Some parts hit me harder emotionally than the "real" performances of this piece. Maybe because of the alien-ness and detachment caused by the pure tones and the machine-like procession of sounds, I don't know. The simulation is almost like the spectre of a spectre, an after-image. And I believe that the humanity that the music lost in translation remains hovering somewhere, in its purest, distilled form, and that's something deeply sad and moving.
What I love about his video is that it almost shows the complexity of the computations Bach's brain was able to do to create such beautifully intricate music. It's almost like he wasn't human. It's something divine
When a composition can make you tear up and think of human dignity and the heroic individual even in a harsh, not particularly expressive instrumentation such as 8 bit, that's how you know you're listening to a work of stunning genius.
He literally turns the situation of Christ carrying the cross across a field, dying for humanities sins, the weight and gravity and scale and emotion of that situation, turns it perfectly into a simple melody and counterpoint. It's like "ok Bach, you can turn happiness into a melody, you can sum up sadness in that nice chord progression, you've got skills in that regard, immediate emotions, but surely you can't turn a situation as monumental and important as Christ dying for our sins into a 5-6 minute compositi- oh wait, "Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen"? Man how do you do it..." Saying this is dark is understatement, it is epic, grand, cerebral and sublime beyond comprehension.
That’s because the instruments Bach used for composition were even sounded, much like a typical 8bit sample. He focused completely on counterpoint and polyphony, thus his music doesn’t require rubato, staccatos, pizzicatos, decrescendos, etc. and all that fancy articulation. As long as the sounds are played in tune in a more or less even matter then it will sound precious. It doesn’t matter which instrument or electric machine does it. In fact, this true not only for this piece but for basically everything Bach ever composed.
Great arrangement. It's always mindboggling how good Bach sounds played by a machine. There is very few music for which it works, it's the notes themselves that contain the music, not different sorts of instrumental gestures. This alone places Bach above most other composers.
During the Baroque, a composer could not be entirely sure what instruments would be used to play his works. For that matter, Bach was not above recycling his own works for different instrumentations. This is thoroughly understandable: imagine having to rehearse a choir of boys and youth to give a 30-minute performance every single week and writing five 52-week cycles of music.
That is what I have thought for years. What is the purest essence of music but the notes themselves? Bach played and composed on instruments that where even in tone and intensity, he could focus entirely on the art of polyphony, the most beautiful math the human ear can hear.
The 8-bit version of Bach’s Matthäus-Passion feels like a purification of the piece, stripping away all potential distractions and revealing the core of its genius. Bach, of course, could never have imagined this kind of transformation, but it serves as a testament to the perfection of his composition. Even reduced to raw, mechanical tones, the work retains its structural brilliance and emotional power. What’s striking is how this minimalism emphasizes the architecture of the music. The alien-like detachment of the 8-bit soundscape highlights the unshakable balance and precision in Bach’s writing, almost as if it were encoded into some universal blueprint of beauty. The performance becomes a skeleton key to understanding the sheer mathematical and emotional depth of his work, with nothing extraneous left to distract from the essence. Bach himself, while deeply human-juggling a chaotic household, endless commissions, and limited resources-achieved a kind of transcendence through his music. His ability to weave divine complexity into accessible forms suggests that his compositions aren’t just music; they’re almost metaphysical constructs. The 8-bit adaptation exposes this: it’s not just music reduced, but music laid bare in its most distilled, essential form.
Bach wrote a lot of his music using the organ as working instrument. Bach’s primary concern was to find the most beautiful combination of sounds using counterpoint technique. For one to appreciate the full beauty of individual lines sounding good together one needs for the lines to be played well in equalness and non of them standing out. For that reason this music doesn’t need dynamics which most often come from expressive instruments, such as violin and the piano. A computer does a great job giving each line equality, the way an organ or harpsichord would. That’s the reason this music works so well when played by a computer. Each line is beautiful in itself, non needs to stand out, what matters most is the sum of its parts sounding harmonious together. That’s also part the reason why orquestras tends to ruin the magic of this music so often, because if one part isn’t being played cleanly it will ruin the overall beauty of the harmonies.
I come back to this almost every day, it's just beautiful, the incredible texture and power of the 8bit sounds gives dimentions to this piece never listened before, good job.
At first I thought that the sound wasn’t as good as the visuals but when the voices came in my mind was changed. It’s hard to mess up Bach but something about this rendition I really like. Thanks.
