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The Hammond organ is an Electric Organ . Intended as a lower-cost alternative to a (church & theatre) Pipe Organ , it was soon used and taken greater notice of in Jazz , Blues music, finally affixing its place in the historical record of musical instruments in Rock Music (in the 1960s and 1970s) and Gospel Music . Hammond continues to make (as Hammond-Suzuki) keyboards though the name most often refers to the original designs that ended in the mid-1970s with their tone wheel sound generating mechanism as described below. It is this mechanism that is uniquely Hammond and sustains their use to this day. HISTORY American engineer and inventor 14:49, 9 September 2007 (UTC) The Hammond Organ was widely used in United States military chapels and post theatres during the Second World War , and returning soldiers' familiarity with the instrument may have helped contribute to its popularity in the post-war period. Department of the Army technical manual TM 10-751, Manual for Electronic Organ AN/TNP-1 (1949). Hammond intended his invention to be a substitute for pipe organs, a replacement for the piano in Middle-class homes, and for use by radio stations. For the first few years this was what happened, but by the 1950s, jazz musicians such as Jimmy Smith began to use the organ's distinctive sound. In the 1960s the Hammond became popular with pop groups and was used on the British Pirate station Radio 390 . In Britain the organ became associated with Elevator Music and Ice Rinks music. However, the overdriven sound of the Hammond gained a new image when it became part of 1960's and 1970s rock and early heavy metal bands such as Procol Harum , Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin . TONE GENERATION Additive synthesis The original Hammond organ imitated the function of a Pipe Organ 's ranks of pipes in multiple registers by using Additive Synthesis of Waveform s from Harmonic Series to generate its sounds. As in Thaddeus Cahill 's earlier Telharmonium , the Hammond organ's individual waveforms were made by mechanical Tonewheel s which rotated beneath electromagnetic pickups. Although they are generally included in the category of electronic organs, original Hammond organs are, strictly speaking, ''electric'' or ''electromechanical'' rather than ''electronic'' organs because the waveforms are produced by mechanical tonewheels rather than electronic oscillators. Drawbars The component waveforms can be mixed in varying ratios by using ''drawbars'' mounted above the two keyboards. The drawbars are small sliding bars with knobs that are literally drawn and pulled toward the organ's console. They operate like the faders on an audio mixing board, allowing the performer to vary the volume of each note's fundamental tone, the octave below it, and some of the octaves and harmonics above it. The player can modify their settings in real-time, that is, while playing a song. The resulting combination creates a unique Timbre . Famous organ players are often associated with particular combinations, which become their signature sound, such as Jimmy Smith 's 88800000 Registration . Percussion and "Key Click" Another facet of the distinctive sound of the Hammond is the harmonic percussion effect, in which the 2nd and 3rd harmonic tones can be added to the attack envelope of a note. On most Hammond organs, particularly the B3 and its cousins (C3, RT3, A series etc....) the percussion harmonic settings were a "one-or-the-other" choice (you could only choose 2nd or 3rd harmonic, but not both). Some later models allowed the player to activate both harmonics simultaneously. Those harmonics then quickly fade out leaving the tones which the player has selected using the drawbars. Older Hammond models such as those produced before the B-3 do not have the harmonic percussion feature. Popular examples are the B2 and C2. Aftermarket percussion can be added using devices from Trek II . Hammond organs have a distinctive percussive ''key click'', which is the attack transient that occurs when all nine key contacts close, causing an audible pop or click. Originally, key click was considered to be a design defect and Hammond worked to eliminate or at least reduce it by using equalization filters. However, some performers liked the percussive effect, and it has become part of the classic sound that modern imitators of the Hammond organ have tried to reproduce. Speakers The classic way of amplifying the sound of a Hammond organ is to use a rotating speaker, originally