Veritas Organ Company, Inc.

What makes Veritas unique …

• The Technology

Veritas Organs employ a custom version of the Musicom digital synthesis system, together with software unique to Veritas. This system was originally conceived at Bradford University some 25 years ago, and since then has been developed to become the most technically advanced and sophisticated digital pipe synthesis system available anywhere. It is made available to a very few, carefully selected organ builders. It is the skills and experience of the Tonal Director and his colleagues that ultimately determines the quality and personality of the final instrument, in just the same way as would be the case with a real pipe organ. Our Tonal Director is Graham Blyth, who has more than 17 years experience voicing with this technology and has been intimately involved with its development. He is the most experienced and skilled exponent of the system today. Graham is an organ recitalist of international repute, and has given concerts at the Madeleine (Paris), Vangede Kirk (Copenhagen), St. Bonifaz Basilica (Munich), St. Thomas’s (New York) and Grace Cathedral (San Francisco). Graham is also highly regarded in the world of professional audio, having founded Soundcraft 30 years ago. This experience is also reflected in the audio quality of our organs.

• Why not use sampling?

Sampled organs use recordings made in sterile conditions that take no account of the behavior of real pipes when others are sounding nearby and sharing the same wind supply. Veritas’ Digital Pipe Modeling system not only recreates the sound of the actual physical pipe, it also takes into account the subtle but very noticeable effect of other digital voices played on the same digital wind chest. On sample based organs, listening to individual stops on a note by note basis can be quite realistic; however, adding more stops and notes in the harmony produces either a sterile sound or an artificially induced “wishy washy” effect. This is even more noticeable when you begin to add reeds and mixtures. Why is this? Sampled organs replay recordings of pipes obtained in perfect, sterile conditions, with no other pipes playing at the same time, a totally unrealistic situation. The many subtle imperfections of pipes are their very glory. Our ‘digital pipes’ react to the pipes around them in their own ‘digital pipe chambers,’ providing this key element of realism. A pipe organ is a living, breathing instrument and Veritas organs behave in the same way that real pipe organs do.

• Independent real-time generation of each note in true pipe manner

In a pipe organ, each note is generated by the pipe when it is played (in real time, when the key is pressed). When multiple notes are played, many interactions take place, as noted above. The Veritas Pipe Modeling System recognizes these anomalies and subtleties and this produces a realistic and convincing ensemble.

In other technologies, there are recorded samples for each rank, sometimes only one for the entire keyboard, other times several, and when a note is played the recorded sample is tuned to a different pitch, leading to a sterile and unnatural sound.

• Dynamic development of “instabilities” in harmonic structure for each note

The individual pipes of a pipe organ do not always produce the identical harmonic character due to very subtle imperfections in the physical pipes, their interactions with surrounding pipes and changes in wind demand. A recorded sample, when tuned to a different pitch, cannot accomplish this dynamic. Our system’s tone generation system is ‘live’ in that the normal variations occurring within pipes are dynamically produced. This is particularly noticeable in ensembles where many different pipes and notes are interacting with one another.

• Proper development of wind, chiff and other characteristics for each note

Within pipes, the sound of air and chiff vary in a non-chromatic manner from one note to the next. This subtle difference is very noticeable if one listens to a chiffy Gedeckt, for example. A recorded sample makes the assumption that wind and chiff vary chromatically and, depending on the number of recorded samples in a rank, the effect is more or less severe. The Veritas Pipe Modeling system precisely generates wind and chiff based on the characteristics of each individual stop and pipe that change as the scale of the pipe changes throughout its compass.

• Sophisticated multi-channel audio system

When two electronically produced organ sounds are summed into the same channel at the same pitch, such as a Principal 8’ and a Gedeckt 8’, certain harmonics will alternately increase and decrease in power as you hold the note, due to the very slow shifting relationship between the two waveforms caused by minute differences in pitch. This happens only slightly with real pipes because the multiple reflections reaching the listener override this addition and subtraction. Therefore, it is important to prevent stops of a similar pitch from appearing in the same speaker channel for the same note. The scheme used by Veritas technology extends this even further. The method preserves the usual C—C# left/right split, but makes sure that no more than one stop at any pitch ever comes from the same loudspeaker on any note and that chords played from the same stop involving the most common intervals, and particularly octaves, obey this rule. This contributes greatly to the free and open sound of Veritas organs. A small two-manual organ would generally have a minimum of twelve to sixteen channels, though less can be used in a home or small church without sacrificing sound quality by employing technology developed by Veritas for this purpose.

• Total control over tonal finishing and voicing

Each characteristic of every note of every rank can be finished and voiced to suit its environment. The tonal finishing of a Veritas organ can take several days on site, during the installation process, just as is done during the installation of a pipe organ. Our system does not utilize recordings of disparate pipe organs but, instead, produces a cohesive, musical, dynamic in an instrument that is truly enjoyable to play and listen to that will satisfy the most critical listeners for years to come.

• Combination instruments, with as many pipe ranks as desired

The finest sound to be achieved is that from real pipes. We all know that electronic organs can do quite amazing things in reproducing pipe organ sound, but their reason for existence is owing to budgetary and space considerations faced by many congregations. With our system, as many ranks of pipes as are desired can be used in conjunction with the electronics. There are no limitations as to which ranks or which divisions of the organ they can be employed in and future needs can be accommodated without undue cost. Our system can also be used to augment pipe organs, either with just a few ranks or with entire new divisions.