Weird. Stunning. Absolutely marvelous. Why did I have to look for this? This should be well known allover the planet, to make young people meet ancient music. I am so glad Bach had his God to believe in, so he left us this great music. Thank you so much for your great art-work!
Absolutely love it. One can clearly sense all the different elements coming together and blending. The counterpoint is unravelled in a way, which demonstrates the sheer genius of Bach. It may lack the traditional instrumental textures, but in its own way prepares us for the drama about to unfold.
Well, I'm an atheist and the music of Bach hits me like nothing else on this Earth! Congratulations on your work! It creates such an awareness of the pure genious of Bach in the creation of this monumental piece! The design of the 3D framework is fantastic. That a machine alone can convey the zeitgeist of this piece and the spirit of Bach is proof of their greatness. In short, I felt amazement and awe. Thank you!
Thank you so much for that incredible work you did. You gave us a true experience. I hav eno words. And Bach... He touched the divine, wether we belive or not. It's vertigo.
I want to like this 1000 times for the number of ways in which I like it. Just noticed you have visualised the double choirs/ orchestras and ripieno in mirror-image- awesome!
Like a lot of 8-bit covers, I was kinda like "Ouch. Don't see myself listening to this more than once" during the first few bars..... then "voices" came in.... :D
This is extremely good! I loved Bach's Saint Matthew's Passion! Listening in 8-bit and vocaloid, I felt I'm playing Castlevania where I'm on a chapel stage of Dracula's castle. Much kudos!
I think that is nearly impossible. that opening must have been a terrific amount of work 100h+. Now thats 7 Minutes out of 160 Minutes. I think he must work 2000+ hours to complete it.
@@bluecordterrainmanagement we have also to consider that this work is about 10 years old. Maybe this guy is doing completely different things now. Nevertheless this is a GREAT work of visualisation Bach and ultimately let me realize how brilliant this man was. I even compared it with many other concert versions and really no orchestra seemed to play it absolutely accurately. Bach wrote something so complex and mind-boggling that no orchestra could gather all its different elements sounding in unity. Only by programming it, we can hear it, how it sounded in Bachs head. And why is that? Because the complexity was simplified in case of different instruments. We only have the 8 bit sound and the artificial chorals and still it is godlike. Or even more because it is the pure and naked structure!
This is a concept I've never heard of, never imagined or dreamt of, and I instantly know it's for me. **Click** Did I just sing the *biggest possible* lay?
The story to it is just GREAT!!!! LOL I knew Bach was a genius but this is a whole new level!!!! You can even see Jesus falling and getting up along his way, and I wouldn't be surprised if all the 14 stops were actually covered in it :O
+Maky Tondr Thats all composers had to work with back in those days. Classical music is FULL of that shit (references and symbolism), especially the clerical stuff. Bach rocks.
Yeah there's TONS of symbolism in Bach's music especially. Google "Canons and fugues of J.s. Bach" and find this site (www2.nau.edu/tas3/bachindex.html) there are a lot of resources there.
While Herr Bach's magnificent genius is unquestionable, I feel compelled to give some of the credit to the surrounding culture. Here goes: I attended a lecture at my home city's cathedral last year. The lecturer was then finalizing his doctor's dissertation on culture and symbolism in Baroque music. His main thesis was that musical performing of the Early Modern Europe was understood as augmenting tool for rhetorics. Lowering or lifting the tone would sync with the tone or the meaning of the lyrics, giving audience "a feeling" for the argument. The lecture involved a bunch of musical examples of this (Bach only as one of them), very similar of Jesus Christ falling down during Via Crucis performed here. One outstanding master of this art, celebrated in his time but since fallen into (in my view) undeserved obscurity was Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 - 1767). Today his work is happily somewhat accessible thanks to things like RUclips! The genius of the thing, in my opinion, is making it all work as more than just as means of driving your point home - a purposeful, coherent, beauteous piece WHILE being consistent with the message of the work.
I thank you GREATLY for making this and posting this! Vocaloids singing praises of LORD God YHWH Almighty! He is still even more at work in this world today, and His Spirit was with Johann Sebastian Bach to compose this timeless music, and now moved you to put it to this so a new audience can hear it! God's blessings be upon you! ^^
Listened to switched on bach on lsd. Honestly the most profound musical experience i have ever had in my life. It is what brought me to this video and that day continues to influence me 5 years later. What was your experience like with this song?