called a 'Crawford' speaker, but subsequently known as a Leslie Speaker or cabinet. Hammond originally marketed their own line of amplified speakers (called ''tone cabinets'') which did not feature rotating speakers, but even though some well-known Hammond players used them. Hammond originally disapproved of the Leslie speaker, and tried to prevent dealers selling them for use with their organs. Eventually Hammond relented and the now classic combination became 'official'. In a Leslie speaker, sound is emitted by a rotating horn over a stationary treble driver and a rotating Baffle beneath a stationary bass Woofer . The resulting sonic characteristics are likened to a small-scale Doppler Effect , but were intended by Leslie to simply resemble the constantly shifting source of sound among a large group of pipe organ ranks. The rotation speed can be toggled by a console-based manual or pedal switch between ''fast'' or ''slow'' to provide tremolo or chorus effects, respectively. Many Leslie cabinets used a tube (also known as ''valve'') amplifier, which gave the Hammond's tone a warm, naturally overdriven sound, which could be varied from a mild 'purr' to a heavy 'growl'. Other features added to Hammond organs included an electromechanical vibrato and, by the late 1950s, a "spring reverb" effect which simulated the reverberation of a large church hall. KEYBOARDS AND PEDALBOARD The lightweight construction of the ''waterfall''-style keyboard for the upper manuals allows for very rapid passages to be executed with more ease than on a weighted keyboard, such as a Piano or Pipe Organ . The shape of the keys makes effects such as palm glissandos possible. Hammond organs come with a wooden Bass Pedalboard for the feet, so that the organist can play basslines. Hammond organ bass pedalboards do not usually have a full, 32-note American Guild of Organists (AGO) pedalboard going up to a G (3rd leger line of the bass clef) as the top note (see AGO Pedalboard ). Instead, to reduce the cost of the instrument, or the size of the bass pedalboard, 25-note (with a C on the 1st leger line of the bass clef as the top note) or 30-note (with an F on the 2nd leger line of the bass clef as the top note) bass pedalboards are often used. Several Hammond "concert" models, the RT-2, RT-3 and D-100 had 32-note AGO pedalboards. As well, they also contained a "Solo Pedal Unit" which provided several 32', 16', 8', and 4' voices for the pedal. The solo pedal unit used oscillators, similar to those used in Hammond's "Solovox." TYPES OF HAMMOND ORGANS The model B-3 was - and remains - the most popular Hammond model amongst musicians. Its popularity was such that many customers refused to buy anything but a B3. Traders would often tell customers, who usually could not tell the difference from one organ to another, that the organ they were selling them was a B3, regardless of whether or not it actually was. The C-3 and A-100 models are similarly popular, as they have same internals in different cabinets. In addition, the A-100 has built-in speakers. In categorizing Hammond organ types it is useful to divide them by the way their sound generation mechanisms; the three categories are electromechanical, electronic, or both. Tonewheel organs use a series of toothed wheels which spin near an electromagnetic pickup to generate sound. Electronic tone generation uses solid state oscillator circuits. Hammond tonewheel organs can be divided into two main groups: the 'Console' models such as the A, B, C, D, and R series which have two 61 note manuals and the smaller 'Spinet' models that have two 44 note manuals such as the M, L, and T series. The production of tonewheel organs stopped in the early to mid 1970s. Hammond organs made after this time use electronic tone generation. Examples of these organs are the J/K/N series, the Hammond Aurora, and the Hammond Concorde. Hammond tonewheel organs are preferred among most enthusiasts, the most popular models also having tube amplifiers. Some of the later Hammond models combine tonewheel generation with solid state amplifiers, with the latest models of that era being fully solid state. Hammond is now owned by Suzuki Company. Hammond-Suzuki now makes organs using digital technology that very closely replicate the tonewheel organ sound. (See "Clones" below) The "V" series such as the Hammond "Cadette" were starter organs. They were made for first-time organ players, and as such, had no drawbars. The theory was that beginning organists could learn on it and buy a better organ later. Like a