John H – "Congratulations on such a superb sample set. Your set is a welcome addition and very much appreciated by a large number of Hauptwerk users."

Vic F – "It is absolutely gorgeous! Thank you so much for this. 1) A huge bravo! for this excellent achievement. 2) An even huger "Thank You" for offering the 310 as a freeware instrument :) Installation couldn't have been smoother (and that's just as much a tribute to the people at Hauptwerk.. it's so well thought out!)… Just to say that I've had time to get over the initial excitement of using the Paramount for the first time, been to bed, got up again, switched on my gear and reloaded this organ.. and.. it simply hasn't lost anything at all overnight! In fact, it seems to be just getting better all the time! (love the supplied general pistons too). It does indeed sound gorgeous (and, as someone else already commented, what a huge palette for a "mere" ten-rank instrument)."

Rumpus – "Thanks for this wonderful gift. It is sounding great."

Cedric – "A million thanks for this magnificent gift, the sound is marvelous.
Count me in for the 320 !"

J. Kinkennon – "First impressions -- wow! Can't wait to thank you by purchasing the 320."

Gerrit – "Just downloaded it and installed it " Fantastic Instrument" and right away the expression pedals are hooked up and working.Very, VERY GOOD. Thanks for the lovely gift to the HW community."

Chris (Opus1883) – "Congratulations on the release ! I too will be purchasing future releases from Paramount. Really looking forward to the larger sample sets, but this one sounds amazing ! Well done for all the hard work."

David A – "Wow. Talk about something worth its wait)))
Great job guys, hard to get tibias under trems to sound real, these are the best I've heard. Glad I'm still home out of work, I will be playing all day tomorrow! Count me in for the 320 - reiterating harp on accompaniment - aaaaaahh

Roy K – "I am amazed! What a sound - absolutely fills my room with wonderful theatre sounds! Love the tibias and wow what an english horn. Definitely worth the wait- Thank you!"

Mel (TheOrganDoc) – "WOW, I just finished configuring the Paramount 3/10 to my console, and played it enough to praise both Alan and Joe, for a fabulous sample set. I also will purchase the 3/20 when released ! No one will go wrong by installing this sample set !"

Iain McGlinchey – "Can I offer my congratulations to Alan and Joe on a magnificent organ. I thought that I would feel restricted by a 3/10 spec after getting used to the 3/31, but no!! It has been put together very intelligently. The choice of pipework makes for that big broad British sound that we specified to fill our noisy post Talkies theatres on a budget, but with tremulant regulation to please modern tastes. Personally, I think the lads have shot themselves in the foot by giving away such a complete and capable instrument free!! It really has all you need (but not all you may WANT - hence the 320!!) Few 3/10 organs left the factory with a 16 string and wood harp. I would urge those who like it to ultimately upgrade and buy the 320.

Steve (etnmarchand) – "I will join the chorus and sing the praises of this incredible and FREE instrument!!! I've stayed up too late playing with it every night this week... just can't stop myself. Thank you for your hard work. It was worth the wait.

Ed N (engrsc) – "Just since the introduction of the Paramount 310, I "introduced" a young rock music synthesizer/keyboard player to H/W and the 310. He was (surprisingly) impressed (even almost excited) to the point of downloading the Free Edition and the 310. Not sure how far this will go, but as Joe said, one purpose is to introduce and involve newbies to this great instrument that all too soon is slipping away. Of course, Joe, all these wonderful demos only make the rest of us even more anxious to "get our fingers" around our own 320 In all "reality" you could easily drop the "virtual" moniker because what I'm hearing is real (good).

Leo C – "My first impressions of the Paramount 310: This is really a remarkably fine organ sample set! I am planning to order the 320 larger TO when available.

I now have the Paramount all voiced. The resulting sound is really outstanding. This TO doesn’t come across like the other three HW ones I have. I think I will have to say the Paramount sounds better! Though the others sound very nice, indeed, the Paramount has something more that makes the sound more authentic. IMO.

First, I believe it is the different sort of tremulants. For example, that Vox Humana under tremulant is a very unruly wild animal of a sound. But, put it at 8’ and 16’ together with the Tibia with tremulant and. . . OMG what a sound!!! I’ve never heard that sound before except from a real TO.

And, second, as Joe stated above, the pipes were not overly processed. The real sounds are there. This is what I always liked about the Sonus Paradisi classical organs. Those irregularities in the pipe sounds are pretty much still there. I really can appreciate that as I needed to go through each rank, pipe by pipe, and could hear just what each is like.

I’m impressed also with the consistent sound as a rank, for example the Tuba, goes from the Manuals to the low Pedals. For whatever the reason, the other TO’s I have never seemed to be able to give me a good solid, but still rather bright, sound at the bottom end (except for the Post Horn). The Paramount’s Tuba does give that big reed sound at low "C.

And, if I read the spec’s right, the 320 will have a String stop consisting of 8 ranks. . . Holy Cow, I can hardly wait!

There is a meeting of our local TO group coming up soon. Though it will be an open console evening, I had been planning to just go to listen. But, now I think I’ll just try to work up a few pieces on the Paramount and give them a try at the meeting. I’m inspired by all this, so watch out, Spokane!