It was like Bach had a fully Fruity Loops Studio in his head and used it in one more dimension: I never saw anybody being able to do this again. Even with software and tools
That was very moving. Bach is the master, but this interpretation, and the visuals, was a bridge from him to the future! Now if we can see this in 3D virtual reality goggles, we might go to a reality we don't want to return from, haha.
I cant find the song, but theres a chiptune that was put into this visual form and its killing me that I cant find it. Found it, its Chibi-Tech - Love is Insecurable
@@steveistheman84 the problem isn't Bach being played on alternate instrumentation, the problem is making sure the alternate possesses the kinds of sound production necessary to properly articulate the contrapuntal lines. a modern piano often muddles things too much compared to a harpsichord or clavichord (or even fortepiano to a lesser extent).
Some parts hit me harder emotionally than the "real" performances of this piece. Maybe because of the alien-ness and detachment caused by the pure tones and the machine-like procession of sounds, I don't know. The simulation is almost like the spectre of a spectre, an after-image. And I believe that the humanity that the music lost in translation remains hovering somewhere, in its purest, distilled form, and that's something deeply sad and moving.
I absolutely get it! have you heard this? : ruclips.net/video/VpDY2xCQNs8/видео.html. It is absolutely powerful emotionally !
What a beautiful thing you have said... the lost humanity hovering... a spectre of a spectre...
I love this comment so much.
@@rabidrabbitshuggers So do I.
What exactly do you mean by this?
This makes me cry... this song is that powerful.
It really is.
Try listening to real people performing it...
I think it's music of the gods ( don't matter if they don't exist, it's celestial music)
The St. Matthew Passion might be the best music ever written. It really is that good.
Every time.
The ultimate composer's test. If it sounds good in 8 bit, you probably did a good job ;)
that's exactly how i do lol
What I love about his video is that it almost shows the complexity of the computations Bach's brain was able to do to create such beautifully intricate music. It's almost like he wasn't human. It's something divine
Who cannot regard Bach as a god or at least demi god?
Anything is achievable if you divide it into manageable parts and never stop. Bach worked hard
I pity every human who can not realize this divine beauty and is not emotionally touched by this masterpiece
Every time I hear this piece, regardless of presentation, I am driven to tears. Miserere Nobis!
When a composition can make you tear up and think of human dignity and the heroic individual even in a harsh, not particularly expressive instrumentation such as 8 bit, that's how you know you're listening to a work of stunning genius.
He literally turns the situation of Christ carrying the cross across a field, dying for humanities sins, the weight and gravity and scale and emotion of that situation, turns it perfectly into a simple melody and counterpoint. It's like "ok Bach, you can turn happiness into a melody, you can sum up sadness in that nice chord progression, you've got skills in that regard, immediate emotions, but surely you can't turn a situation as monumental and important as Christ dying for our sins into a 5-6 minute compositi- oh wait, "Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen"? Man how do you do it..." Saying this is dark is understatement, it is epic, grand, cerebral and sublime beyond comprehension.
That’s because the instruments Bach used for composition were even sounded, much like a typical 8bit sample. He focused completely on counterpoint and polyphony, thus his music doesn’t require rubato, staccatos, pizzicatos, decrescendos, etc. and all that fancy articulation. As long as the sounds are played in tune in a more or less even matter then it will sound precious. It doesn’t matter which instrument or electric machine does it. In fact, this true not only for this piece but for basically everything Bach ever composed.
Great arrangement. It's always mindboggling how good Bach sounds played by a machine. There is very few music for which it works, it's the notes themselves that contain the music, not different sorts of instrumental gestures. This alone places Bach above most other composers.
During the Baroque, a composer could not be entirely sure what instruments would be used to play his works. For that matter, Bach was not above recycling his own works for different instrumentations. This is thoroughly understandable: imagine having to rehearse a choir of boys and youth to give a 30-minute performance every single week and writing five 52-week cycles of music.
he's pretty good i guess
but that's how music is s u p p o s e d to be made ;-;
That is what I have thought for years. What is the purest essence of music but the notes themselves? Bach played and composed on instruments that where even in tone and intensity, he could focus entirely on the art of polyphony, the most beautiful math the human ear can hear.
