In 1695 Arp Schnitger built an organ for Noordbroek, using pipes from the previous organ. The church was built in the Romano-Gothic style in the 13th century as a cross church with vaults and has an overwhelming acoustics. Organists from many countries visit this special organ, which is known worldwide. Every organist is impressed by the striking sound beauty of the centuries-old pipes. The church is located on the edge of the small village of Noordbroek in the province of Groningen.
Albertus Antoni Hinsz restored the organ in 1752. In 1768 Hinsz built new wind chests for main and back work and enlarged the lowest octave to a full chromatic bass octave. The Quintadena 16’, Vox Humana 8’ and Dulcian 8’ registers were made by him. He also expanded the organ case and replaced the keyboards to be able to play the lowest octave fully. The pipes Hinsz added were voiced in the clear baroque style of Schnitger.
In 1809 Heinrich Hermann Freytag further expanded the organ case by adding pedal towers on both sides of the organ case and changing the pedal registers. Freytag made new pedal drawers and new bellows and Frytag also ensured that the pipes were voiced in the clear baroque style of Arp Schnitger. The high scales mixtures gave the plenum a silvery sound.
Fluit douce 8’
Praestant 4’
Spitsfluit 4’
Octaaf 2’
Sesquialter II-IV
Scherp III-IV
Dulciaan 8’
A few years ago I chose the Noordbroek organ with its striking sounds as the Theme for a conference of organ builders. Then I got to know the sounds well. The tones must be voiced with a volume that fits in the living room, but while maintaining the character. By reducing the volume, the proportions shift.
Some of the pipes from the previous organ have been reused by Arp Schnitger. At that time it was customary to keep good material and to fit it into the new organ. Hinsz and Freytag also added registers with respect for the sound characters already present. The Praestanten beautifully reproduce the North German Baroque sounds in a style that Arp Schnitger aspired to. Each register is a solo voice with great eloquence. Combined with the high mixtures, a plenum with a silvery sound is heard. The Trumpet enhances the plenum and adds shine. Striking are the velvety sounds of the four-foot Flutes. The Vox Humana is a nice solo voice, with a modest but sweet sound. The transparent sounds give the Dulcian a singing character. The Mixtuur and the Scherp are composed of elevated foot measures,
The beautiful acoustics of the church are not transferred through the samples but with an IR recording. It gives the tones more fullness and promotes the beautiful silvery timbres.
The DRY samples made by Jiri Zurek testify to the high level of his craftsmanship, which is not surpassed by anyone. This sample set is the most successful set to reproduce a pipe organ. It is an art to reproduce a tone with typical characteristics for each sample and yet have them harmonize together like the voices of a choir.
The samples are recorded with eight microphones (four times stereo). The microphones that were located a short distance from the pipes captured the pipe tones with their striking properties as (semi) DRY samples.
I only use these samples, because the pipe notes can be heard here just as the organist in the church hears them. In the acoustics of the church, the tones become fuller and fill the large space. That effect cannot be conveyed by the reverb from the other channels, but an IR recording makes a copy of the acoustics, which is able to make the tones sound fuller. This copy is already in the Hauptwerk organ and will be activated when installing the sample set.
Voicing
I have performed the voicing of this organ in a very special way, especially aimed at the clear sounds that this organ shows so strikingly. When voicing pipes I always chose an intonation that suited the nature of that organ. In this way I was able to accentuate the characteristic properties of the sounds from the samples, in order to make them sound equal to the sounds in the church in living room volume. I described my way of voicing in a book and photographed the positions of all voicing sliders. By literally copying the voicings, the sounds are optimally reproduced. Depending on the speakers, the volumes may differ, but these differences can easily be equalized with the amplitude sliders.
In the acoustics of the IR reverberation, the silvery plenum sounds in a room of cathedral size.
The book will be sent free of charge if requested with name and full postal address.
The organ has 24 stops, of which six reeds. The sounds are of a special beauty with a silver transparency. The special character of the organ is beautifully reflected by the grandiose acoustics of the church.
About the first organ is little known, but documented is the year 1570.
Hendrik and Johan Huisz built a three-manual organ in 1658 and used a large part of the pipes from 1570. Berend Huisz (Huß) was their brother who worked as an organ builder in Stade Northern Germany and bequeathed his workshop to Arp Schnitger. Striking is the Bazuin, which was made in 1621 the oldest pedal reed in the world is.
Heinrich Hermann Freytag restored the organ in 1802 with 20 stops divided over Pedal, Hoofdwerk and Positive. The old pipework was in good condition and was placed in the restored organ by Freytag.
In 1833 Antonie Lohman carried out maintenance work on the organ, voiced the pipes and adjusted the tuning. Since then, in 170 years nothing has changed on the organ.
In 2004 the organ was in urgent need of a major restoration, which was done by Mense Ruiter. He assumed the condition of 1833 and respected the historical value of the more than 400-year-old pipework. The organ has a soundrich main choir and a wide variety of flutes.
The Viola di Gamba, made in 1833, was preserved for its lovely character.
The tuning has been reconstructed after the Lohman organ in Farmsum (1/8 comma and partly 1/16 comma - Klaas Bolt) A= 465 Hz.
Of this eight-channel sample set, I only use the stereo channel with the DRY recordings. The behavior of the tones is recorded in the sample from the start, the build up of the tone and the ending of the tone with all side effects.
They are large files, because every effort has been made to show all the details of the characteristic properties. Not only the transparent Clarity, but also the lovely Poetry and the deep Gravity. Especially the latter is difficult to capture in samples, but a lot of attention has been paid to the latest sample sets from Sonus Paradisi.
Two channels (stereo) with DRY samples reproduce the sounds that are exactly the same on this organ as the sounds that the organist hears at the console. The organ in Noordwolde is well reproduced with the acoustics from the Convolution Reverb.
