Jukkasjärvi Church Organ Sample Set

This sampleset as a whole (including audio files, images and definition files) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

• Sample format: 48 kHz, 24 bit Stereo
• Multiple attacks and loops
• Multiple releases
• Multiple panels for controls and additional features
• Temperaments are fully supported
• Recorded in three perspectives (XY, Near coincident and AB) that will be released in three separate packages
• Very dry acoustics and highly detailed samples

Jukkasjärvi is a small town, located about 17 km from Kiruna, way up in the northern part of Sweden.

Jukkasjärvi is perhaps most famed for the Ice-Hotel which is created out of ice from the Torne river and the abundance of snow that every long winter brings to the area. The amazing sculptures made out of ice that decorates the Ice-Hotel makes Jukkasjärvi an unique place to visit, and both the art and overall experience more than enough compensates for the trouble getting there!

Even if parts of the hotel and some of the art is preserved all year around one really should visit Jukkasjärvi during the winter or early spring to get the most out of the whole experience.

The church in Jukkasjärvi is the oldest church in Swedish Lapland. The earliest part of the building was erected already in 1607-1608, but the current form, as we can see it today, was finished in 1785.

The church also has a famous altarpiece, a very striking and vivid triptyk carved out of wood, created by Bror Hjort and donated to the church by LKAB (a very big mining company in Sweden) in 1958.

The middle section of the colourful altarpiece depicts Jesus Christ, our saviour, and the outer parts shows some scenes in the life of the influential priest Lars Levi Laestadius.

The current organ was built in 1997 by Grönlunds Orgelbyggeri AB. The organ was in all aspects designed in very close collaboration with the local congregation. The Sami artist Lars Levi Sunna has done the artwork for the facade, created the music stand, key covers from reindeer antlers and designed Sami drawstops that has drawings/signs instead of text.

Birch wood is used in many visible parts of the organ, especially striking is the Curly birch (Betula pendula var. carelica) which has a very characteristic appearance and also is a local wood.

The recording of the samples was done in May 2024 by Lars Palo with a Zoom F6 device, two AKG C 451 B microphones in XY configuration, two Studio Projects B1 condenser microphones in near coincidental setup and finally two omnidirectional Octava MkII condenser microphones in AB configuration.

The recording settings thus were 3 stereo track pairs, 32 bit float and 96000 Hz samplerate, which later was converted into the final 24 bit 48000 Hz sample quality.

This sample set as a whole is created by Lars Palo, the first version/part was finished 2024. Photographs were taken by Lars Palo in May 2024 and later processed in GIMP for creation of the GUI console elements seen on screen. Noise reduction of the samples was made with Nick Appletons Noise Reduce software.

For practical reasons, especially for distribution, the Jukkasjärvi church sample set will be split into three different .orgue files – one for each microphone pair, or perspective. Thus each microphone “perspective” will be usable as a separate organ, but they can also be combined together with a fourth package to form a complete surround version of this sample set.

A huge “Thank You” to the whole congregation in Jukkasjärvi that allowed sampling of the instrument and made the creation of this sample set that is freely distributed to the whole world possible. A special thanks to the organist Robert Pauker that was very supportive of this project.

If you enjoy using this sample set, and has the possibility, consider visiting Jukkasjärvi in real life as support!

Manual I (58 notes, C-a3)	Manual II (58 notes, C-a3)	Pedal (30 notes, C-f1)	Effects
Principal 8′ (B/D)	Hålflöjt 8′	Subbas 16′	Cymbelstjärna
Flagflöjt 8′	Gedackt 4′	Gedackt 8′	Fågelsång
Oktava 4′ (B/D)	Tvärflöjt 2′	Trumpet 8′	Trumma
Quinta 3′ (B/D)	Vox Virginea 8′	I / P	Kanaltremulant
Oktava 2′		II / P
Ters 1 3/5′ (B/D)		I 4′ / P
Mixtur 2-3 ch (B/D)
Trumpet 8′
II / I
II 16′ / I

The sample set creator can be contacted on larspalo@yahoo.se

This organ was built by Grönlunds almoast at the same time that the Norrfjärden project was completed. One can certainly see a lot of influences from that research project in this organ!

The following screenshots from within GrandOrgue depicts various panels.

The main panel shown above has all elements fully working but the stops are quite small and the couplers doesn’t have any labels stating what function they have – just like in the real organ! Aside from being nice to watch, it’s useful mostly for connecting the manuals and other elements to MIDI devices.

The panel with simple but clear stop buttons that are named in an understandable way is mostly functional and can be used for easy control of the organ stops and couplers when the MIDI connections already are working.

The large stops panel provide a slightly different perspective on the drawstops and couplers of the organ. Also, since they are larger, this panel provides a better possibility to see the beautiful Sami themed carvnings that’s present on the drawstops. The stop names are visible on top.

A panel dedicated to controlling the noise effects allow for easy on/off switching of the different effects. The background comes from the music stand that’s inspired from the traditional Sami weaving tool.

Also included with each perspective is an extended version that have extended manual (61 keys C-c4) and pedal (32 keys C-g1) compass. In the extended version all the stops for manual two also has an extra lower octave that can be reached by the octave coupler(s) which gives a bit more gravity to the sound. The unused drawstop is also used to create a Basun 16′ which actually just is an extension of the pedal Trumpet 8′.

Direct download link: JukkasjarviChurchAB20241202.orgue