dazzjazz

I have the mini Vent installed. I think the sound you're hearing is a desk mix. I use a single Yamaha DZR10 which is an incredible sounding speaker - I've written about it here previously.

I've started doing some organ quartet gigs with James Valentine on tenor sax. We sold out Django Bar last month! Here's a recording of us opening the show with Back at the Chicken Shack. Very happy with the sound of the MAG organ. James Valentine Quartet - Back at the Chick Shack

I never click ads, but I’m happy to subscribe or patreon $10 Aussie dollars per month. Not sure if that is enough though. I want this site to continue, and still mourn Keyboard magazine in print form.

I was surprised recently when I played a real Rhodes through a little KC40 or 60 recently - it actually sounded pretty good.

I could provide the MAG example, although mine has a mini-vent installed.

Yes, certain old keyboards make very good artificial reefs.

One of my most embarrassing moments on stage was using a rack mount Ensoniq ASR-10 sampler. The moment was: 1. With a major Australian artist 2. in a large venue 3. during a tender ballad 4. with my parents in the audience I was about to creep in halfway through the first verse with strings. Unknown to me, the Ensoniq had crashed. Instead of a subtle entrance, I treated everyone to an ear splitting orchestral boom. So, it was still playable, but volume control was not possible. I have gotten over it but it wasn’t fun. This forms part of my reticence to ever use something like Mainstage on a gig. No frickin’ way!

It’s remarkable just how different the MAG sounds when comparing my EVE Sc205 monitors to the DZR10. The latter wins hands down.

It works really well, I love the sound of it. Big, clear and smooth. No hint of harshness.

Very nice indeed. Will have to download soon

Here an extract from my PhD theses on bass pedals. It’s hope it helps. Bass pedal myths 126 Jimmy Smith is the inventor and creator of the left-hand bass. Jimmy found the best stops to play the bass, the best way to play the bass. He chose the best that the instrument had to offer. - Caesar Frazier52 In much of the writing and folklore surrounding jazz organ, a great deal of misconception, myth and halftruths exist regarding the use of the Hammond’s bass pedals. Album liner notes often lionise a organist’s abilities on the bass pedals, documenting their left-hand chords and right hand melodies, as if jazz organ is simply a modern jazz piano style to which a set of bass pedals are attached. For example, Robert Levin: “The jazz organist needs not only to play chordal and (when in solo) melodic lines - the ordinary role of the piano - but, with a foot pedal, must simultaneously sustain the bass line as well.” (Liner notes to J. Smith House Party) Then Joe Goldberg: “As usual, there is no bass, because Smith creates his own bass lines with the foot pedals of the organ” (Liner notes to J. Smith Prayer Meeting). These misconceptions imply that there are 3 distinct musical components when performing on the Hammond - bass line, chords and melody. However, even a cursory audition of the albums House Party or Prayer Meeting reveal this is not the case. Most tunes of any significant tempo, apart from ballads will feature a bass line and one other part: a chordal accompaniment part (behind a soloist), or a single-note melodic solo part from the organist. Indeed these erroneous liner notes “which eulogised the organists’ consummate bass-pedal technique” led to many European organists playing all the bass parts on the pedals (Richardson 59). Richardson, who performs in this style, cites a lack of visual information as another culprit in this area. However, even when he saw Jimmy Smith perform in the 1990s, he misinterprets Smith’s ‘thumping’ pedal technique (see below) as miming while his left hand was actually doing all the bass line. Tim Dean-Lewis, another British keyboardist, correctly documents the percussive effect of Smith’s pedal tapping technique (‘thumping’), while making the same false charge of miming against Jimmy Smith several times in his article Treading the Board - a Pedal Play: The Artistry of Jimmy Smith in Performance (206). Manchester-based organist Jay Denson maintains that the tradition in 1960s England was for pedal bass, and that his personal instrument was modified with a sustain unit to allow for a more legato bass line from the pedals. Additionally, stylistic demands for organ-as-big-band, combined with a guitar-less ensemble lineup of organ/drums/saxophone demanded that the bass line be provided by the pedals, enabling a chordal part to always be present.53 Thumping 127 The most correct and clearly articulated description of the use of the bass pedals in jazz organ comes from Mattock: It is true that organists use the pedal board for bass extensively, but it is uncommon for them to use it exclusively. At medium to fast tempos, bass lines are almost always played with the left hand on the lower manual. The pedal board is used primarily in the same fashion as a drummer feathering their bass drum to add attack to an upright-bassists lines. A single pitch will be tapped very lightly in quarter notes with the left foot to provide attack, but the actually pitch being heard is that played with the left hand. (24) The combination of left hand bass note and pedal attack sound (‘thumping’) is how many organists in the tradition of Jimmy Smith perform. They are not miming or cheating in anyway. It is an artistic choice, partially dictated by the sheer physical and musical limits of playing legato lines on the pedals, which is extremely difficult. As Richardson notes, the “heavy action of the Hammond bass pedal keyboard…makes up-tempo swing…very difficult” (60). The heavy action and lack of sustain of the bass pedal limits legato bass lines to step-wise construction and slower tempos. Additionally, the tone of the pedals is very dominating, not subtle like the lower manual. This also explains the common use of the pedals for all the bass notes of a ballad where the non-legato “two-feel”, often tonic-to-fifth of the chord, is appropriate. “What’s New” from Jimmy Smith’s Crazy! Baby album is an example where one hears 3 distinct parts. Mattock also clearly articulates the other major usage of the bass pedal in jazz: On occasion certain notes are played more clearly on the pedal board to accent pitches. Playing bass lines with their feet for short periods of time also allow the organist to take their left hand off the lower manual to manipulate the registrations, Leslie speed, chorus and percussion. (24) Schwartz’ own discussion on bass pedals concurs with Mattock. Additionally, I witnessed Jimmy Smith perform using this exact technique at The Basement (Sydney) in the 1990s. I have also seen many prominent organists use the bass pedals in the same fashion: Dr Lonnie Smith, Tony Monaco, Joey DeFrancesco, and Pat Bianchi, for example. Schwartz describes the musical effect that the pedals have on the groove - that each organists individual sound depends precisely on the amount of staccato articulation on the pedals, combined with a legato left-hand bass line. Organists: …stamped the identity on the group…by their individual style of grooving. Most of the groove can be attributed to the bass line, into which the organist has to put the majority of his concentration…the degree to which this is done defines the individual sound of an organist… For example, Jimmy McGriff’s feel came about from a very light bounce on the pedals, Jack McDuff held the pedal down a little longer getting more of a plodding sound.

