Which organs were used in these vintage recordings?...

[Synthman4]

I'm thinking of buying some professional organ sample plug ins so I need to know...
Which organs were used on these vintage rock/tracks...
Peter Skeleton - Hold on to Love https://youtu.be/kSYJ4tYpyQ8?si=JOPnIoH8dtG7MGFB
and also what organ does Mick Talbot use for the solo in 'You're the Best thing'?
https://youtu.be/db8_i7bloAw?si=oRZLKXoXP_zVuXxq
Richard Steed

[James Perrett]

Looks like Mick Talbot is playing a Yamaha DX7 with a Hammond underneath - I'm fairly sure that you can download a DX7 Vsti for free these days. I very much like the old GSI Organized Trio for Hammond sounds - the newer version is called VB3 and can be found at

https://www.genuinesoundware.com/?a=showproduct&b=44

There is also the free CollaB3 VSTi but the Leslie effect on that is terrible so you need to feed it through a decent Leslie VST.

[Synthman4]

Looks like Mick Talbot is playing a Yamaha DX7 - I'm fairly sure that you can download a DX7 Vsti for free these days.

No. That was what Mick played at the start. If you watch during the solo he is playing an organ underneath the DX7.

[James Perrett]

No. That was what Mick played at the start. If you watch during the solo he is playing an organ underneath the DX7.

I've edited my post above now after realising this

[Hugh Robjohns]

They are both classic Hammond B3 organs with typical voicing. Any Hammond-esque plugin will provide those sounds.

[MOF]

It’s ‘Peter Skellern’ and yes they are Hammond organs.

[Synthman4]

I'm thinking of buying some professional organ sample plug ins so I need to know...
Which organs were used on these vintage rock/tracks...
Peter Skellern - Hold on to Love https://youtu.be/kSYJ4tYpyQ8?si=JOPnIoH8dtG7MGFB
and also what organ does Mick Talbot use for the solo in 'You're the Best thing'?
https://youtu.be/db8_i7bloAw?si=oRZLKXoXP_zVuXxq
Richard Steed

[Synthman4]

How do you edit these posts these days?

Yes. I might buy that Hammond plug in you mentioned.
What about them Vox continentals? Do you get the same sounds on those?

[Synthman4]

I forgot to mention this track. And I don’t mean the original Timmy Thomas track either!
https://youtu.be/eFl32g-Ro3U?si=CZ44-YUofmrApeiT
Which organ was used in this one?

[The Elf]

What about them Vox continentals? Do you get the same sounds on those?

No.

[The Elf]

I forgot to mention this track. And I don’t mean the original Timmy Thomas track either!
https://youtu.be/eFl32g-Ro3U?si=CZ44-YUofmrApeiT
Which organ was used in this one?

Hammond. This is all Hammond stuff.

[Synthman4]

Nice one. That’s that solved then.

[Sam Spoons]

No need to buy, I have (somewhere, it isn't on my laptop though ) a superb Hammond B3 VSTi that was free/Open Source. If I find it I'll post a link.

Or the one in GarageBand is not too shabby if you have a Mac or iPad.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Which organ was used in this one?

That Sade track isn't a real organ. It's a synth — possibly a Roland Juno 6 (or 60 or 106 — they all sound the same).... although almost any poly synth could make the same sound when used with a good stereo chorus.

But it's obviously emulating a hammond-esque sound and you can get something very close with a Hammond plugin.

[Nazard]

I have the Arturia B3 (v2) and it sounds very good - it captures the Hammond flavours very nicely.

There is a demo to try.

[Hugh Robjohns]

How do you edit these posts these days?

Click on the three dots button top right of each post, select edit... but you can only edit your own posts, only only within 45 minutes of posting.

What about them Vox continentals? Do you get the same sounds on those?

No, the Vox is a much brighter, harsher and 'fizzier' kind of tone, usually with heavy vibrato rather than a Leslie effect.