I am not lying when I say that I have cried listening to this! By far my favorite rendition!
The 8-bit version of Bach’s Matthäus-Passion feels like a purification of the piece, stripping away all potential distractions and revealing the core of its genius. Bach, of course, could never have imagined this kind of transformation, but it serves as a testament to the perfection of his composition. Even reduced to raw, mechanical tones, the work retains its structural brilliance and emotional power.
What’s striking is how this minimalism emphasizes the architecture of the music. The alien-like detachment of the 8-bit soundscape highlights the unshakable balance and precision in Bach’s writing, almost as if it were encoded into some universal blueprint of beauty. The performance becomes a skeleton key to understanding the sheer mathematical and emotional depth of his work, with nothing extraneous left to distract from the essence.
Bach himself, while deeply human-juggling a chaotic household, endless commissions, and limited resources-achieved a kind of transcendence through his music. His ability to weave divine complexity into accessible forms suggests that his compositions aren’t just music; they’re almost metaphysical constructs. The 8-bit adaptation exposes this: it’s not just music reduced, but music laid bare in its most distilled, essential form.
I would love to hear the full matthaus passion in this style. It sounds really good to be honest.
Fair Enough Me too, gozzeerrhhrrr
Would take months and months to put it like that , so many things going on in the Bwv 244 !
@@helloman1051He was glued to his desk. His patrons worked him virtually to death.
I find myself getting lost in this quite often, clicking the replay button for hours
Bach wrote a lot of his music using the organ as working instrument. Bach’s primary concern was to find the most beautiful combination of sounds using counterpoint technique. For one to appreciate the full beauty of individual lines sounding good together one needs for the lines to be played well in equalness and non of them standing out.
For that reason this music doesn’t need dynamics which most often come from expressive instruments, such as violin and the piano. A computer does a great job giving each line equality, the way an organ or harpsichord would. That’s the reason this music works so well when played by a computer.
Each line is beautiful in itself, non needs to stand out, what matters most is the sum of its parts sounding harmonious together. That’s also part the reason why orquestras tends to ruin the magic of this music so often, because if one part isn’t being played cleanly it will ruin the overall beauty of the harmonies.
It's a tribute to his genius. Maybe the greatest mind who ever lived.
This is absolutely brilliant! Proving once more that Bach's music is in a category on it's own.
The bass is like a heart. Incredible!!!
I do not know why, but after hearing this, I fell to my knees and cried.
Probably because you are a healthy human being
That is a valid response.
Because the Holy Spirit was moving your heart to seek Jesuschrist
@@acs1602 Amen!!!
I come back to this almost every day, it's just beautiful, the incredible texture and power of the 8bit sounds gives dimentions to this piece never listened before, good job.
God, this is incredible.
At first I thought that the sound wasn’t as good as the visuals but when the voices came in my mind was changed. It’s hard to mess up Bach but something about this rendition I really like. Thanks.
Weird. Stunning. Absolutely marvelous. Why did I have to look for this? This should be well known allover the planet, to make young people meet ancient music. I am so glad Bach had his God to believe in, so he left us this great music. Thank you so much for your great art-work!
Worth sticking with this until the end. Very interesting. More importantly, very beautiful. Hats off.
Keep coming back to this. Absolutely beauty.
Wow ❤️ There is something special with 8-Bit and js. Bach
この投稿に時間を割いていただき、また英語を使用していただきありがとうございます。これをあなたのために翻訳しました。私はアメリカ人です。
Absolutely love it. One can clearly sense all the different elements coming together and blending. The counterpoint is unravelled in a way, which demonstrates the sheer genius of Bach. It may lack the traditional instrumental textures, but in its own way prepares us for the drama about to unfold.
The text to this, plus the good old 8-bit makes me feel something
Well, I'm an atheist and the music of Bach hits me like nothing else on this Earth! Congratulations on your work! It creates such an awareness of the pure genious of Bach in the creation of this monumental piece! The design of the 3D framework is fantastic. That a machine alone can convey the zeitgeist of this piece and the spirit of Bach is proof of their greatness. In short, I felt amazement and awe. Thank you!
Atheist: "spirit"
Oh my... This is equal parts fabulous and terrifying. Impressive work with the 8-bit rendering.
I love this so much and listen to it often. It's brilliant.
One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.
I've been waiting for years to hear this synthesised!
