On Sep 6, 2011, at 2:30 PM, jhowell wrote: > > On Sep 4, 2011, at 4:23 PM, David W. Fenton wrote: > >> On 4 Sep 2011 at 15:41, Darcy James Argue wrote: >> >>> As for whether the Leslie speaker is a "defining part of the Hammond >>> sound," the only possible answer is "of course." As Steve pointed out, >>> every single Hammond-playing artist of any note employed the Leslie >>> speaker. >> >> Within a certain musical style, yes, of course. >> >> But it's also not defining of Hammond organ sound, as other >> manufacturers used Leslie speakers, too. > > Yes, quite true. Similarly the "native sound" of a violin does not include > vibrato and it can be played without, and the "native sound" of a vibrophone > (without the fan) is a straight metalophone sound. But as a matter of > synergy, the Hammond B-3/Leslie combination was so ubiquitous and adopted by > so many players (granted, in popular music rather than church organists) that > it is the de facto expectation. Without the Lesie it's just another electric > organ sound, perhaps one of the first--perhaps THE first! But not all that > distinctive. > > Slightly subjective, of course. My group played Lenny Dee's supper club in > St. Petersburg Beach several time, and in fact got our record contract with > Decca (Lenny's label) from our performances there, and Lenny was a master at > making the instrument talk in ways that I'm sure Mr. Hammond would not have > approved of. Lenny also used a tape-delay reverb unit that enhanced the > sound wonderfully (in the late '60s, before black-box reverbs were a dime a > dozen). His Wikipedia article gives this rundown: > > "After his discharge from the Navy, Dee bought a Hammond Model A organ. He > later customized this instrument with a Hammond Solovox, a Maas-Rowe > Vibrachord, and Leslie speakers (model 31-H). He also had a tape echo built > into his organ, allowing him to create his trademark re-echo sound. > "In the early 1960s, Dee recorded on a Wurlitzer organ overdubbed with his > Hammond Model A. In 1967, he started recording on a Hammond X-66; in 1972, he > switched to a Hammond Concorde. In the 1970s, he also recorded on Yamaha and > Thomas organs. Other keyboards he used include the Hammond Piper, which he > used for its trumpet and harpsichord sounds, and the ARP synthesizer. > > "When he toured on a cruise ship towards the end of his life, he played a > Hammond-Suzuki Elegante." > > > So it appears that Lenny, like other popular organists both jazz and > commercial, never did care much for the "native sound" of the Hammond. > > John > >> > > John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music > Virginia Tech Department of Music > School of Performing Arts & Cinema > College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences > 290 College Ave., Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0240 > Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 > (mailto:[email protected]) > http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html > > "Machen Sie es, wie Sie wollen, machen Sie es nur schön." > (Do it as you like, just make it beautiful!) --Johannes Brahms >
John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music School of Performing Arts & Cinema College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences 290 College Ave., Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 ([email protected]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html "Machen Sie es, wie Sie wollen, machen Sie es nur schön." (Do it as you like, just make it beautiful!) --Johannes Brahms _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
