with practically endless customisation.
Demo coming soon Watch on YouTube
For Windows.
Add several organ folders to one project and choose stops from each.
Each stop keeps a record of the sample set it came from. Stops can be moved between divisions, renamed to a common convention, or set aside to decide on later. Anything SampleForge VPO can't place or read goes to an Unassigned list with the reason, so nothing is dropped without you knowing.
Every sample is measured, and every stop can be brought to the same pitch and temperament.
A full scan reports each stop's estimated A, its offset in cents from A440, and how far notes within the rank spread. You can retune a selection to a common pitch in any temperament, or apply the tuning in the organ file only and leave the samples as recorded. Celestes are retuned like any other stop and then given their beat at the end.
Balance levels and acoustics between stops recorded in different buildings.
SampleForge VPO tells you which stops ring like which rooms and suggests standardising the reverb so they sit together. Checks look for wrong-pipe timbre, tuning against the other selected stops, and the blend of the full organ.
Extend short compasses, find loop points and run it all as a batch.
Choose the lowest and highest note you want and SampleForge VPO fills in the missing ones, with an option to leave interior gaps alone. Loop points can be found and written to the samples. Jobs can be queued across the whole organ.
Jambs, drawstops, pistons and key desk in English, French, American, German, Dutch and tab styles.
Stops, couplers and pistons are laid out following the conventions of the style you choose, and you can change size, spacing, order and parts from there. What you see in the editor is what the exported organ shows.
A main console, separate jamb panels and extra styles from one project.
For example, export an English drawstop console for the main screen and a simplified, colour-coded stop panel for a touchscreen beside it.
Choose a building and put divisions or single stops where you want them.
Buildings range from a small church to a large cathedral with transepts and a quire. Place stops on walls and galleries, and SampleForge VPO works out distance, level and delay from where you sit.
A built-in organ player and a memory planner.
The player plays MIDI files through your stops, with couplers, generals and a crescendo. The memory planner shows how many stops and couplers will fit in your organ computer's RAM.
Windows, with export to a ready-to-load virtual organ.
At the moment SampleForge VPO runs on Windows and exports organs for GrandOrgue. Support for Hauptwerk is planned.
Work in progress. SampleForge VPO is still in development. Features, screenshots and the look of the program may change before release.
Sample sets shown: Cracow, St John Cantius; Friesach; Długa Kościelna, by Piotr Grabowski, used with permission. SampleForge VPO does not include or redistribute any sample sets; you use your own.
No samples included. SampleForge VPO works on sample sets you already own or are licensed to use. It doesn't ship with any.
Check each licence. Many producers limit how their samples may be changed, combined or shared. An organ you build with SampleForge VPO is for your own use unless every producer whose samples it contains allows more.
Credit stays with the stop. Every stop keeps a record of the sample set and producer it came from, so you can always see whose work is in your organ.
Edit only where allowed. Not every creator allows the WAV files to be edited. Where they don't, some changes such as tuning, levels and the console can be made in the organ file alone, leaving every sample untouched. Check the licence for these too.
No copy protection removed. Encrypted or protected sample sets aren't supported, and SampleForge VPO never tries to unlock them.
The full rules are in our Terms of Use and Sample Rights.
Try SampleForge VPO on your own sample sets.
Coming soon
Every feature, for building and exporting your own organs.
Release date not yet confirmed
The Demo comes first, as early access. The Full edition will follow once testing is complete; we'll announce its date when it's confirmed.
Follow the YouTube channel for release news.
I grew up in the Anglican choral tradition: first as a young chorister, then all the way through university, and more cathedral singing that took me on tours, introducing me to a wide variety of organs across Europe and North America. The organ was always a keen interest of mine: the voice of the liturgy, a concert instrument in its own right, and now, thanks to virtual pipe organs, an instrument we can play at home.
I won't claim to be an organist, but I am a huge organ enthusiast. I started learning the organ at school, but only came back to it as an adult. That was when I discovered virtual pipe organ software such as Hauptwerk and GrandOrgue, first played through my electric piano.
Having since built my own home console, I started to discover the wonderful variety of sample sets that are out there. However, the sets available to me never quite had the organ I wanted. That led me to composite organs, and to editing GrandOrgue organ definition files by hand.
As many of you will know, it's a steep learning curve and not always super user-friendly. My own results rarely looked or sounded as polished as a properly produced sample set. SampleForge VPO started as my own way of making that manual process of editing files easier. It has taken a great deal of time and effort to develop, and with encouragement from friends and family, I've decided to share it. I've waited until now to share its progress and development, because I wanted the early access demo to be something I'm proud of releasing.
I certainly don't know everything about organs, so any feedback on how SampleForge VPO could be better is always welcome. I hope you enjoy it, and that it helps you build the organ you've always wanted to play.
Jon
General questions: hello@sampleforgevpo.com
Bug reports and support: support@sampleforgevpo.com