Hammond and Leslie question

[Slipkid]

Hello good people,

I am here for some advice please. I’m working on a track that’s crying out for an Hammond organ. I have the Colla B3 plugin and it sounds ok but I was wondering if there are any experts out there who could give me some hints and tips to make it sound as if someone who knows what they’re doing is playing it. I’ve never touched a real Hammond so I’m flying blind really.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Regards John

[BigRedX]

What genre of music? There are quite a few different styles of playing Hammond organs (with the Leslie), and you'll need to pick the right one to make it sound authentic.

I'd find live videos of a band playing the style of music I was after and have a good look at how the keyboards are being played.

[Slipkid]

Thanks for the reply. It’s a kind of early 60s style pop/ rock track.

[BigRedX]

Are you sure it's the Hammond/Leslie sound you are after?

A lot of early 60s pop would have been played on something more affordable like a Vox or Farfisa.

[resistorman]

You can get a lot of mileage by using long sustained chords and speeding up/ slowing down the Leslie. Try fast leslie through a chorus and let it slow into the verse.

[Slipkid]

Thanks for the replies.

The Hammond sounds ok already and suits the track. It’s Just a bit lifeless and dull. It’s playing sustained chords so I’ll try , as suggested, slowing the rotary effect in the verse and ramping up into the choruses.

[The Elf]

For many styles of music the player's response to the song in speeding up/slowing down the Leslie is critical. Speeding up adds anticipation and excitement, slowing down helps the song relax and back away - into a verse, for example. It's entirely a feel thing.

[sonics]

A Hammond needs movement to make it interesting and authentic.

Here's an example of some organ playing.
https://youtu.be/SQUEnALTXfA
You can see Steve Winwood using the different sounds of the two manuals, manipulating the drawbars, using palm slurs and changing the Leslie speed.

<Purist Warning: NOT a real Hammond!>

[BigRedX]

Thanks for the replies.

The Hammond sounds ok already and suits the track. It’s Just a bit lifeless and dull. It’s playing sustained chords so I’ll try , as suggested, slowing the rotary effect in the verse and ramping up into the choruses.

That might be your problem. Look at the clip posted and you'll see just how "percussive" Winwood's playing is. Even when he's doing the sustained chords in the chorus with his right hand, his left hand is adding all sorts of stabs and blips underneath.

[Drew Stephenson]

One thing I've learned with trying to do Hammond parts (I'm not a keys player in any shape or form) is that less is often more. Often an octave pair with a bit of automated Leslie speed control will give you most of what you need and makes it easy to add in a little grace note or two on the transitions.
As an example, the organ (probably not a Hammond!) on this track is really effective and really simple: https://youtu.be/mSgnC5eQ5u0?list=RDMM (organ comes in at about 2 min).

[IAA]

Often an octave pair with a bit of automated Leslie speed control will give you most of what you need and makes it easy to add in a little grace note or two on the transitions.

This. Don’t use straight triads too often, look at higher inversions, put some movement as Drew says with grace notes or use passing chords. Work the drawbars as well as the Leslie. Finally use the swell pedal for dynamics. An organ was always meant to have dynamics and most players tend to use that expression.

[Slipkid]

Again thanks for the replies and your time.

One of the things I was going to ask if this topic drew any traction ( which it has) is about draw bars. I simply don’t understand what they do. As to the Steve Winwood track I get that - I have another track which needs a stabby kind of organ and I’ve gone for a farfiisa plug in on that one.