Nord User Forum

I'm curious what the forum feels is their favorite B3 program on the NE5D. I really like the Soft Style B3, sounds so smooth with Fast Rotary. I'm looking for a deep soulful gospel style organ, and I guess Contemplation can fit the bill for that. I wanted to play Bruce Springsteen's Rosalita and Fade Away. Any thoughts? Best, Mitch

My main thought is "man, you've got one of the better B3 clone wheels out there at your disposal, stop limiting yourself to the presets!"

There's a wealth of material out there on drawbar settings for various styles of music and it takes about 15 seconds to input any one of them into your E5 as a starting point for finding the sound you want. Experimenting by ear will help you gain more command over the instrument and allow you to make more informed adjustments on the fly.

You said you're interested in a gospel sound- here are a couple examples of the types of resources I'm talking about:

http://www.learngospelmusic.com/forums/ ... ic=42052.0

http://www.hammondtoday.com/2015/12/17/ ... gs-gospel/

And from this forum:

B3 Drawbar Settings

Try loading up a few of these but don't take them as gospel (pun intended). If the classic setting uses vibrato/chorus, but if it sounds better to you without, turn it off. You also may often need to shift the octave up one, depending on how you're using the preset.

Couple gospel settings I like from the above-

888400417 (octave shift +1) no chorus/vib or percussion, leslie of course. If it's too bright for you, you can make it mellow instantly by killing the top 3 drawbars.
868800004 (Melvin Crispell) he used C3, I prefer it with C1. Shoot me.

I also like the setting Joey Defrancesco apparently uses a lot- 666400080

Many of my organ presets are octave +1

Have fun!

The thing with E5D organ is there are so many parameters that you can adjust that you can spend a loooooong time just playing with them and saving to your own slots. My problem is that something that sounds one way when I'm home alone sounds very different playing live in a band. I mess with the drawbars and percussion and chorus/vib and a little distortion but with the band at a medium volume it's hard to hear much detail of changes in the tone. I typically start with Jimmy Smith 888 drawbar settings but play with them as I go along. I usually keep the rotor on slow then go fast for solos. But then if the band or the jam is cooking, I'll leave it on fast.

Then there's all the settings under the Sound menu. I don't/can't change those settings on the fly while playing live so I'm limited to trying them out at home. Look at all these that you can adjust and realize you could spend years playing with them:
2 - B3 TONEWHEEL MODE sets the amount of
tonewheel crosstalk and cable leakage for the
B3 Model between Clean, Vintage 1, Vintage 2
or Vintage 3. Vintage 1 is default.
3 - B3 KEY CLICK sets the amount of key click
for the B3 Model to Low, Normal, High or
Higher. Normal is default.
4 - B3 KEY BOUNCE turns the key bounce On
or Off. When On the key off click is boosted if
the key is released quickly.
6 - B3 PERC DB9 MUTE will in On mode mute
the 9th drawbar when percussion is activated
just as with the original instrument but could
also be set to Off.
7 - B3 PERC DECAY FAST sets the Fast decay
time of the B3 percussion to Short, Medium or
Long. Medium is default.
8 - B3 PERC DECAY SLOW sets the Slow decay
time of the B3 percussion to Short, Medium or
Long. Medium is default.
9 - B3 PERC VOLUME NORMAL sets the normal
percussion volume to Low, Medium or High.
Medium is default.
10 - B3 PERC VOLUME SOFT sets the soft
percussion volume to Low, Medium or High.
Medium is default.
11 - ROTARY SPEAKER TYPE can be set to 122
or 122Close, the latter being a close miked
version of the same speaker emulation. 122 is
default.
12 - ROTARY BALANCE sets the balance between
the bass rotor and treble horn 70/30,
60/40, 50/50, 40/60 and 30/70. Default is
50/50.
13 - ROTARY HORN SPEED could be set to
Low, Normal or High. Default is set to Medium.
14 - ROTARY HORN ACC sets the acceleration
and retardation of the rotary bass horn to Low,
Normal or High. Default is set to Normal.
15 - ROTARY ROTOR SPEED sets the speed of
the rotary bass horn to Low, Normal or High.
Default is set to Normal.
16 - ROTARY ROTOR ACC sets the acceleration
and retardation of the rotary treble horn to
Low, Normal or High. Default is set to Normal.

You can go nuts with all those configs. Here, try Neptune's Lounge:

Factory configs
800800088
Fast rotary

It's all you need

Anyone here who thinks the global settings above should be better assignable to individual organ program slots on the E5? I consider this as minor design flaw that they aren't. It would boost the already huge palette of available organ settings.

Dreamer, I agree. I'd like to vary those settings and assign several different combinations to different slots. Then I could change programs back and forth quickly and compare, make changes, and save for when I really want to boost or cut some settings for a tune or a live situation.

A nice thought! The one that wouldn't work though is the two different 122's, because it would take too long for the change to take effect.

Personally, I'd like to see more extensive control available over rotary ramping up/down, percussion volume/decay and VC.

Agree with the thoughts above. It's a very deep instrument, so go exploring! Every week or so, I'm finding a new organ setting that I like.

B3 registrations can be a real rabbit hole - once you wander down there you can search forever for the best ones, fearful you are missing out...I know, I've been there...

If you are newish to the B3, there are four basic ones that you should know and play a LOT before you start a-wandering and trying to copy the exact setting Stevie Winwood used on that song you got drunk to.

888000000 - Jimmy Smith, Jazz, The ONE - you should practice this registration at least 50% of your organ practice time (maybe more), and learn the percussion nuances - it takes all of them well. You can add the final drawbar in for some whistle but don't cheat too much - LEARN this registration, it is the universally agreed-upon Foundation for All Things Hammond. Some people like to add the fourth drawbar in and call it "rock" but they are fooling themselves...it doesn't need it. If you want to be heard more for the solo, bring em all down.

80880008 - Gospel, rock - call it either, it works for both. It's got some high end so it cuts through the band mix, and you can season the treble with the final drawbar. Practice this one at least 25% - remember that Hammond got its birth in the gospel tradition so don't freak if you think you sound churchy - a lot of Hammond in rock sounds just so. Notice it just uses the fundamental drawbars for a very "clean" sound.

844000448 - Simmering. You can fiddle with the settings on this one but the idea is in the pattern of the draws - this is a nice comping registration and can be a lot of fun - and always use a fast rotary. Some players might increase the lower bars a bit, others decrease the uppers, but just about everyone has a "simmer" setting they like.

Finally - I don't play this one but it's classic and you should know it:

800008888 - Squabbling. A very distinctive sound, made famous by Errol Garner - you hear this a lot on those mid-60s lounge recordings (which are all fabulous and you should find some). This is another one that needs a fast rotary. Squabbling also refers to a playing technique used with this registration - you can look that one up, I wouldn't explain it well enough since I don't do it.

Here, an obscure yet awesome Hammond cut from the mid-60s. I'm pretty sure that's a squabble setting - if anyone else thinks otherwise, chime in!