Keyboards are very important; you’ll be touching them every time you play so the weight, feel, and responsiveness are one of the most important factors when it comes to playing the organ. (Sound will be covered later but there are many options available that are separate from the keyboard touch. At first I started practicing with a Korg synth that I bought years ago. The keys are very ‘synth’, meaning soft touch with a slick surface. I seemed to have a great deal of difficulty adjusting to both the weight and feel of the keyboard. My conclusion: I didn’t like synth keyboards. I also don’t like weighted (piano) keyboard feel.
I started looking around for keyboards and had several criteria:
I wanted it to have a certain weight and feel to it that felt more like an organ than a piano.
I’m don’t care for most synth keyboards, but could be convinced.
I didn’t want to have to build a case. Remember when I said my woodworking skills were poor? I didn’t want to build this out of legos, though that would certainly have made it look more interesting than if I tried with wood.
Synth Keyboards
I used a Korg for a short time and didn’t really like it. However, given their cost, and the cost of other equipment, I looked at implementations and decisions others have made. One organist created a multi-keyboard stack out of commercial keyboards. His decisions were interesting and may be a solution for others. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene, professional organists, chose Nektar keyboards to keep the cost down and to allow purchase of a 4 keyboard stack. Money saved was used for the computer software (Hauptwerk). Note: the website also sells annotated sheet music and there are a number of tutorials available. You should check out what he has to offer.
One of my first looks was John’s Organ Works. He’s one of those guys that started a small business and it seems to be working very well. From what I’ve read on the net, he’s got a good reputation and delivers exactly what he promises - and his prices are very reasonable. I’ve contacted him a few times and would have bought his keyboards but he uses synth keyboards, currently M-Audio Keystation MK III keyboards. I decided not to go with him even though his keyboards were completely usable and ready to go. If you like the feel of the keyboards he uses, you should give him a look. He doesn’t have a place to drop in and test the units, but you could find a shop that sells the keyboards he uses and give those a try.
John’s prices, as of 2020, were from £656 to £815 for a 2 keyboard stack. He builds up to 4 keyboard stacks and you can request some customisation. These are really good prices if you, like me, have zero skills when it comes to woodwork.
Commercial, completed solutions
Then there are pre-built, pre-voiced stacks. Single manuals are available, and also 2-manual stacks. These come with pipe-organ sounds, thumb pistons, amps, various inputs and outputs and complete MIDI implementations. I skipped larger console models because of space. None of them would have fit my requirements so I searched for “portable” solutions. They needed to be similar to what John’s Organ Works had created.
There were two I had heard about: Viscount Cantorum Duo and Content Compact-224. One dealer in the UK had both, but there is also a Viscount dealership. One thought I had: if the computer with the VPO crashes, or I don’t want to power up the amp and computer this would let me play without worry. I decided to give them a try.
The Viscount Cantorum Duo has 2 keyboards, thumb pistons, MIDI audio out (2 channels), expression pedal in, 27 stops (with “variations”) and a number of features, such as ‘orchestral sounds’.
Viscount Cantorum Duo
I was able to download the manual and give it a very good read through. Aside from several pages being wrong - which I have mailed corrections to Viscount - it is fairly comprehensive.
The Content Compact-224 is similar to the Cantorum Duo: 2 keyboards with 24 stops (also with “variations”). It is solid wood and looks pretty nice.
I called Viscount and made an appointment to see the Cantorum Duo. Entering into their showroom (appointment only, mask required, hand sanitiser on entry and keyboards cleaned after every person) and was met by John. I was shown the keyboard and I played a bit. The keys were not slick but slightly matt and nicely weighted. They are custom Fatar keyboards with slightly heavier weight and ‘tracker’ feel. The tracker touch can be removed and a slightly lighter touch can be put in if you really don’t like the feel. There would be no charge for the modification.
The keys felt really good. After playing with the Korg for a few months, I really liked the feel. The sound generation was OK but just a bit ‘synth’ for my tastes. The reverb seems a bit heavy handed. So, a win on layout, touch and features, but only so-so on sound.
John, not to be put off by my comment, took me to another room to show me (or torture me) with a three manual console organ with wooden keys (made by Viscount). It was like going from a Ford Escort to a Mercedes S-series: excellent sound quality, and terrific features. Yes, I wanted it. But it was really expensive and would take up most of the room I was going to use. Thanks for a terrible case of organ-envy.
Rating Viscount Organ: 5/5. Call them. Looking at those large, gorgeous organs really made me want one; I have to thank him for being really accommodating. He is a good guy and obviously loves his job. Try and get a look at some of those high-end models.
My second stop was a Promenade Music and I made an appointment with John. Another John. This is the third person I’ve talked to named John, so at least I only had to remember one name. Promenade music had both the Content and Viscount 2-manual units and I wanted to compare the two.
I waited in behind one other person and then went into a shop filled with keyboards, guitars, organs, pianos. Delightful chaos. I went back-and-forth between the Compact and Viscount comparing sound, touch, and layout. It took ages while John just let me play away.
The Content keyboard felt much like the Viscount, so I rated them a tie. The sound output of the Content was a bit nicer and the sound generation, in my opinion, is also a bit better. The Content is oak and not veneer over MDF. The music rack is also solid on the Content, while the Viscount looks decidedly cheap. So, sound, voicing and ascetics are better on the Content.
The thumb pistons on the Viscount seems a bit better for me, being under the keyboards and well spaced. The Contents lined the top above the keyboard and in front of the stop tabs. i wasn’t thrilled with the layout. The Viscount looks OK and the veneer doesn’t look bad at all, just not quite as nice as the Content.
Because I wanted to also use this with a computer for VPO, not only standalone, price is a major consideration. The Viscount was almost £2,100, and the Content was a bit more than £3,600. For £1,500 I could: buy a license for Hauptwerk software (£600) and purchase a really nice organ sample library (£500-£800) and still have money left over. Neither price included all the other things I’d need: computer, pedalboard, bench, etc.
John (at Promenade) was great, really pleasant, very chatty and the lowest pressure salesperson I’ve ever met. You want it? He’ll go out of way to help. You don’t want it? No problem! Just let him know if you need anything else.
So - I chose the Viscount. The keyboard feel was of a similar feel, the sound was OK, the features were good, and it had everything I wanted. Then I had to go back to Viscount Organ to pick it up. (Doh!) That week I had an outing, a great experience, and a 2 manual keyboard.
Rating Promenade Music: 5/5. I hate pressure and I need to take time to compare and decide. This place is perfect for that. It was a very, very long drive but worth it. I would gladly recommend the Viscount from either location. Viscount also has dealers around the country and, if you don’t like that, you can order it from Germany.
I bought from the UK because shops and businesses are struggling…even if Viscount is an Italian company.
At Home
I setup the keyboard as quickly as possible and started playing with it. It sounded a bit better in my home but felt fantastic to my fingers. Now I just needed to get all the other pieces to have a complete setup. On to the pedalboard, expression pedals, computers, connection to audio amp, wiring, tables, lights, and some other bits and pieces. But – I had a keyboard!
