FAQs - Viscount North America

Frequently Asked Questions

Thank you for your interest in Viscount Organs North America! This page is designed to answer some of the most common questions our customers have.

Prospective Owners

Viscount North America a division of Viscount International Spa. Viscount North America was formed to better serve churches, individuals, and institutions throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the island nations. We are not a third-party Viscount organ distributor. This helps us keep costs low, while maintaining an ultra high-quality product, and providing 1st class service to our dealers and customers throughout this region of the world. Viscount North America is made up of US-based corporate staff, including both dedicated sales and service/parts support, warehousing facilities for quick and timely delivery, and a continually growing network of dealers.

Why have I never heard of Viscount Organs?

Often times, our Viscount organ customers in North America ask why they haven’t heard of Viscount before. Viscount has been one of the largest manufacturers of high–quality digital organs for decades, but has been relatively unknown in North America, especially the US for two reasons:

Italians are known for their intrinsic ability to create some of the finest and highest–quality products the world has known, including the mighty traditional and digital organ. Viscount has made the decision to offer every church in North America a new, quality church organ, and to know about the many options Viscount has to offer.
Viscount has sold organs in North America for decades, but the importation happened because of third-party distributor for other US-based companies. Fact is, if you were playing on an electronic organ in the 80’s and 90’s, you probably played on a Viscount organ, but just didn’t know it. One of the largest manufacturers Viscount built for was Baldwin Organ Company. These classic instruments were made to Baldwin Organ’s exacting specifications and demands in Viscount’s state-of-the-art facilities. Viscount no longer manufacturers organs for third parties, and they do not have a third party distributor managing Viscount North America. Viscount maintains their own North American staff and imports all products directly in order to maintain their high-quality and sound standards. Cutting out the middleman also makes for highly competitive prices against other European and American Manufacturers.

Where is my closest North American Viscount organ dealer?

Finding your nearest Viscount organ dealer in North America is easy. Simply visit our Find a Dealer page and enter your zip code. If you are in an area of North America without local coverage on the map, give us a call directly. We have many associates throughout the continent who are our brand ambassadors for our Viscount organs. These individuals are authorized to represent and sell our products. Many of our ambassadors are located in areas where there is limited dealer coverage. Our North American Dealer Network is constantly growing, so don’t hesitate to contact us.

If you happen to be visiting our page from another area of the world, please note that this website is for North American Viscount Organ Customers Only. You can reach Viscount International at their website.

What makes Viscount organs different?

Viscount’s motto is ‘One Family. One Brand.’ This not only signifies our dedication to our valued dealer network as family, but it also clearly states that the Viscount organ brand is everything to this company, and is only as good as the technologies and high-quality products we offer our customers.

Clearly, with the creation of Physis® Physical Modeling Technology used in our digital organs one can see that we are not swayed in our pursuit by what others are doing in the music industry, and we’re certainly not trying to imitate any other company’s strategy. The only thing in this world we are shamelessly trying to imitate is the beauty and majestic sound of the pipe organ. Instead of following, we lead by doing what we believe is best for our customers, even if that means taking the road less traveled.

Since we felt that there was a better way than sampled sound technology in digital organs, we spared no expense in developing a technology for the music industry that has already been accepted by other industries throughout the world; self-driving cars, smart phones, the meteorologists’ weather map, navigation devices, and even internet search engines all use physical modeling.

The future of music is our mission, based on clear and simple values that guide us in our pursuit of the ultimate digital organs and instruments. These values can be categorized in four simple categories.

TRADITION

To live in Italy means to be surrounded by beauty, from artistic masterpieces, to architecture, to rich musical traditions. We always seek to include this beauty in our traditional instruments and digital organs wherever in the world they may go.

ARTISANAL CRAFTSMANSHIP

In the production and realization of our digital organs and instruments, we always pay the highest attention to every detail. To own a Viscount instrument is to have in your hands an object of prestige which will last through time.

TECHNOLOGY

Viscount makes use of the most advanced technologies in software, hardware and mechanics – developed and expertly adapted specifically for the musical instrument market. Our inventions, covered by numerous patents, help us realize traditional organs and digital organ products with great impact and exclusive performance.

PASSION

Music isn’t just the core of our business, but something which elevates our minds and our bodies. We put our passion into our digital organs and traditional instruments, adding this faithful attribute to your most intimate moments or performances.

How is Physis® (physical modeling) Technology different from sampled sounds?

Sampled Sound Technology in our hybrid and digital organs records a sound and saves that information on a hard drive. Every time you press a key, it’s like hitting ‘play’ on a tape deck. Releasing the key is like hitting ‘stop’. As long as you own an instrument with sampled sound technology, the recording stored inside will always remain the same. Many pipe organists will tell you that much of the beauty of the instrument comes from its ever-changing sound, tuning, and nuances.

Our Physis® Technology

Each note played on a pipe organ is unique, influenced by factors such as sympathetic resonance from neighboring pipes, variations in air pressure, and the interplay of pipes in ensemble. Physis® Technology addresses not only the sound of a pipe organ, but also its behavior, reflected in our digital organs.

