John's Organ Works K Series User manual

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John’s Organ Works
USER GUIDE FOR “K” SERIES MIDI KEYBOARD STACKS
Last updated: 16/05/2017
INTRODUCTION
This document is intended as a generic user guide for our “K Series” MIDI keyboard stacks based on
the M-Audio ‘Keystation 61es’ (later renamed ‘Keystation 61’). These units are intended for use with
virtual pipe organ software such as Hauptwerk, Miditzer or jorgan. They provide one, two, three
(shown below) or four 61-note keyboards. They are connected to the computer using multiple USB
connections. No external power supply is necessary. Standard stacks have eight pistons per
keyboard (sixteen on the one-keyboard stack) but more or fewer can be provided if required. Earlier
models had an additional piston with an LED at the LH end of each keyboard, which was used for
setting the MIDI output channel for that keyboard. As this is not necessary for Hauptwerk, channel
changing pistons are no longer fitted, unless they have been requested as an optional extra. The rear
panel of the stack provides two jack sockets for attaching standard keyboard expression pedals, and
one or two D-type sockets, to which up to eight additional switch inputs can be connected (eg toe
pistons). An optional music stand can be attached to the top of the stack.
If you have questions about your stack which aren’t answered here, please get in touch using the
‘Contact Us’ section of the website.

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UNPACKING THE MIDI KEYBOARD STACK
If your stack has been delivered by courier, it will be packed in a cardboard carton, surrounded by
sheets of polystyrene for protection. You will probably need the help of an assistant to lift it out of
the carton, especially in the case of a 3-keyboard stack. After removing the polystyrene from each
side, lift the stack by its end panels. Be sure not to lift it by the rear panel (which is only thin
material) or the keyboards, or damage may occur.
When all of the packing material has been removed, you will find the USB leads tucked under the
rear panel.
PROVIDING A SUPPORT FOR THE MIDI KEYBOARD STACK
One approach is to build the stack into an existing organ console, as a replacement for the original
keyboards. Otherwise, some sort of stand or table will be necessary. The stacks are quite heavy, so
strength and stability is obviously of paramount importance when choosing a support. The type of
lightweight ‘keyboard stand’ sold by music stores will only be suitable for the one-keyboard stack.
The other stacks in the range will require something more substantial.
If using an ordinary table, the aim should be to get sufficient leg-room (especially if a pedalboard is
being used) without raising the stack any higher than is necessary. For this reason, a modern style
office table which consists of tubular metal legs attached to a single, monolithic sheet of material
will be more suitable than a timber table of traditional construction with rails below the worktop.
Legs of adjustable length will be an advantage, particularly if the organ is to be played by more than
one person. The Ikea ‘Galant’ range of tables provides for some height adjustment, and the legs are
available separately.

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Where a pedalboard is being used, the table must obviously be long enough to straddle it. A 32 note
pedalboard will probably be around 1.4m (55”) at its widest, so when you allow for the table legs
being set in a certain distance from the end, the total length of table required will be around 1.6m
(63”).
The minimum width of the table depends on the number of keyboards as below
1 keyboard: 280mm (11”)
2 keyboards: 395mm (15.5”)
3 keyboards: 510mm (20”)
4 keyboards: 610mm (24”)
BOLTING DOWN THE STACK (OPTIONAL)
The stack is supplied with four rubber feet, but some users may prefer to remove these, in order to
get the stack slightly lower (#2 pozidrive screwdriver required). If you would like to bolt the stack
down to prevent movement, the sockets left when the feet are removed can be re-used for that
purpose. It will probably be necessary to replace the M4 x 20mm bolts from the feet with longer
bolts. For example, if the surface below is 25mm thick, M4 x 40mm bolts would be suitable.
Alternatively M4 studs and nuts can be used.
Marking the positions for the holes is slightly tricky. One method is to replace the bolts in their
sockets (minus rubber feet) with about 10mm protruding. Carefully place the stack in the required
position, then mark the position of each bolt head with two pencil lines at ninety degrees. When the
stack is then removed, the intersection of each pair of lines is the centre point for drilling the hole.
To allow for minor inaccuracies, allow plenty of clearance (eg drill holes 6mm diameter) and fit a
large, flat washer below the bolt head.
Don’t bolt the stack tightly to a warped surface or it may be damaged. If the stack doesn’t sit evenly
on its support, insert thin washers as necessary to make up for the discrepancy.
SETTING UP THE FOUR-KEYBOARD STACK
The four-keyboard stack is made in two parts. The upper part is a standard two-keyboard stack,
while the lower part is a special base unit which provides the two additional keyboards. The first
stage is to provide suitable support for the base unit, and optionally bolt it down (as previously
described). Then, the upper part of the stack is lowered vertically into position, until it sits on top of
the lower part, located in the side-to-side direction by the metal tongues. Some care is required, as
some of the circuit boards of the lower part are exposed until the upper part is in position. It’s much
easier if an assistant is available. The upper part should be placed as far forward (ie towards the
player) as it will go. The interface between the two parts is inclined, and gravity can be relied upon
to prevent any unwanted movement.