		Corporate Office : Houston, Texas


		What makes Veritas unique … • The Technology Veritas Organs employ a custom version of the Musicom digital synthesis system, together with software unique to Veritas. This system was originally conceived at Bradford University some 25 years ago, and since then has been developed to become the most technically advanced and sophisticated digital pipe synthesis system available anywhere. It is made available to a very few, carefully selected organ builders. It is the skills and experience of the Tonal Director and his colleagues that ultimately determines the quality and personality of the final instrument, in just the same way as would be the case with a real pipe organ. Our Tonal Director is Graham Blyth, who has more than 17 years experience voicing with this technology and has been intimately involved with its development. He is the most experienced and skilled exponent of the system today. Graham is an organ recitalist of international repute, and has given concerts at the Madeleine (Paris), Vangede Kirk (Copenhagen), St. Bonifaz Basilica (Munich), St. Thomas’s (New York) and Grace Cathedral (San Francisco). Graham is also highly regarded in the world of professional audio, having founded Soundcraft 30 years ago. This experience is also reflected in the audio quality of our organs. • Why not use sampling? Sampled organs use recordings made in sterile conditions that take no account of the behavior of real pipes when others are sounding nearby and sharing the same wind supply. Veritas’ Digital Pipe Modeling system not only recreates the sound of the actual physical pipe, it also takes into account the subtle but very noticeable effect of other digital voices played on the same digital wind chest. On sample based organs, listening to individual stops on a note by note basis can be quite realistic; however, adding more stops and notes in the harmony produces either a sterile sound or an artificially induced “wishy washy” effect. This is even more noticeable when you begin to add reeds and mixtures. Why is this? Sampled organs replay recordings of pipes obtained in perfect, sterile conditions, with no other pipes playing at the same time, a totally unrealistic situation. The many subtle imperfections of pipes are their very glory. Our ‘digital pipes’ react to the pipes around them in their own ‘digital pipe chambers,’ providing this key element of realism. A pipe organ is a living, breathing instrument and Veritas organs behave in the same way that real pipe organs do. • Independent real-time generation of each note in true pipe manner In a pipe organ, each note is generated by the pipe when it is played (in real time, when the key is pressed). When multiple notes are played, many interactions take place, as noted above. The Veritas Pipe Modeling System recognizes these anomalies and subtleties and this produces a realistic and convincing ensemble. In other technologies, there are recorded samples for each rank, sometimes only one for the entire keyboard, other times several, and when a note is played the recorded sample is tuned to a different pitch, leading to a sterile and unnatural sound. • Dynamic development of “instabilities” in harmonic structure for each note The individual pipes of a pipe organ do not always produce the identical harmonic character due to very subtle imperfections in the physical pipes, their interactions with surrounding pipes and changes in wind demand. A recorded sample, when tuned to a different pitch, cannot accomplish this dynamic. Our system’s tone generation system is ‘live’ in that the normal variations occurring within pipes are dynamically produced. This is particularly noticeable in ensembles where many different pipes and notes are interacting with one another. • Proper development of wind, chiff and other characteristics for each note Within pipes, the sound of air and chiff vary in a non-chromatic manner from one note to the next. This subtle difference is very noticeable if one listens to a chiffy Gedeckt, for example. A recorded sample makes the assumption that wind and chiff vary chromatically and, depending on the number of recorded samples in a rank, the effect is more or less severe. The Veritas Pipe Modeling system precisely generates wind and chiff based on the characteristics of each individual stop and pipe that change as the scale of the pipe changes throughout its compass. • Sophisticated multi-channel audio system When two electronically produced organ sounds are summed into the same channel at the same pitch, such as a Principal 8’ and a Gedeckt 8’, certain harmonics will alternately increase and decrease in power as you hold the note, due to the very slow shifting relationship between the two waveforms caused by minute differences in pitch. This happens only slightly with real pipes because the multiple reflections reaching the listener override this addition and subtraction. Therefore, it is important to prevent stops of a similar pitch from appearing in the same speaker channel for the same note. The scheme used by Veritas technology extends this even further. The method preserves the usual C—C# left/right split, but makes sure that no more than one stop at any pitch ever comes from the same loudspeaker on any note and that chords played from the same stop involving the most common intervals, and particularly octaves, obey this rule. This contributes greatly to the free and open sound of Veritas organs. A small two-manual organ would generally have a minimum of twelve to sixteen channels, though less can be used in a home or small church without sacrificing sound quality by employing technology developed by Veritas for this purpose. • Total control over tonal finishing and voicing Each characteristic of every note of every rank can be finished and voiced to suit its environment. The tonal finishing of a Veritas organ can take several days on site, during the installation process, just as is done during the installation of a pipe organ. Our system does not utilize recordings of disparate pipe organs but, instead, produces a cohesive, musical, dynamic in an instrument that is truly enjoyable to play and listen to that will satisfy the most critical listeners for years to come. • Combination instruments, with as many pipe ranks as desired The finest sound to be achieved is that from real pipes. We all know that electronic organs can do quite amazing things in reproducing pipe organ sound, but their reason for existence is owing to budgetary and space considerations faced by many congregations. With our system, as many ranks of pipes as are desired can be used in conjunction with the electronics. There are no limitations as to which ranks or which divisions of the organ they can be employed in and future needs can be accommodated without undue cost. Our system can also be used to augment pipe organs, either with just a few ranks or with entire new divisions.