How It Works

Physis® Technology does not use recordings to produce its sounds. Instead, the engineers at Viscount have successfully created a series of complex algorithms (computer code) that build each individual pipe from the ground up in real time, faster than the human mind can recognize any delay. With the introduction of Physis® Technology, Viscount has succeeded in reproducing sound waves just as they would emanate from a windblown pipe organ—each with its own autonomy, individuality, and unique characteristics. Viscount’s instruments using Physis®, reproduce each note’s sound wave in our digital organs just as it sounded in the original organ. Since there are no “breaks” or “split-points” as found in many sampled sound technologies, the progression of sound across the keyboard is accurate, smooth, and natural. However, the shapes of Physis® sound waves are open, making it possible to edit, modify, and extend their structure. They produce a tri-dimensional sound. Physis® speaks not just with “Left-to-Right” motion, as currently done with older technologies, but also with “Front-to-Back” and “Up and Down” motion as they do in real windblown pipes.

The current setup consists of 72 separate parameters, and this number continues to grow with each update. These parameters collectively determine the sound of each individual pipe of each rank. They include factors such as room temperature, humidity, pipe bore diameter, pipe opening size, and pipe age. Once the sound is created, we have the ability to adjust or remove these parameters one by one, allowing us to achieve the most realistic and best pipe organ sound possible. Similar to a real pipe organ builder, we can manipulate the physical characteristics of each individual rank of pipes to meet your exact specifications in our digital organs. With Physis® Technology, you have a digital organ that is entirely yours, and is voiced precisely to meet your specific needs as a player or for your congregation. Additionally, if your needs ever change, Physis® Technology-driven organs can be easily adjusted by the user, eliminating the need to pay a dealer to do it for you.

How many voices does a Physis® driven organ have available?

The library of our digital organ currently contains just under 1200 voices, and the pipe models are universal across every Viscount organ model. This means that regardless of whether you have the smallest two-manual or the largest five-manual, you have access to the entire library of voices. Getting new voices is as easy as accepting an email attachment. The Physis® model library is continually growing as our Research & Development team builds new models from pipe organs around the world. Since our open platform is so flexible, you can always download new pipe rank models in your Physis® driven organ, even if your organ is already installed.

The number of pipe voices in the library of each organ (out of the box) varies depending on the model. Some only have several hundred, while the larger models have around 800. But regardless of the number of stock voices on your Viscount organ, you have complete control over which voices you choose to have on your digital organ. This is another way Viscount is empowering today’s organist to make the best decisions for their music and congregation, not relying on the opinion of a dealer.

Can I attach a Viscount Organ to an Existing Pipe Organ?

Certainly! Here are the key benefits of choosing Physis® Technology for your next hybrid organ project:

1. Patented Tuning Technology: Viscount’s advanced tuning system ensures that your digital stops stay in tune with your pipes, regardless of any drift. The tuning and interface systems are patented technologies that not only monitor the tuning of the pipes but also track real-time temperature shifts in the chamber to anticipate where the pipe tuning will drift next before it happens. This extra layer of monitoring ensures that the pipes and digital stops of your Viscount Hybrid Organ will always sound harmonious.

2. Use Your Existing Pipe Organ Console or Choose a New Viscount Console: Physis® Technology can be integrated into your existing pipe organ console. If you prefer to expand your physical stop list, you can opt for a new stock or custom-made Viscount Organ Console to power both pipes and digital voices. 3. Qualified and Certified Viscount Pipe Organ Technicians Throughout North America: Many churches with existing pipe organs are choosing hybrid organs, and this process can be complex. By choosing Viscount for your new hybrid organ, you are selecting highly competent craftsmen who not only have a deep technical understanding of the work but can also effectively explain the necessary steps to your church committee.

What is the warranty on a Viscount Organ?

In order to provide fast, quality service, Viscount North America has US-based parts and service support. If you ever need any assistance, call your local dealer. If you are an independent technician, please contact our service department.

Viscount provides a 10-year warranty covering defects on parts and materials from the date of purchase for the original buyer. Any labor warranty is at the discretion of your local dealer. You must inform your local Viscount dealer about any defects covered by this warranty, and the work must be carried out by an authorized Viscount representative.

Conditions and Limitations: This warranty does not apply to…

Damages caused by abuse or adverse environmental conditions.
An instrument purchased from any source other than an authorized Viscount dealer.
An instrument whose serial number has been altered or removed.
An instrument which has been damaged as a result of unreasonable use or unusually rough usage
Direct or indirect damage as a result of being connected or attached to non-Viscount authorized equipment or accessories.
Any defects or damage due to modifications made by an unauthorized dealer.
Any defects or damage which may have been caused by an Act of God

Existing Owners

Who do I contact for repair or service of my Viscount Organ?

Please see our find a dealer page under Help & Support and look for your nearest authorized Viscount organ dealer. All of our authorized traditional and digital organ dealers are required to maintain competent service, repair facilities, and staff. If you are unsure about who your authorized Viscount organ dealer is, or you’re in an area with limited coverage, please call our product support center for further assistance.

Why does my Viscount Organ sound and perform better every time I update it?