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Once the upper part is in position, there are two cables with D-type connectors emerging from the
lower part which need to be plugged into the corresponding sockets on the upper part. This allows
the piston encoder in the upper part to process the pistons of the lower part.
FITTING THE (OPTIONAL) MUSIC STAND
Your stack may be supplied with the music stand already fitted. If not, it’s quite easy to fit one, and
the only tool required is a #3 pozidrive screwdriver.
To begin, locate and remove two countersunk M6 bolts which pass down vertically through the top
board of the stack, 300mm apart. Place the music stand in position, and pass the bolts through the
two angled countersunk holes in the ‘shelf’ part, and back into their original sockets in the stack.
Tighten the bolts carefully, just sufficiently to prevent any rocking movement of the music stand.
Don’t over-tighten them, or the music stand may be damaged.
The music stand should slope back away from the player. The angle is controlled by two short,
round-headed bolts with lock-nuts which are fitted in front of the mounting bolts. These should
already be set to a suitable length for your stack (the angle of the top board varies depending on the
number of keyboards). If you want to adjust the angle, loosen the main mounting bolts and the lock
nuts. Screw the adjustment bolts in or out as required, then re-tighten the lock-nuts and the main
mounting bolts.
If you wish to fit your own music stand, you may find it convenient to use the two bolts referred to
above. Alternately, it’s safe to drive woodscrews into the top board of the stack (which is made of
MDF and behaves similarly to wood) or fit insert nuts, but take great care that drills or screws do not
project through the board and damage components underneath. The board thickness is 18mm.
CONNECTING THE MIDI KEYBOARD STACK TO THE COMPUTER
Connection is simply a matter of plugging all of the stack’s USB cables into available USB ports on the
computer. These USB links transmit MIDI data from the stack to the computer, and they also supply
the stack with electrical power. No other power supply is required. The pistons have their own USB
connection, so the total number of USB ports needed for the stack will be the number of keyboards
plus one.
The stack’s USB cables emerge at the rear LH corner (as seen from the playing position), so it is more
convenient to have the computer located on that side too, if possible. If insufficient USB ports are
available, it will be necessary to use a good quality powered USB hub, eg Belkin.
Once connected, the stack will automatically be ON when the computer is powered up, and OFF at
other times. To confirm that the stack is ON, press one of the channel setting pistons (if fitted) once.
The adjacent LED should light up. Press the piston again to return to normal playing mode.

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SETTING THE MIDI OUTPUT CHANNEL
NB Hauptwerk users can ignore this section. The channel-setting pistons are only required when
using Miditzer or jorgan. For Hauptwerk, all keyboards can be left to output on the default channel
(channel 1).
If you need one or more keyboards to output on a different MIDI channel, proceed as follows:
1. Press the channel-setting piston once
2. Confirm that the adjacent green (or red on later models) LED is lit
3. Choose the MIDI channel by pressing one of the natural keys as below (starting at the LH end
of the keyboard) :
1 D
2 E
3 F
4 G
5 A
6 B
7 C (octave 2)
8 D
9 E
10 F
11 G
12 A
13 B
14 C (octave 3)
15 D
16 E
4. After the key is pressed, the LED goes out, and the new channel is selected. It will remain in
effect until the stack is next powered off.

