First Appearance of Bretts 'Wersi Louvre'
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An appreciative audience gave Brett a warm welcome at the 'Banstead Organ & Keyboard Club' for the first concert he has performed with his new instrument, the three manual Wersi Louvre. |
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Pictures by - Ken Belton
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Brett's Tip for May 2009
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Brett's Tip for April 2009
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Brett's Tip For March 2009
Recently I have been asked by a lot of OAS owners the same question regarding the confusion of MANUAL HOLD and LM HOLD.
MANUAL HOLD - can be found situated on the top row of the LOWER MANUAL selectors and basically allows you to put a hold on the notes/chord you are playing in the left hand. Very handy if you wish to change a pre-set with your left hand without creating a break in the sound.
LM HOLD - can be found situated in the middle on the right hand side of the main display and can be activated or de-activated by pressing the screen where you will see it is, a tick will appear when it is on. It is a helpful feature handed down from the SPECTRA where you are able to put a hold on the sounds used only on the LOWER MANUAL and PEDAL so that when you change to a different pre-set you will only change the UPPER Manual. Very handy for when you're playing on the fly.
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Brett's Tip
For February 2009
Many OAS owners have asked me for a long time now how I get my
String sound on the SCALA and why they can't seem to get
this on their OAS. This is simply because I use AKAI samples for my
strings as the standard WERSI strings have never quite been able to
produce the sort of string sound I have wanted. i.e. James
Last/Henry Mancini/Mantrovani
Well now it is possible to get this sound without AKAI samples as
long as you're running Version 7.1 Revision 36 and the special
'Franz Lambert edition'.
Here is a preset using these sounds.
Upper 1 - FL Classical Strings
(If you do not yet have the "Franz Lambert" edition try - Large
Classical Strings - 1 octave.)
Upper 2 - Large Classical Strings
Upper 3 - Vocal Opera
Lower 1 - Stringsoft 1
Lower 2 - Horn Section +1 Octave
Pedal 1 - Picked Bass Ped
This would be suitable for example the middle part to 'The Lonely
Sheppard' together with the FL Style 'FL 8 Beat-Romantica' or indeed
any of the light Classical music James Last has become associated
with over the years like 'Intermezzo','Largo' and 'Ave Maria'. It's
a very versatile sound and can be used in most romantic melodies.
The sounds I have chosen like the 'Large Classical Strings' and the
'Vocal Opera' are new sounds to Rev 36 and may not be on your
buttons already so don't forget to map them in first via your
Mapping section otherwise you can 'Quick Load' them and save them in
a preset.
If you don't have Version 7.1 Rev 36 you can download it for free
direct from WERSI at http://www.wersi.net/html/download.html
although the 'Franz Lambert edition' is in the software it is an
optional extra which you'll have to pay for by contacting WERSI and
they'll give you an activation code, but I feel it is worth it for
the String sounds let alone all the other Styles, Sounds and Presets
you'll get from the great Franz Lambert.
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Brett's Tip For December 2008
Hi, for this months tip there is a sound combination for you. It's one that is always popular with the great Franz Lambert and one that he used not only a lot on the ATLANTIS but also one he still uses on the LOUVRE.
It's a sound that's ideal for Ballads such as, Wind
beneath my wings, Memory (from cats), Something stupid,
Twilight time, Strangers in the night ect. or even upbeat ABBA
songs such as Super Trouper, Winner takes it all and Dancing
Queen.
The set up is as follows;
Upper 1 - CD Jazz Guitar
Upper 2 - CD Fairlight (located in the Synth
Lead 1 Button)
Lower 1 - Strings soft 1
Pedal 1 - Ped Bass 1
Why not try it I'm sure you'll find a
piece you play suitable for this
nice sound.
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Brett's Tip November 2008
Now please forgive me if you already know
this one but many people I have visited with OAS instrument
have not heard of this short cut.
If you want to create your own mappings of sounds or style
you can do so with ease on the OAS. Being able to map your
own or favourite sounds or styles can make playing your
instrument
so much easier.
For example a sound I use a lot is an Akai sample of the
older WERSI Tenor sax, so I have mapped it in to the first
space on the Tenor Sax button so that in order to call up
this sound quickly it only now requires one touch.
Here's for the short cut.
If you choose a button that you would like to edit the
mapping of then hold it down for 1-2 seconds this will then
take you directly to the mapping facility of that particular
sound. You can then simply choose the sound and space by
selecting and pressing the actual space and level. You have
5 available to fill so all you do is go to SAVE and
OVERWRITE MAPPING then you can change the sound or style to
place it in which ever position is most convenient for you.
Each level has the ability to hold 9 sounds or styles so
there shouldn't be a problem for space and also if you
scroll though some of the sounds in the sound window you'll
be surprised how many sounds are not already mapped by WERSI.
Don't be frightened to experiment you won't do any damage
but if you do want to go back to the original mapping either
make a back up or you can always restore from the latest
WERSI OAS disc.
*This tip is suitable for Version 6 upwards*
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Brett's Tip October 2008
In one of my earlier tips I mentioned putting a Drawbar sound together with a Brass sound to 'Fatten' out the sound a little. Now this was/is popular with Organist such as Franz Lambert and the late Klaus Wunderlich. Even though in most cases Big bands don't use Organs in them, by adding an Drawbar sound to them will enhance the sound.