Roland van den B – "Very nice sounds!

Neil O – "Blackpool tower here we come!! This was why I started down the journey of building a virtual theatre pipe organ, amazing sounds and so close to the "Blackpool sound" that I am striving for. Quite simply brilliant!

AJT – "I've bitten the bullet, downloaded it, tried, loved it. Never tried a theatre organ before.

Pat (B777Captain) – "HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!! What a fantastic sounding sample!! Put me down for the 4 manual version when it comes out!!

Richard L – "First and most important a very sincere thank you to ALL who were involved in the creation and testing of this sample set. The realism is superb. You have truly captured the TO sound and I so appreciate that accomplishment

George (G3) – "I absolutely love my Neil Jensen TO, but this new organ is a "must have". Can't wait for the piano. What a fun organ to play. Some of presets that were offered have some gorgeous settings.

Pat17 – "I downloaded it yesterday out of curiosity - this is not the type of instrument I usually listen to, as I'm not very familiar with the type of music which is played on such instruments. I found it quite surprising - a nice instrument, with unusual sounds for me, which gave me some fun. Thanks for sharing this instrument with us!

Don Springer – "I am honored to post a tune on the Magnificent Paramount 310 Version 1.00. The 310 is certainly a masterpiece. It is obvious how much work they put into this. They must be just "beaming over the result. Alan and Joe, you should be VERY PROUD. A masterpiece. Great fun to play. The part I find most amazing is that this is only 10 ranks. I specifically did the big beginning (somewhat unusual for ballad) so that people could hear the big sound, which is huge. It has a very full, complete and satisfying sound. It has all the critical tone colors, and the choice of ranks is excellent. You are giving many people quite a gift here, and I am sure they will get immeasurable enjoyment from it! And I am very much looking forward to the 320, although I think you guys should rest for a while first. I am "blown away by the 310. Closing Comment! Let me just say that I could not be happier with the 3/10. I don’t use the term Masterpiece loosely. You have certainly given me reason to reconsider my previous thoughts on tremulants. I am sure looking forward to the 320!!!

I wanted to just post a big thank you and congratulations to a bunch of people before I explode!

With the completion of the Paramount 310, and the release of Free Hauptwerk, and the work by others to have Hauptwerk run with Linux, we have reached the point where access to a theatre organ is available to a huge group. Granted there is some investment required in order to assemble the hardware required to actually create and post arrangements. However, the theatre organ door is a great deal more open now than ever before in history. The posting of arrangements by some really fine musicians recently proves, that the time of the VTPO has arrived. It has been a dream of mine to see a time when great musicians can produce great music without having to deal with the politics of the theatre organ. Where the best and the brightest can rise to the top without interference. That time is clearly here now.

In successfully completing the 310 Joe and Alan have done far more than just complete a sample set. They have put the last piece in place to pave the way for the next great theatre organists. Some day we will be going to a theatre to have the opportunity to see and hear in person, someone who has amazed us with his or her talent on the VTPO. I have to say that I am about as thrilled about this as I ever get. Joe, Alan Brett, and Martin should be VERY PROUD of this great achievement and the tremendous gift they have given to the theatre organ world.

Les K – "The individual ranks are simply beautiful, and surpassed only by the ensemble, which is as authentic as anything I have ever heard out of speakers. All the ranks 'Play well with others". I did a concert on a 3/10 WurliTzer like this (Style H-NP Kinura instead of Posthorn, stock WurliTzer issue) and the Paramount "feels" like that organ, and has some additional goodies, too. This is surely NOT a post-1926 Tibia, it just takes to a trem too well for that. Same goes for the Vox. Wonderful.

The sampling and processing are top notch. I did notice a couple of unusual things, like the Gamba and Celeste being on different trems, but that's just me taking a real close look. I keep those two trems down about 99% of the time anyway.

The sampled waveforms when viewed on a scope are near perfection. The thing that got to me most was the looping, best I have ever heard, or should I say, NOT heard! This brings me to my questions: What looping software was used in the preparation of the samples? How long, time-wise are they? Are there multiple loops in the samples? Finally, what software was used to 'clean up' the samples, that is, reduce or eliminate the ambient noise? I'm trying to 'roll my own' sample sets, and I certainly do not have the sophisticated processing that has been used here. I need to get me some.

Pierre Fracalanza – "It is a great testament to the Paramount 310 and 320 that excellent results can be achieved nearly "out-of-the-box". One can spend hours voicing a virtual organ! Thanks to Joe and Alan for such a superb job and to all of us enthusiasts for keeping a great sound alive.

Mike K – "As a regular at Blackpool Tower, I have to say that this is the closest I have heard the "Blackpool Sound" replicated on any organ including those containing samples said to have been taken from the Blackpool WurliTzer itself. Iain McGlinchey's setting are spot on. Absolutely loved the "Rodeo March". Iain recorded a fabulous version of the "King Kong March" on the Masterworks 3/31, I would love to hear this on the Paramount 320 - How about it Iain?