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07/09/2025

Here are a couple of celebrity shots from the FTW AGO Convention last week: Dr. Devon Howard formerly of Southwestern Adventist University and Dr. Alcee Chriss, organist at Trinity Wall Street in Manhattan. Others who stopped by Dr. Melanie Randall, Greg Eaton, Dr. Sheryl Sebo, and Christina Harmon. Also a special shout out to my new friends, the FTW AGO officers who individually stopped by every day to show appreciation and visit.

07/05/2025

I just returned from the Ft Worth AGO convention. Had a great time meeting lots of talented folks. Many of whom stopped at our exhibitor spot to give Drew Worthen's Ultralite VPO a test drive. Many were apprehensive until I showed them the headphones! Something about playing in a room full of organist, ha ha. A few times I heard some amazing music so I would flip HW's audio routing preset to speakers so all could enjoy. The main sample set used for demos was Duren from Piotr Grabowski. With its supreme clarity and French reeds it was easy to play and sounded wonderful with just a 4.1 audio setup. When things were slow, I would crank out about 16 measures of a Widor symphony using an 'all reeds' registration and folks would migrate on over. Sadly, no one took advantage of the special pricing and complimentary delivery that was offered.

02/14/2025

Please join us for as we present VOCE instruments, Opus 8. See earlier post for installation details.

02/01/2025

Today we installed a 10.1 audio system for an upcoming HW organ at Epiphany Episcopal in Burnet, TX. This parish was originally another denomination so there were no provisions for a classical organ of any kind. I consulted on speaker placement with my business associate Drew Worthen and designed the chambers accordingly. VOCE team mate Jon Penner and I wasted no time in getting the wires prepped with female spade and Neutrik connectors. We had sound in less than 3 hours of our arrival. I rented a 12’ material lift that really sped up the install and was necessary for the large powered sub and two 3-way pedal speakers. We spent the rest of the day positioning speakers and some basic VPO rank regulation. The Sanctuary has a slightly vaulted ceiling and a polished concrete floor which makes for some excellent acoustics. The final test before leaving was playing back some MIDI files with heavy registration, walking around the room, listening in the Narthex and even outside on a walkway just to see how audible it could be. Needless to say the VOCE team, along with the church staff, are VERY PLEASED with the end results!

01/26/2025

Voce's Opus-3 rental VPO was leased for a day by UT's Butler School of Music. A newly commissioned work for the Wind Ensemble listed a vast array of instruments which included an organ. The performance was last night at The Long Center in downtown Austin. The acoustic shell used by the symphony as in place on stage so we only needed a 4.1 audio compliment. It was plenty loud as the Fortissimo section in the piece, could be heard with the orchestra by the audience. UT's professor Greg Eaton was the organist.

08/27/2024

Big day yesterday! We delivered the long awaited VPO console to St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Round Rock, TX. As you can see the Oak finish matches all the wood appointments in the church just beautifully! The audio and related infrastructure were installed and regulated during the past few weeks. The console, as most things organ related, took longer to finish. In this case it was to meet our high build standards. Extra time was spent rerouting data wiring, audio, and USB cables. Additional MIDI encoding/decoding rework was required as well. The console was first placed in the center, the 'sweet spot' for all rank voicing that was performed. Special thanks to Jon Penner (as always), Fr. Larry Covington (consultant), and the music staff of SJV for the success of this instrument.

08/05/2024

Special thanks to Drew Worthen of Innovative Audio in Indianapolis and VOCE staff member Jon Penner for the audio referencing and regulation for our latest install. We were fortunate the church's existing console has a functioning MIDI out while their actual VOCE console is being completed.
We used pink noise and portable analyzer to tweak every speaker. This ensures uniformity and omits any unwanted frequency 'blooms'. The main active monitors only needed minor tweaks in 3 frequency bands while the WTC speakers for the antiphonal were basically spot on! That was a nice discovery.
Later we thoroughly auditioned various ranks and divisions separately and as an ensemble. It was a long day. When leaving, we realized we had worked through lunch however the adrenaline carried us through. Okay, at least it did for me! Its not often you get to hear a Hauptwerk instrument with 40 (forty) channels of audio plus antiphonal in a large, semi reverberant space!

06/28/2024

Worked all day with Carson Brooke and Jon Penner on a new VPO install in Round Rock, TX. Very excited about this new project which will feature a beautiful restored Rodgers oak console repurposed for Hauptwerk! Today was just the audio install that will contain 40 channels of audio which includes 4 dedicated to a rear Antiphonal or En Chamade. Electricians were still working in the chambers so it was enough work just to get all the speakers, equipment racks, and stands, loaded in via the rented Genie lift. There are 4 chambers, 2 on each side of the steeple at 15' and 23' high from the floor. The 3 of us were able to devise a strategy for hoisting the 115lb Walker sub-sonic cabinets on the lift! I will post a follow up once the audio is connected and tested.

04/05/2024

Just completed and major audio enhancement for HopePointe Anglican Church in The Woodlands, TX. Hoffrichter console was installed with just 2 large, full range speakers and a sub. Our team added 16.2 channels of audio. Speakers were installed of top of 3 'squared convex' entry alcoves that lead into the Sanctuary. These are 25' high and required a Genie lift to get speakers in place. The main sample set used is Hereford Cathedral and the audio routing was designed for it. We tapped into the existing 12V remote switching but ran new Ethernet cabling for the AVB enabled audio interfaces. Music director and organist are very happy now that it works like a true organ with divisions separated accordingly.

11/27/2023

On November 9, VOCE Instruments completed a new VPO install with custom console for St. Paul Lutheran Church in San Antonio. Audio is a 18.1 channel design using Lavender Audio's Hereford Cathedral set. There are two, 2-story chambers that speak into the Chancel and well as the Sanctuary. Console design by VOCE Instruments with appointments and rank voicing by Ackermann Studios.

10/15/2023

On Saturday, we performed a VPO add-on to an older Ahlborn-Galanti organ. This included a state-of-the-art engine, 24" touch screen, and 4.1 audio. For this install we went with free standing tower speakers for the customer's open concept living area. Speakers were chosen after several days of research and auditions. The active subwoofer is from Rythmik Audio. Their patented Direct Servo technology is an excellent addition to any Hauptwerk install.
https://www.facebook.com/rythmikaudio/
Kudos to the Galanti MIDI implementation. Just about every organ control operates perfectly with Hauptwerk.

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