Try this one.
Upper manual Voice 1 - Sax Section 1 Voice 2 - Spectra Medium Vib Voice 3 - Clarinet (Optional)
Lower Manual + 1 octave Voice 1 - Horn Soft Sec Voice 2 - Muted Trumpet
Ped Pedal Bass 1
This makes for a nice Miller/Wunderich 'Moonlight Serenade' sound.
*You will need to map in the Spectra Med Vib sound from the OX7 into one of your sound buttons as it's not a standard placed sound. Also don't forget to mix the volume of the sounds so you can hear the Drawbars as this will make a difference.
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Brett's Tip September 2008
"Here's a popular sound I use for songs such as 'Sleepy time Gal' and 'I left my heart in Sanfrancisco'.
If you have B4 then great simply choose the B4 GOSPEL preset and then alter the Drawbars so you have the 16 foot and the 1 foot drawbars out but nothing else. (1out at either end in other words).
Now when the ROTOR is on you should get a lush sort of almost theatre organ sound ideal for those timeless songs everybody always likes.
If you don have B4 then don't worry you can get this sound by choosing the Organ drawbars 1on the OX7 with the same drawbar setting (16 and 1 Foot) but it is vital you use the ROTOR and not the VIBRATO on the OX7 as this will totally change the sound. If you have both B4 and OX7 try both see which you prefer. For the best sound try to use if you can chords in the right hand if you can't then by all means use the WERSICHORD as this also will improve the sound (providing you use the correct chord in the Left hand)."
**The WERSICHORD will not work on the B4.**
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Brett's Tip August 2008
A lot of people ask me about Strings and how to get a full String sound.
Now there are many different types of String sounds and as with all sounds it does ultimately come down to individual taste but if I was to refer to my favourite String sound it would have to be the "Hollywood Strings".
When It comes to this sound I use mainly Akai samples but if you don't have this facility then try the following preset;
Upper 1- Strings1 Soft
Upper 2 - Vocal Mixed + 1 Octave
Upper 3 - Strings1 Soft - 1 Octave (Press the octave button 4 times to get this)
Lower 1 - Strings1 Soft
Lower 2 - Horn Sec Soft + 1 Octave
Bass- Ped Bass 1
Try to balance the sound so the deeper Strings are not too over powering and that you can hear the choir and this should give you a nice full sound. If you have the Scala or Louvre why not try another Strings1 Soft +1 octave to achieve an ever bigger sound.
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Brett's Tip July 2008
"Hi and welcome to this months tip. One thing I notice when I play someone else's WERSI is that almost all of the time the REVERB is set how the organ/keyboard was when it came from the factory.
Personally for me there is not enough REVERB on the factory setting and you would be surprised what a difference a good REVERB setting will make.
For this months tip I have given you a REVERB setting so that you can set it up and then if you like it set it as your STANDARD so that every preset you save with STANDARD setting your new REVERB setting will be called up".
REVERB.
VOLUME 77 TIME 84 HIGH EQ 63 LOW EQ 63 DAMPING 63 SIZE 87 PRE DELAY 20 SHAPE 76
"Don't forget to save the REVERB setting, I hope you like the new setting and have fun playing".
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Bretts Tip June 2008
Many people ask me about the
unmistakable 'Bell' sound that Klaus Wunderlich used in songs such
as 'They cant take that away from me', 'Love is here to stay' and
'La vie en rose' made famous from his Wersi Helios days, and how to
recreate this on the OAS.
Well if you go into the OX7 Editor and select 'Organ Drawbars 1'
then pull out the following Drawbars- 16-8-4-2-1 all the way (1
brown and all the whites). Then turn off completely both the 'Rotor'
and the 'Vibrato' leaving you with a 'Dead-pan' sound. Simply add
the 'Sustain' in the 'OX7' and there you have the famous Klaus Bell
sound.
You can save the Drawbars as free although I would recommend locking
them by selecting the 'Fixed/Free' button at the bottom of the page
in the OX7 Edit page.
Don't forget to save it as an OX7 preset and then map it to a button
so you can play it any time you require.
Also it might be worth mentioning that the 'Delay'/'Sustain buttons
in the OX7 Edit window work the wrong way around. It has been a
fault from I think version 6 maybe earlier just haven't got around
to telling Wersi Germany.
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Bretts Tip May 2008
"Hi and welcome to this the first 'Tip of the month' for the WERSI club.
If you are playing a Big Band piece and you would like to make the Brass sound a lot bigger then try adding some Drawbars. A setting I use a lot is; Brass Section 1 and then add to that from the OX7 list Spectra Straight Vib Full with also maybe a Trumpet Sec as well to add more brightness to the Brass. I would also suggest using the Drawbar on voice 3 of the upper so if you require the use of WERICHORD this would also help make the sound bigger.
In the left hand maybe a Sax Section with a Horn Section set to the correct octave would also complete your Big Band sound.
It's not how a big band would normally sound as most big bands never used an organ but it does help broaden out the over all sound".
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