Dave Weiser Posted April 25, 2023 Share Posted April 25, 2023 A friend sent me this clip earlier today and I just can't get enough of it. Great song choice as well. I love to see these old precursors to modern synths, and I marvel at the work that must have gone into them. Enjoy! 4 1 Quote https://www.theboywhowantedtorock.com http://www.weisersound.com https://www.facebook.com/weisersound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radagast Posted April 25, 2023 Share Posted April 25, 2023 You’re not really an analog enthusiast unless you want this instrument and a Knifonium. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PianoMan51 Posted April 25, 2023 Share Posted April 25, 2023 What pops out at me is the tremulants. Sounds like an attempt to electronically emulate theatre pipe organs , in a similar way the A, B, and Cs were emulating church pipe organs. Maybe this opens a door to why Hammond was so rejecting of the Leslie speaker. Perhaps Hammond had put so much effort into his own tremulant effect that he couldn’t acknowledge a superior solution. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkaster Posted April 25, 2023 Share Posted April 25, 2023 They are heavy and a bitch to work on. Yes Laurens knew Don Leslie made a superior product and had a hard time admitting it. Quote "Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello" noblevibes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Williams Posted April 25, 2023 Share Posted April 25, 2023 As I am a sostenuto pedal fan, I am amazed that they incorporated that into the design. Does anyone know if it was a full sostenuto, or just a lower-end damper? Quote -Tom Williams {First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radagast Posted April 25, 2023 Share Posted April 25, 2023 4 hours ago, PianoMan51 said: Maybe this opens a door to why Hammond was so rejecting of the Leslie speaker. Perhaps Hammond had put so much effort into his own tremulant effect that he couldn’t acknowledge a superior solution. Laurens Hammond was against the Leslie speaker because it wasn’t his idea or product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted April 25, 2023 Share Posted April 25, 2023 4 hours ago, PianoMan51 said: What pops out at me is the tremulants. Sounds like an attempt to electronically emulate theatre pipe organs , in a similar way the A, B, and Cs were emulating church pipe organs. Tremulants on the Novachord don't share any DNA with the organ consoles. They are actual vibrating reeds. Quote Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonglow Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 They had one of those at GearFest a few years ago. Stood in line for a while, they were being very generous in allowing folks ample time to screw around with it. I played it for a few minutes and moved on, didn’t find it all that inspiring. Perhaps if I was a keys guy in 1939… Quote "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Emm Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 Whenever I hear one of these on an old soundtrack, I immediately think "Creature From The Black Lagoon," even though that series used a real orchestra. Its just a perfect touchstone between both film and synth eras. It also rivals a CS-80 for Inner Workings From Hell. This is a nice software version. I love seeing a few classics saved because someone carefully modeled one of the remaining working instruments. https://www.soniccouture.com/en/products/35-rare-and-unique/g21-novachord/ Quote As an adolescent I aspired to lasting fame, I craved factual certainty and I thirsted for a meaningful vision of human life- so I became a scientist. This is like becoming an archbishop so you can meet girls. ~ Matt Cartmill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 An interesting demonstration here: On 4/25/2023 at 7:08 PM, Tom Williams said: As I am a sostenuto pedal fan, I am amazed that they incorporated that into the design. Does anyone know if it was a full sostenuto, or just a lower-end damper? I have written a little chapter about the Novachord, for the book on early electronic instruments I'm working on. According to the sources that I have found, there is no sostenuto pedal: The leftmost pedal works like a regular sustain pedal, except that it works on the left side of the keyboard exclusively, giving the right hand the chance to play melodic phrases on the upper octaves without any overlapping of notes. The other two piano-style pedals just duplicate their function as regular sustain pedal, working on the entire range. Having two of them allows the player to use his left foot on the continuous volume pedal and the right foot on sustain, or viceversa. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammondDave Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 Crazy instrument… wonder who thought of this?… Quote '55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 43 minutes ago, HammondDave said: Crazy instrument… wonder who thought of this?… Jon Hanert, Hammond's chief engineer I heard audio of a completely restored Novachord... sounded just like my Polymoog, which isn't saying much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 I find static sounds like this and the goofy little Omnichord sort of brutal--stubborn, maybe?--and there's real beauty in them to me because of it. The way they unnaturally sustain and cycle. Haunting and ominous in ways I mean as a compliment. Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkaster Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 10 hours ago, The Real MC said: Jon Hanert, Hammond's chief engineer I heard audio of a completely restored Novachord... sounded just like my Polymoog, which isn't saying much. Mike Sal Azzarelli showed me his in Buffalo right in his living room along with a CV and RT3 he was working on. Quote "Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello" noblevibes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 14 hours ago, The Real MC said: Jon Hanert, Hammond's chief engineer I heard audio of a completely restored Novachord... sounded just like my Polymoog, which isn't saying much. Indeed... In Marino's video it sounds like a 70s string machine at times. I wonder why it wasn't used as a sweetener in 50s and 60s pop and rock singles. Or was it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 It's a fascinating instrument. It sounds other-worldly. One of my dreams is to find one to restore and just putter away at it in my retirement. Who am I kidding, musicians never retire. Quote Keep it greazy! B3tles - Soul Jazz THEO - Prog Rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 On 4/27/2023 at 7:01 PM, Bill H. said: I wonder why it wasn't used as a sweetener in 50s and 60s pop and rock singles. Or was it? It wasn't used much in pop music, but it's all over a whole generation of film and tv soundtracks. The intermission music for "Gone with the Wind" is all Novachord. You can hear it in Hitchcock's "Rebecca", and also "The Maltese Falcon", "Cat People", "High Noon" "The Ten Commandments", and in several episodes of "The Twilight Zone". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 Not to mention in the iconic Morricone scores for the Dollars trilogy. Quote Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konnector Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 Love that spooky, lo-fi, grungy sound. I love Mellotrons too for the same reason and seem to reach for that type of sound over something more "realistic". Don't think I'd want one of these tanks for real. Such a brute. Very interesting though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamanzarek Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 World War II likely put an end to Novachord production as American manufacturing was redirected to the war effort. Since the Novachord wasn't a commercial success production wasn't revived after the the war. It seems a couple of Novachords were shipped to the UK before World War II. Here is Vera Lynn singing "We'll Meet Again" backed by a Novachord. Quote Gibson G101, Fender Rhodes Piano Bass, Vox Continental, RMI Electra-Piano and Harpsichord 300A, Hammond M102A, Hohner Combo Pianet, OB8, Matrix 12, Jupiter 6, Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, CS70M, CP35, PX-5S, WK-3800, Stage 3 Compact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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