The ranks in the Paramount series represent the crème de la crème collected from a large number of public and private theatre pipe organs over a period of fifteen years. Below are some of the key attributes that make the Paramount series unique.
Approachability - From the outset, we wanted the Paramount to be very easy to install and require minimal resources, yet deliver un-compromised sound. So we decided to make the 310 free and capable of running well on the Free Edition of Hauptwerk. The 320 works well with Hauptwerk Basic Edition.
Stereo - All samples in the Paramount series are stereo with the Solo ranks emanating from the right and the Main ranks emanating from the left. Thus, two speakers or a pair of headphones will deliver extremely good results with stereo imaging that has depth and "air". Hauptwerk Advanced Edition allows a rich variety of audio routing possibilities; however, it is recommended that multiple symmetrical stereo pairs be employed rather than mono C/C#, etc. Stereo is a key attribute of the Paramount series.
Sampled Trem - The Paramount uses the actual recordings of each pipe with trem on and with trem off. Essentially there are two ranks instead of one. Theater organ pipes take on a very special quality when tremulated, a quality that is very difficult to reproduce. In a real organ, neighboring notes may trem quite differently from one another. We feel that the use of sampled trem is a key differentiator for the Paramount.
Our Approach to Voicing - Tying in with the first goal, approachability, we wanted for the user to be able to simply load the Paramount and not have to worry about spending endless hours tweaking the voicing to achieve a really good sound. So we spent the countless hours instead. The actual samples were voiced with Sound Forge 9. This is very arduous indeed compared with using Hauptwerk's excellent voicing facilities. But, there are advantages. Sound Forge has a really extensive suite of tools that allow a high degree of precision. Not only were the notes within a rank regulated, the various ranks taken together were meticulously voiced to blend into a musically satisfying ensemble. Our objective was never to make the Paramount "perfect" as this would take away much of the character of a real theatre organ. Rather, our goal was to present what would be considered a very well regulated organ.
Our Mission - Alan Baker and Joseph Hardy became partners to develop the Paramount because we adore theatre organs and hope that the Paramount will draw interest from many new users. The Hauptwerk community has a huge following among classical organists. We hope that some of them will try the Paramount and find out just how much fun theatre organ music can be. So our mission is to spread the gospel and help in our small way to preserve this unique art form. We also hope that people who would never otherwise have considered Hauptwerk will be introduced to this amazing product.