Viscount Cantorum Duo Keyboard

Aug 21, 2020 Viscount

The Cantorum Duo is a two keyboard, fully self-contained instrument. It has 27 stops and 4 variations on each of those stops. It also has several “orchestral” stops available for each division. It has a fair amount of configuration available, such as echo duration, pitch and temperaments. To be fair, if you expect this to sound like a high-end console or pipe organ you will be disappointed. It can, however, make a reasonable sound and is really a good purchase for the money. It doesn’t sound terrible, just not as high-end as many would want. Everything is a trade-off and this represented a good one for me.

You can always use Grandorgue or Hauptwerk if you want a different sound. I bought it for the features and for the fact it could function without powering up amplifiers and computers. I’ve used it a number of times when I just want to take a break and play. I may say it sounds a bit ‘synth’ but it is perfectly acceptable and is priced very well.

I’ve added a few links to YouTube videos at the end of this page. None are of me playing as I don’t want to show it in a bad light.

Also, if you have a 4-channel amplifier, you can play with routing echo to the rear and pipes to the front. I actually use a mixer and balance out various channels to give a bit of echo in the front channels with the pipes and only echo in the rear. It sounds better to my ear. The amp I use is an old two zone that I almost sold on eBay. Glad I kept it around.

The user guide

You can download the user guide from the website. This link may become obsolete when they update the guide. Make sure the version you have is 1.2 or greater. The version 1.0 had numerous errors.

Audio inputs and outputs

Manual pages 6, 7, 14.

It has two stereo audio outputs and one stereo audio input. Weirdly, the outputs are in TRS but the input seems to be a mini plug, like a headphone jack. The outputs can be mono or stereo and you can route any division or echo to either, or both, outputs. I put the echo on one channel and all the other divisions on the other. When I run it through my amp, I have the pipes in the front and the echo in the rear. I mix the levels a bit it makes it sound much more realistic. (More on the audio sections)

Manual pages 12 and 13
It also has a built-in 7-band equaliser for output so you can adjust the levels for internal, and external outputs. This will let you tweak the audio to your taste and environment.

Manual pages 10 (manuals), 26 (voice)
You can also adjust the volume for each manual and each stop. I’ve used this to adjust manual levels so the great doesn’t overpower the swell. It is very easy to do.

Mechanical inputs

Manual pages 6,7 (enable), 18 (calibrate)

The keyboard includes 3 inputs: 1 for swell pedal, 1 for expression pedal and 1 for sustain pedal. The swell and expression pedals are meant to be variable pots while the sustain pedal is a simple switch.

The resistance values can be adjusted in the control panel to compensate for non-zero and non-100% values. It’s a nice touch, and is also a feature available in GrandOrgue.

MIDI

Manual pages 7, 14-17
This has a fairly standard 5-pin DIN MIDI interface but does not include a MIDI-thru. The input can be either for pedalboard or computer, but not both. This really didn’t matter to me since I am using a mioXM interface as a MIDI ‘switcher’. Everything goes in and out of the mioXM.

Stops

Manual pages 4, 25
This has 27 different stops available with 4 variations: Baroque, Barock, Romantic and Symphonic. The variations are just minor alterations to the sounds, so don’t expect it to go from a full German baroque organ to a French, 19th century, romantic organ. All of the sounds are sufficient for practice and play; while I’ve said it sounds a bit ‘synth’, it has a perfectly acceptable sound.

Pedal	Great	Swell
Principal Bass 16'	Bourdon 16'	Gedackt 8'
Octave Bass 8'	Principal 8'	Gamba 8'
Choral Bass 4'	Rhorflote 8'	Vox Celeste 8'
Posaune 16'	Viola 8'	Principal 4'
Klarine 4'	Octave 4'	Block Flute 4'
	Superoctave 2'	Nazard 2 2/3<'/td>
	Mixtur IV	Waldflote 2'
	Kornett III	Terz 1 3/5'
	Trompete 8′	Sharff III
	Krummhorn 8′	Faggotto 16'
		Trompette Harmonic 8'
		Oboe 8'
great to pedal	tremulant	tremulant
swell to pedal	swell to great

Orchestral stops

There are also orchestral sounds available, but only one voice may be chosen at a time for a division. I haven’t used them much, but some may find them useful.

Pedal	Great	Swell
Cello 16'	Harpsichord	Chimes
Cello 8'	Piano	Celesta
Plucked Bass 8'		Harp
Plucked Bass 16'		Fast Attack Strings
		Slow Attack Strings
		Pan flute
		Choir

MIDI Codes

The MIDI codes for some functions are documented, but I will document all the codes for the options that are available: stop switches, most of the buttons, e.g. orchestral buttons.

Examples on YouTube

This is not exhaustive; you will find more on YouTube. Styles Demo:

Fantasy on Ode To Joy:

Bach’s G-minor fugue: