Renovating and building an organ: P. Leray's electronic boards
- Johann
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Organova produced a video documentary on the organ in Rians, designed and built by Pascal Leray. The boards shown here are available to anyone who wants to build or restore a pipe organ.
Renovating & building keyboards and pedalboards
1. From existing wooden keyboards
Starting from wooden keyboards already in place, you simply need to “MIDI-fy” the key presses — turn each keystroke into a MIDI signal. Two boards are enough.
KIH32 — Hall-effect sensors (×2 for a full keyboard), magnets fixed under the wood
KI7_MIDI_USB — conversion to a MIDI signal (USB output)
Optional: interface for electronic stops
You can add a dedicated input board for the stops (drawknobs), to control them electronically from the same MIDI chain.
KI64 — 64 stop inputs (64-Stop Input Board)
2. From new Fatar keyboards
Fatar is the world leader in keyboard manufacturing. You can buy several Fatar keyboards and integrate them yourself into a custom console. The signal from the Fatar key presses is turned into a MIDI signal by the boards.
KI 6x8x8 — up to 3 Fatar keyboards
KI 8x8x8 — expansion available (not shown)
3. Old pedalboard
For an old pedalboard the principle is the same as for wooden keyboards: sense the key presses, then output MIDI.
KIP 32 — sensor board
PEDUSB — MIDI output, USB & DIN-5
These are simplified configurations. More complex combinations — keyboard interfaces, stops and MIDI — are possible. See Pascal Leray's website.
Renovating & building the transmission and windchests
1. Reuse existing windchests, solenoids and pallet pulls
The CIPAR 03x64 board is the MIDI “brain”: it receives key presses over MIDI, manages stop activation (live, or via the ORGLIB software and screen), and triggers the solenoids.
In this scenario, a single board is usually enough to drive an entire organ.
CIPAR 03x64 — Master Board, MIDI In → Valve / Solenoid Out
2. “Unit” technology: one electro-valve per pipe
The CIPAR 03x64 master board is paired with CIPAR 04x64 extensions. You need as many output connectors (64 outputs per connector) as there are stops, since each stop has roughly 54 to 61 electro-valves to drive.
CIPAR 03x64 — brain (Master)
CIPAR 04x64 — output extension
Note: the CIPAR 03x64 and CIPAR 04x64 boards are rackable on a shared standard bus.
Links
Contact Pascal Leray
Pascal Leray and Organova are not affiliated: they are simply partners. Organova receives no commission, makes no commitment, and gives no warranty on the boards presented.
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