spinet organ, there were two offset manuals with an octave range pedal board and an expression pedal. The sound produced by these organs was different than the sound produced by most other Hammond models. The upper manual had three instruments (flute, reed, and strings) and the lower manual had two instruments (tibia and cello). The pedal also had an instrument tab (for bass and accent). There was no Leslie, only a reverberation knob. The "V" series organs came with Auto Rhythm, which had seven different rhythms (a "cancel" button was located at the far left), Synchro Start, and a volume and tempo knob. There were two tabs for vibrato (Light and Full). This series was not built by Hammond but by Yamaha for Hammond. B-3 The Hammond B-3 organ (often referred to simply as "the B-3") is the most famous of the Hammond Organs. While it was originally produced to be a portable alternative to permanently-installed types of Church Organ s, it was widely used in non-church settings. In the first decades after its introduction, the B-3 was used as a Theatre Organ , to provide live music between feature films or perform music at ice rinks. In the 1950s and 1960s, the B-3 was used in jazz bands ( Walter Wanderley ) and in Organ Trio s, such as Jimmy Smith's organ trio. In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, the B-3 was widely used in rock bands ranging from Latin-rock groups such as Santana to Progressive Rock groups such as Procol Harum , Yes , Styx , Kansas , and Pink Floyd , to blues-rock groups such as The Allman Brothers Band and Deep Purple . In the 1980s and 1990s, the B-3 continued to be used by bands from a range of styles, including rock, hard rock, jazz, blues, and "jam" Bands . This organ was also a favorite of renowned Grateful Dead keyboard player Brent Mydland as well as Page McConnell of Phish , the latter having his tuned by Goff Professional. In the 1980s and 1990s, lightweight "clone" organs that imitated the sound were increasingly used to digitally recreate the B3's sound as a more portable substitute, especially in live touring settings. Nevertheless, in the 2000s, some Organ Trio s such as the Ken Clark organ trio still perform with vintage B-3 organs. 'New B-3' In 2002, the Hammond company (now known as Hammond-Suzuki) relaunched the B-3 as the 'New B-3', a recreation of the original electromechanical instrument using modern-day electronics and a modern sound generator system. The New B-3 is constructed to appear like the original B-3, and the designers attempted to retain the subtle nuances of the familiar B-3 sound. Hammond Suzuki argues that it would be difficult for even an experienced B-3 player to distinguish between the old and new B-3 organs. Hugh Robjohns' review in the recording magazine 'Sound on Sound' called the New B-3 "a true replica of an original B-3...in terms of the look and layout, and the actual sound." The New B-3 was used by well-known B-3 players such as Jimmy Smith and Joey DeFrancesco , who both played a New B-3 on the collaborative album 'Legacy' released in 2005 shortly before Jimmy's death. Hammond-Suzuki went on to release a portable version of the New B-3 (pictured) as well as a new version of the C-3 model. PERFORMANCE TECHNIQUES Pianists and synthesizer players who begin playing the Hammond soon realize that authentic performance practice involves a lot more than playing the notes on the keyboard. Hammond players vary the timbre of both manuals in real time through a combination of changing drawbar settings, engaging or disengaging the vibrato and chorus effects or percussion settings, and changing the rotating Leslie speaker system's speed setting. As well, performers obtain other effects by setting the Leslie's amplifier to maximum output (and controlling the effective volume using only the organ's volume pedal) to add overdriven distortion or ''growl'' for certain passages, or by briefly switching off the organ's synchronous ''run'' motor, which produces a wobbly pitch-bend effect. There are playing styles that are specific to the Hammond organ, such as palm glissandos, rapid repetition of a single note, tremolo between two notes a third apart (typically the 5th and 7th scale degree of the current chord), percussive drumming of the keyboard, and playing a chord on the upper manual, then sliding your hand down to duplicate the chord on the lower manual. Artistic use of the foot-controlled volume pedal is an important facet of performing on the Hammond. Bass Pedalboard |
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