Sketch for the Day #5
The Hammond B-3 organ family is a class of tone-wheel organs that were made popular through their use by jazz and blues artists of the 1960s and 70s. First produced in the 1950s, the organs are most often seen coupled with a Leslie rotating speaker cabinet. This large wooden box that you will see not far from the organ in many concerts contains two speakers, a downward facing bass speaker and an upwards facing tweeter in the center cabinet, with a rotating baffle in the lower space and a rotating horn in the upper. The rotating horns bounce the sound waves around within the box, then projects them out of the slat openings in the sides and large openings at hte top and bottom. This allows the tone to reverberate in odd patterns, producing a doppler effect which has a warbling-like sound. The organ features a number of drawbars across the top of the upper and lower manuals that can be adjusted to simulate the different lengths of pipe in a traditional pipe organ. Percussive switches allow for quick a high frequency to be emitted as each key is pressed down. Bass pedals, arranged similarly to the white and black keys on a piano extend across the bottom of the organ.
Highly skilled players can work the upper and lower manuals and the bass keys, extending and retracting the drawbars, turning on and off the percussive sounds and adjusting the speed at which the speaker cabinet is rotating to produce a tremendous variety of sound. While most bands that include organs do not employ the bass pedals, many duos and organ greats are known for their ability to employ all the available options.
While the organ itself is bulky, weighing over 400 pounds, and the speaker cabinet is large, delicate and cumbersome, many musicians still make the effort to cart the instrument around and perform live with it.
These organs have been out of production since the late 1970s, but originals are still much sought after and coveted by musicians and collectors alike. Their rarity has promoted the production of many alternatives, and digital technology has greatly improved in recent years to allow for almost indistinguishable replication of the organ’s great variety of sound qualities. The Roland VK organ series, the Nord electromechanical “clonewheel” organs, the Korg organ line and even the newly produce Hammond-Suzuki organs provide lightweight, sturdy alternatives for professional musicians today.
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