New Hymns installed in playback Organs

[philipofmuleshoe]

Is there a way to install the newly released hymns in the old Organs? (we have the Kawai LH1 / Kawai Liahona) Currently, we use MIDI files and MIDI inputs to synthesize using the organ from a laptop. The MIDI technique is good but has a bit of a learning curve. Would love to have the songs installed.

[sbradshaw]

I don't know the answer to your question, but I'd be interested to know if you figure anything out!

You could try sending feedback via the Feedback link at the bottom of the Church website.

This isn't exactly what you're asking for, but I'd love it if the Sacred Music app could connect to the organ to play MIDI. That would allow a lot of flexibility.

[BrianEdwards]

NOTE: I updated the date in this post to be 2026, I originally mistyped and then @sbradshaw pointed out my mistake...

Is there a way to install the newly released hymns in the old Organs? (we have the Kawai LH1 / Kawai Liahona) Currently, we use MIDI files and MIDI inputs to synthesize using the organ from a laptop. The MIDI technique is good but has a bit of a learning curve. Would love to have the songs installed.

That indeed is a great question! I expect (hope?) the Church will have a plan in 2026 when the new hymnbook is released, to update all Church music playback systems to contain the correct hymns. Whether they have an intermediate plan is uncertain. At some point when a "critical mass" of released hymns is available, I'd imagine this will become more and more asked for by members and leaders.

Many places with the playback systems, do not have qualified pianists and fully rely on the music player. These units would not realistically be able to try out the new hymns in congregational settings without a system update. Or a plug-and-play workaround that is easy enough to implement for a small unit without tech-savvy members.

If anyone finds out info about this, it would be really good to share.

[sbradshaw]

… in 2025 when the new hymnbook is released, …

Just a minor correction to avoid confusion – the latest (as of May 2024) timeline that's been announced is that the complete hymnal (in the first 4 languages) will start rolling out by the end of 2026 (not 2025). In the meantime, there will be small digital-only batches released periodically between now and 2026.

[russellhltn]

I'd imagine that a process is worked out with FM to update the organs at some point.

What that timetable would be, I have no idea. But there seems to be plenty of time between the selection of the hymns and when they're widely available.

[BrianEdwards]

As always, thnx for the follow-up correction. I was still within the allowable time for editing, so I updated the post appropriately.