Nord User Forum

[Tracii]

Hello people,

I'm new to organ - I come from piano like most do - and while I'm confident about my playing (i.e. note selection, key technique, NOT playing when the part calls for no organ ), the whole drawbar/vc/percussion thing is still rather unexplored: so far, I have a mellow sound, a bright one and one for comping and I get by. Of course, I'll be branching out the longer I play, but out of pure curiousity I wanted to know how many different sounds/settings you guys are using - like, for example, how many presets or programs?

[analogika]

I have two basic Hammond patches — one fairly tame, and one aggressive.

Everything else — drawbar settings, chorus (almost always C3 for me), and percussion (usually 2nd soft, fast) — is continually tweaked live, as are delays.

Like probably most organists, I consider playing the drawbars and adjusting them dynamically to whatever is happening an essential part of the playing technique.

I do have one or two organs layered under song-specific programs, but that’s a completely different thing.

[Tracii]

Like probably most organists, I consider playing the drawbars and adjusting them dynamically to whatever is happening an essential part of the playing technique.

No question there. I adjust the drawbars during songs as well, according to the feel and dynamics of the current section. I just don't have that many starting points for it.

[fieldflower]

I find joy in finding out what drawbar settings have been used for certain songs, and save the favorites as programs.
They're more for home use though, where the subtle nuances matters more.
Playing with a band I rarely use them - then I start out with something in a live slot and tweak for the song.

[ericL]

I use an infinite number of drawbar changes when I'm playing and I am probably doing 60% organ for my gigs.

On my Stage 2, I often have one of the panels in each program set up for just organ (so I can switch panels to go from piano to organ, for example). I usually save my organ sounds in these cases with the drawbars set to 808000006 from which I can quickly get to 888000006 or similar. On the second preset, I save it as 888765456 or something big like that, so I have a fairly dramatic drawbar different with a single press of the button (much like the way I use the black preset keys on my console Hammond).

In terms of other things I do with organs, I have certain programs where I've dialed in a lot of overdrive or different amp models to give me a certain sound. I also like to apply delay and other effects.

[Doktor T]

I bought the Elektro 5 for the sample synth section. However, I do put a little B3 and Vox under some pads. After a couple of days, I'm using three already. I'll probably never use the same setting twice.

[Tracii]

Thanks for your replies so far! Nice to hear that it's at least not totally uncommon for gigging organists to have only a handful of drawbar setting references which then get tweaked during performance.

As I'm only starting out and practicing to backing tracks a lot, it's easy to get lost, because small adjustments of the drawbars sometimes have a huge impact, especially with headphones. 9th drawbar at 0 vs. 2 can go unnoticed in a band setting, but it's a world of difference when I'm by myself.

[Snigel]

It differs from time to time. Think it´s depending on the mode (the room, the others in the band, etc ) what sounds best for the day. I also use the pedal to go from soft to more heavy during a song. I seem to save a preset for every song but every time i change it. So 3-4 basic presets to start with. If you listen, as an example, on Deep Purple live you hear that Mr Lord and his organ sounds different from every set.

[shark]

4 live settings:
1. 68860000 + v1 c2 + 40% drive - my main setting
2. 68864320 no drive v1 c2
3. 888800000 10 % drive v1 c2
4. VOX all open

i also adjust drawbars depending on mood, but not that much.

[msavel]

I am using live drawbars and many colors, depends on style of music. The possibilities are ulimited. Here is some example. We are playing tribute to famous art rock Slovak band from 70s - Collegium musicum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6pM1jrTp98

I used 122close and 40/60 horn ratio.