Bach always sounds good
woah! Vocaloid really caught me off guard here
Beautiful! Also beautiful message at the end. I would love to hear John's Passion opening chorus in this style too!
Only one I could find: ruclips.net/video/SZ3STRfXxng/видео.html
I love how the "voice parts" match each other so perfectly in tone and timbre. The best mixed choirs can't do this, and TTBB/SSAA lack the range.
It is maybe the closest and most precise version that was inside his head. I wish he had the opportunity to hear and SEE this xD
Thank you so much for that incredible work you did. You gave us a true experience. I hav eno words. And Bach... He touched the divine, wether we belive or not. It's vertigo.
I want to like this 1000 times for the number of ways in which I like it. Just noticed you have visualised the double choirs/ orchestras and ripieno in mirror-image- awesome!
I am still loving this work you have done and sharing it. Brilliant.
Spaceships flying to battle.
If anyone is wondering, 1:17 is when the vocaloid starts.
absolutely fantastic ! THANX A LOT !
I'm addicted to this.
This is why I listen to the normal version also, the music is the universal language so much harmony it encases you, pure transcendence..
Like a lot of 8-bit covers, I was kinda like "Ouch. Don't see myself listening to this more than once" during the first few bars..... then "voices" came in.... :D
The beauty of these patterns and the pure brilliance of arrangement leading to the perfect harmony let me fall to my knees
This sounds unique, I felt like i was in space and guided by angels. Great job!
This is extremely good! I loved Bach's Saint Matthew's Passion! Listening in 8-bit and vocaloid, I felt I'm playing Castlevania where I'm on a chapel stage of Dracula's castle. Much kudos!
It should be impossible for ONE single human mind to compose something insanely complex like this 300 years ago. Though, it exists.
Play this at 1.5 or higher speed and be amazed that the bass kinda swings
this is computer sounds, no emotion, yet I feel it - weird!
fucking awesome was Bach
The power of Bach.
musical instruments have no emotions too
@@lxH4WK3Rxl incorrect as the people playing them do
Dear Soahc0, I adore the work you do.
thank you from the bottom of my heart.
This whole video was awesome, including the very truthful message at the end...!
this is incredible
Have I listened to this 100 times and memorized this yet? almost :-) thanks
wtf i like this
A wonderful insight of a mighty intellect.
This is absolutely incredible! I know it's a LOT to ask, but I would greatly enjoy listening to the entire Passion this way
I think that is nearly impossible. that opening must have been a terrific amount of work 100h+. Now thats 7 Minutes out of 160 Minutes. I think he must work 2000+ hours to complete it.
@@ludwigvanbeethoven61 I imagined this took a lot of work. It sounds fantastic and is greatly appreciated!
@@bluecordterrainmanagement we have also to consider that this work is about 10 years old. Maybe this guy is doing completely different things now. Nevertheless this is a GREAT work of visualisation Bach and ultimately let me realize how brilliant this man was. I even compared it with many other concert versions and really no orchestra seemed to play it absolutely accurately. Bach wrote something so complex and mind-boggling that no orchestra could gather all its different elements sounding in unity. Only by programming it, we can hear it, how it sounded in Bachs head. And why is that? Because the complexity was simplified in case of different instruments. We only have the 8 bit sound and the artificial chorals and still it is godlike. Or even more because it is the pure and naked structure!
This is a concept I've never heard of, never imagined or dreamt of, and I instantly know it's for me. **Click**
Did I just sing the *biggest possible* lay?
Beautiful. I love all the explanations you added as well.
its like vocaloid, bee and puppycat, an 8bit synth collide and the result is this
just try to think deep about this song while you remember that tomorrow is end of holiday
Simply transcendent.
Les timbres sont vraiment créatifs. Beau travail!
cant help even in your version this still is a masterpiece. Bach war ein genie der die musik zu benutzen verstand! thx 4 upload ;)
When I close my eyes while listening this, I think I'm playing Castlevania. So awesome
Underrated as HECK
The story to it is just GREAT!!!! LOL I knew Bach was a genius but this is a whole new level!!!! You can even see Jesus falling and getting up along his way, and I wouldn't be surprised if all the 14 stops were actually covered in it :O
+Maky Tondr Thats all composers had to work with back in those days. Classical music is FULL of that shit (references and symbolism), especially the clerical stuff. Bach rocks.