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USING THE MIDI KEYBOARD STACK WITH HAUPTWERK
The following sections describe how to use the stack with Hauptwerk v4. For other softwares, the
procedure will be generally similar. Please consult your software instructions.
Before using the stack with Hauptwerk, it is necessary to make sure it has been recognised and is
enabled for MIDI input. This should only need to be done once
1. Start the Hauptwerk software.
2. Click on the General Settings menu command
3. Click on MIDI Ports
4. Confirm that there is an entry called ‘USB Keystation 61es’ (earlier stacks) or ‘Keystation
61’ (later stacks) for each of the stack’s keyboards. The identifiers ‘A’, ‘ B’, etc, are
inserted by the software. (Example below is for the 3-keyboard stack)

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5. Confirm that there is an entry called ‘USB MIDI Keyboard’ for the piston encoder. For
stacks built after May, 2017, the piston encoder will be listed as ‘J.O.W. 40’
6. For each of the above entries, tick the ‘Console MIDI IN’ column (if not already ticked).
7. Click Done

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ASSIGNING THE VIRTUAL KEYBOARDS
The next step is to associate the physical keyboard(s) of the stack with the virtual keyboard(s) of an
organ sample set. The ‘auto detect’ feature of Hauptwerk version 4 makes this easy, and saves the
user from needing to be aware of the MIDI signals being sent. This procedure will need to be done
once for each sample set you use.
1. Load the virtual organ
2. Ensure an image of the keyboard(s) is visible on screen (it may be necessary to
select Console view)
3. Right-click on the image of the virtual keyboard which is to be assigned.
4. Left click on the first option (Auto detect …)
5. On the corresponding physical keyboard, press the lowest and highest keys
once. (The parts about pressing hard and gently can be ignored, unless you
wish to make use of ‘2nd touch’)
6. Click on Done
Repeat, as necessary, for other keyboards. Your stack is now connected to your virtual organ and
ready to play.

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USING A PISTON AS A COMBINATION PISTON
The most common use for the pistons is to call up pre-defined combinations of stops, but this is by
no means their only use. They can be used to do just about anything in Hauptwerk, including
executing menu commands – everything from starting a recording to loading a new organ sample
set. The simplest way to use them is to associate them with one of the pistons of the virtual organ.
Typically, this will be with a virtual thumb piston on the corresponding manual, but there’s no reason
why you can’t mix manuals, or even use a physical thumb piston to operate a virtual toe piston (or
vice-versa) if you so wish. Generally speaking, though, it makes sense for the layout of the physical
pistons to match the virtual pistons as far as possible.
1. Load the virtual organ
2. Select a view in which the virtual pistons are visible on screen
3. Right click over the chosen virtual piston
4. Left click on the first option (Auto-detect …)
5. Press the physical piston once
6. Left click on Done

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USING A PISTON TO TRIGGER A MASTER GENERAL COMBINATION
As a further example of setting up a piston, this is how to make the piston operate Master General
Combination number “3”:
1. Left-click on the View menu command
2. Left-click on Mini control panels (for this organ)
3. Select Master generals 1-10
4. On the new mini control panel, right-click over 3
5. Left-click on the first option (Auto-detect …)
6. Press the physical piston once
7. Left-click on Done
USING A PISTON TO ADVANCE THE COMBINATION STEPPER
When using the combination stepper, it is important that the piston does not suffer from contact
bounce, otherwise certain steps in the sequence may be omitted altogether. Fortunately the pistons
used on our keyboard stacks (unlike the pistons on our pedalboards) do not usually suffer from this
condition. In the unlikely event that it does happen, Hauptwerk has a setting to prevent it. Please
see the pedalboard user guide for details.
1. Left-click on the View menu command
2. Left-click on Mini control panels (for this organ)
3. Select Combination stepper
4. On the new control panel, right-click over the left-most right-pointing arrow.
5. Left-click on the first option (Auto detect …)
6. Press the piston once
7. Left-click on Done
8. The stepper mini control panel can now be hidden again, if not required.