Here’s a beginners tutorial I put together last December when I was guest artist for Tony Monaco. If you find it useful, please SUBSCRIBE.

I love my Matriarch. I can’t help by wonder why Moog haven’t made an ‘every man’s” polysynth? - surely it can’t be too hard for them? They’d sell truckloads.

Yes it’s fine. as a jazz player, as mostly use stop and fast. I only rarely use chorale for ballads but I don’t like the bass wobbling about. I’ve never set up my stereo rig in ‘hard stereo’, ie one speaker to my left, one to my right. That’s unnatural- to me a Leslie isn’t so much stereo as being 3-dimensional. Most of the time I stacked one DXR10 on top of the other. That was a good sound.

I place it behind me on the floor like a wedge. This might change - when I use bass pedals it might be necessary to raise it.

They’re not that new actually. Think they were released two years ago? I’m doing a piano gig today with it. Can’t wait.

Yes, there’s more than enough bass. The bass is clear and tight. I dislike 12” speakers as they tend to be wooly sounding with the bass. sounds great in mono!

Yes I was wondering about that. I should test it with both the CP4 and the MAG organ.

I used both jack outputs into both inputs of the DZR. It’s probably the same result as just using the left/mono output of the keyboard, but a friend suggested I try it.

Okay, I've just found a few minutes to play my CP4 through the DZR10 in glorious mono. The speaker is a total winner. Just like my impressions with the MAG organ, the CFX piano sounds full and lush. I especially like the clarity and how much 'thud' when the key hits the keybed, which for me is an important part of the piano sound. I tried a bunch of other patches too. My own edits of the CF and Rhodes are similarly impressive, and some leftover synth patches from a long ago gig are punchy. I'm not playing the mono samples either - I'm playing the stereo ones collapsed to mono - sounds really good to me, and I've had the CP4 for years so I'm very familiar with its sound. I can imagine that a stereo pair of these would be a totally killer rig, but most of my gigs are small bars/jazz clubs/restaurants and the stereo effect would just be for me. Not sure what else to say about it. It's really fabulous and worth carrying the extra 3-4kg. I should have bought it years ago. Darren

Not yet, but I will report back soon

Yes I thought a pair of DZR8s would be just the ticket also. I can manage the weight of the DZR10. It’s only 3 more kilos…luckily I go to the gym twice a week!

Yes, using the in-built Mini Vent. there’s a lot less noise noticeable from the the mini vent in the DZR. It was quite noticeable in the DXR, almost annoyingly so. Not sure why Guido had to make it so authentic…

Due to impending gigs and not a lot of choice to audition every 10” speaker known to man, I bought a single DZR10 today. I was hoping to try the Space Station XL and a motion Sound products, but it’s not possible here in Sydney. having said that, the DZR is FANTASTIC. I can’t believe how much better it is compared to the DXR10 Mk2. It’s really night and day - the DZR is warm and full sounding, and not a hint of harshness. It has a very balanced and even tone on organ, and I’ve never heard the MAG organ sound so good. I don’t feel a need yet to try out the EQ features at all. I really think the combination of better amplifier module and the plywood cabinet make all the difference. I have a gig on Sunday and will use it there. I might miss having a stereo rig, or I might not. I have both a mk1 and mk2 DXR10s that have developed weird noises that is probably due to failing power supplies. I am hoping to audition my CP4 tomorrow and will report on that also. sure it was more expensive than a lot of other options, but still affordable for me. The weight is only slightly more than the DXRs so I’m not bothered too much by that. Doubt I’d want to schlep the Space Station or a Motion Sound, who are both in the 28kg/49lb range, both with weird form factors.

Anyone using one of these wooden cabinet speakers for their keyboards? they seem like an upgrade from the DXR10s that I currently have. Darren