Organ Question...

[JinVA]

I am trying to learn different drawbar registrations for different songs I like, just for fun using my new NE61. While listening to "thorn in my pride" by the Black Crowes it seems Eddie goes higher than the 61 key limit on B3. I had to shift up to hit a note above the top C on my electro, and I thought this was impossible on a real b3. He could have been using a clone, but I seriously doubt it. Is this possible? am i wrong that my NE parallels a regular B3 manual and I should be able to hit all the notes a true B3 would hit (tone differences aside, of course)? I am 99% sure I heard him go into that top octave that isnt

physically on my 61 note board.

 

I also heard the same thing on an album by King Curtis where Billy Preston is playing organ. When he comes in on the first track, "Memphis Soul Stew" (awesome album btw) it sounds like he is playing up in that higher octave.

thanks for any insight,

-J

[eric]

J, I have not heard that song in awhile and I'll need to listen to it again to hear the tone. But here's the deal with hitting those higher octaves that seem to defy the range of the keyboard. It is all in the drawbar voicing. For example, the registration 800000000 is just the bottom drawbar and would present a hollow, flutey sound. 008000000 is the same sound, but one octave higher. 000800000 moves it up one more octave, and so forth (I am speaking of the white drawbars right now).

 

I'll listen to the song, but pretty sure what you hear is just creative use of the drawbars like this.

 

Regards,

Eric

[J_tour]

Maybe the "tape" was sped up, without correction for pitch? It's not out of the question, anyway.

[Jim Alfredson]

No, it's just drawbar settings. Pull out the last white drawbar and you can get way up there.

[JinVA]

I tried using 008000000 and it was dead on. I thought I had a good grasp of how drawbars work, but I forgot about the octave differences, and the NE drawbuttons without pipe lengths written didn't help my ignorance.

thanks for the quick reply.

-J

[ABECK]

Yup - real B3 for sure on that album - just some higher pitched drawbar settings present. Your Korg preset is most likely based on a different combination of drawbar settings (with less, or none of the upper harmonics present.)

[eric]

I just listened and played along with the song. Great song. My hunch was correct. The basic drawbar setting to get the intro sound is 000800000 with perhaps some subtle flavoring from the higher white drawbars (try 000802001 or similar). It is a very pure flute tone, quite common for the Crowes and also the Wallflowers.

 

Using a registration like this, the first note you play on the keyboard would be the second highest B and then you have plenty of room to go up into that next octave when the riffing goes there without needing to shift octaves or anything.

 

There was a great article a few years back in KB Mag with John Medeski in which he showed how you could keep playing the same C to C scale within the same octave on the organ, whilst changing drawbars and cover the entire 5 octave spectrum, purely on drawbar movements playing the same notes.

 

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

Regards,

Eric