[amanise]

Sounds like you need a B3 and Leslie emulator. I use these - the B3 Vsti should be free, but you have to pay for the Waterfall. Worth it though.

https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... CollaB3-V2

https://www.uaudio.com/products/waterfa ... ry-speaker

The waterfall even does horn fluttering noises for you (which you can switch off).

[Zukan]

you can download a DX7 Vsti for free these days.

I use Dexed, which is free and very useful.
https://asb2m10.github.io/dexed/

[Kayvon]

That Sade track isn't a real organ. It's a synth — possibly a Roland Juno 6 (or 60 or 106 — they all sound the same)....

Rare bit of trolling by you Hugh? (; Did you intend to trigger the synth pedants into replying?? The 6/60 & 106 sound similar but, well, nah I’ll leave it there

So my first instinct might’ve said MKS-70 / JX-10 / JX-8P but they wouldn’t have been released for another couple years so what other options do we have? Wiki has Diamond Life recording as October 1983

It sounds a little sharp and neat for a Juno 6/60 (released 1982) though my experiences with them have been minimum 16 year old ones. The chorus is a little too subtle also.

Doing some googling it seems Power Plant studio would’ve had a Hammond B3 and there’s some interviews with Mike Pela talking about Emulator II too. DX-7 was obviously in use by Andrew Hale and I read he’d also put layered DX-7s through a Leslie.

So I’ve got real B3, Emulator II, DX-7 and then the maybe Juno 6/60 known to have been used with Sade.

Any strong guesses?

The tuning doesn’t sound Hammond to me so yes I guess synth as well. The DX-7 can do very good Hammond patches n surely there would’ve been clean Emulator II patches. The chorusing sounds very natural but would a miked Leslie with synth sound that clean?

I think I’m going with DX-7. The percussion attacks sound pretty tight so that kinda suggests to me not chorusing over everything, detuned DX-7 organ patch then?

Damn, that chorus beats quite like a Leslie in places. I’m definitely not thinking Juno chorus. I’m not accustomed to the real scanner chorus/vibrato and differentiating it from the Leslie.

Hugh what do you think?

[Hugh Robjohns]

DX7 is a very strong contender, I agree, and it fits with so much of the keyboard work in other Sade tracks.

I used a Juno 60 to play the specific part in a covers band back in the previous century...

[James Perrett]

I think I’m going with DX-7. The percussion attacks sound pretty tight so that kinda suggests to me not chorusing over everything, detuned DX-7 organ patch then?

That sound seems so familiar - and I'm fairly sure that I have it on one of my synths so it is either a TX81Z preset or comes from the Roland sample library. It doesn't sound like a Juno to me although a Juno could get close.

[Wonks]

Though the TX81Z itself came out in 1987, so it can't have been from that module. The DX7 had only been out a few months back then (launched in May 83), and given the time it takes to get to understand FM synthesis (especially with no computer assistance) it's likely to be a preset (as so many synth sounds were). Unless it was programmed by Zukan or the like.

[ajay_m]

Of course if you want a proper B3 you need a plugin with drawbars, vibrato and a Leslie emulator. You'll want to map to a keyboard with drawbars and use eg an expression pedal to control Leslie from off through slow to fast.
And Native Instruments Vintage Organs are hopeless because a change in drawbar registration doesn't take effect until the next note is played!
I used to use Nubi and Spinner but now I use the Akai organs instrument on my Akai Force which is very good but note that their Leslie mapping is a bit odd with stop in the middle of the range, making pedal control a touch awkward. Think there's a PC version, on sale at present I believe.

[amanise]

There's also these natty looking things - but they look a bit pricey. Not as much as a real B3 though. I wonder if they give you that same real time tactile sort of experience.

https://www.ferrofish.com/product/b4000 ... reloaded=1

[Hugh Robjohns]

...or a really nice Hammond XK-1c in the Readers Ads....