Yeah there's TONS of symbolism in Bach's music especially. Google "Canons and fugues of J.s. Bach" and find this site (www2.nau.edu/tas3/bachindex.html) there are a lot of resources there.
Houdini Trix THANK YOU!!!!!! :O
While Herr Bach's magnificent genius is unquestionable, I feel compelled to give some of the credit to the surrounding culture. Here goes:
I attended a lecture at my home city's cathedral last year. The lecturer was then finalizing his doctor's dissertation on culture and symbolism in Baroque music. His main thesis was that musical performing of the Early Modern Europe was understood as augmenting tool for rhetorics. Lowering or lifting the tone would sync with the tone or the meaning of the lyrics, giving audience "a feeling" for the argument.
The lecture involved a bunch of musical examples of this (Bach only as one of them), very similar of Jesus Christ falling down during Via Crucis performed here. One outstanding master of this art, celebrated in his time but since fallen into (in my view) undeserved obscurity was Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 - 1767). Today his work is happily somewhat accessible thanks to things like RUclips!
The genius of the thing, in my opinion, is making it all work as more than just as means of driving your point home - a purposeful, coherent, beauteous piece WHILE being consistent with the message of the work.
i feel all, hate, solitude and despair, and everything that made me who I am today, im chinese, thx for this song bro
so moving.... GREAT version!
Stunning! love this, thanks.
I love this techno version of Bach's music! Great transcription!
You would do an amazing job with the St John Passion opening as well!
Ik! I hope they get around too it
Also hope they understand how appreciated this work is
This is so damn good!!
1:17
I had a dream where a ballerina was dancing to that tune a long time ago, before I even knew this song.
I thank you GREATLY for making this and posting this! Vocaloids singing praises of LORD God YHWH Almighty! He is still even more at work in this world today, and His Spirit was with Johann Sebastian Bach to compose this timeless music, and now moved you to put it to this so a new audience can hear it! God's blessings be upon you! ^^
amazing program. what a cool idea
Lowkey dig this
Thank you!
omg what I am listening to, its so beautiful
Wow. Amazing.
Excellent work in visualising and decrypting this work of art thanks from germany! [Although the spelling is a bit strange but its only a bot ^^]
WOW
This is great - I'd love to the opening of the John Passion.
Yesssssss!!! THIS^^^! This St. Matthew Passion is amazingly beautiful but the St. John's Passion opening would be unreal!
Bach + 8 bit sounds like the old castlevania games
If you like that check out my page, I'm rendering the two-part inventions in 8-Bit. :)
Somehow it's reminds me another game - "Devil May Cry".
Es increible como trabajan en conjunto todas las voces desde el 5:10, Bach el padre de la música.
HOW CAN ONE MAN LIVING 300 YEARS AGO COMPOSE THIS?
I listened to this while on LSD, powerful stuff
Listened to switched on bach on lsd. Honestly the most profound musical experience i have ever had in my life. It is what brought me to this video and that day continues to influence me 5 years later. What was your experience like with this song?
It was like Bach had a fully Fruity Loops Studio in his head and used it in one more dimension: I never saw anybody being able to do this again. Even with software and tools
It is beautiful. As if I was floating in space. O_o
That was very moving. Bach is the master, but this interpretation, and the visuals, was a bridge from him to the future! Now if we can see this in 3D virtual reality goggles, we might go to a reality we don't want to return from, haha.
AMAZING! O_O
quietely reasoning about that last part.
Grrreat work!!!
Mmmmmmmm fantastic!
I cant find the song, but theres a chiptune that was put into this visual form and its killing me that I cant find it.
Found it, its Chibi-Tech - Love is Insecurable
Superb!
it sounds like a wendy carlos"s song, its beautiful thank u.
I loves the strange English
Beautiful! This is coming from a traditionalist too!
yeah i know. me too. bach is the only music i listen to and i won't even listen to gould because it's on piano, but this is just so gnarly.
@@steveistheman84 the problem isn't Bach being played on alternate instrumentation, the problem is making sure the alternate possesses the kinds of sound production necessary to properly articulate the contrapuntal lines. a modern piano often muddles things too much compared to a harpsichord or clavichord (or even fortepiano to a lesser extent).
I'm also not Christian (an atheist) but am here because I love Bach; this is really beautiful. I especially love the visualization, thank you.