I need some with these terms about the Hammond B3 Organ???

[pisces7378]

Hey guys,

I am in a band that wants to move in a more "vintage, Country Rock" type feel. All the guys in the band know that I know my way around the piano keyboard ok so they have been after me to get a Hammond B3 sound somehow. So I bought the EVB3 software instrument that plugs into my Logic Audio Platinum.

I am waiting for it to arrive as we speak, but I have been reading up on it. I am afraid that I know NOTHING about this kind of stuff. Here are two quotes (read below) about the EVB3 (Hammond B3) software that are troubling me. Could you help me with some of these terms?

- Characteristic crosstalk of the tone wheels.
- Loudness robbing and tapering.
- Typical key clicks
- Harmonic cross modulation.
- Leslie.(???)
- Vintage Leslies
- Heavy cabinet with the rotating speakers.(???)

The absolute real deal sound of this remarkable software instrument reproduces the characteristic crosstalk of the tone wheels, the tube sound, the loudness robbing and tapering, as well as the typical key clicks and the harmonic cross modulation.

What would the B3 be without a Leslie? The true Hammond sound owes much of its charm to the heavy cabinet with the rotating speakers. For this reason the EVB3 offers realistic simulations of several vintage Leslies, such as the 145, 147 and the 122 model. The typical slow rotating "Chorale" sound, the fast "Tremolo" and the static "Braking" sound are all superbly emulated as well.

Any help would be great. Just a little clarification would be marvelous.

Thanks guys!

 

[dafduc]

I'll let a B3 enthiusiast answer the first ones for you, but basically they're saying that the design imperfections are part of the character of the sound, and they've gotten those as well as the "perfect" Hammond sound earlier emulators got - listen to the diff between, say, Wham's "Wake Me Up" (fake) and Booker T's "Green Onions" (real) for the character differences.

Leslies ARE the havy cabs with the rotating speakers. You can't emulate those perfectly, cos they're 3d (okay, maybe in 5.1 surround), but you can emulate stereo miking of them. The point about the "Vintage" Leslie is that these speakers are still being manufactured, but it's the pre-1974 (???) ones that have the sound we all love. Slow rotation (chorale) and fast rotation (tremolo) really add to the human sound of a Hammond. Braking could mean stopping the rotation all together (not possible with the 147 I used to use) or slowing down from tremolo to chorale speed - a gradual process.

Daf

 

[Jim Y]

- Characteristic crosstalk of the tone wheels.

Tone wheels are like little toothed gear wheels rotating on a shaft driven by a motor - a pickup similar to a guitar one sees the undulations (teeth) of the iron gears like a vibrating string and produces a pitch dependant on the motor speed and number of teeth in the tone wheel (gear).

- Loudness robbing and tapering.

The amplitude of the signal drops the more notes you play (I think!)

- Typical key clicks

Hammonds have mechanical key contacts which can be noisy, more so on a real one if the keyboard frame ground is removed. This is part of the sound of many Hammond players. Part of the tooty punch to the start of the note but there is also percussion which adds a sharp, rapidly fading toot to the start of the note - nothing to do with drums.

- Harmonic cross modulation.

Not sure about this one. I guess there is always some signal from adjacent tonewheels mixed with the pressed key. Maybe this is what they mean?

- Leslie.(???)
- Vintage Leslies
- Heavy cabinet with the rotating speakers.(???)

Dahduc explained these.