Kickin' Groovin' - Nord C1 Hammond B-3 Clonewheel Organ Clavia

[TheNorthernSoulKing]

Your right is the inside of the back differant than the top

[TheNorthernSoulKing]

You should learn to play Booker T Cool Dude and Happy Organ Dave Baby Cortez

[rounder2u]

Hi Northern Soul King

Cool Dude is a cool song :-)

There are too many great songs, compared to the time available...

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[TheNorthernSoulKing]

@rounder2u That was my first song that I listened to that had the organ in it. I was pretty young when they first started playing in in Smooth Jazz 107.3 until they got ride of that station sadly

[rounder2u]

Hi Northern Soul King

That was a good start! Booker T has such a great timing and feeling in his playing, and in addition to that a great perception of what a good soul jazz organ sound is about.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[TheNorthernSoulKing]

@rounder2u Do you know of any good jazz organ sounds?More upbeat and fast

[rounder2u]

Hi Northern Soul King

You mean drawbar registrations? Here I'm using the common

88 8000 000. Percussion On, Soft, Fast, Third.

Also try out

80 0008 888. It's used in e.g. 'The Preacher' (check out Jimmy Smith) and that drawbar registration has a very special sound. I have also uploaded The Preacher.

There are so many different registrations... This one is for the Percussion

00 0100 000. Percussion On, Soft, Fast, Second. (I'm using in in 'The Shadow of your Smile)

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[TheNorthernSoulKing]

@rounder2u Thank you sadly on my concord I dont have percussion but will it still sound good?

[rounder2u]

Hi Northern Soul King

Without the Percussion effect you will not have the second or third harmonic as a starting accent of the notes you are playing. It is very common to use the Percussion (especially with the third harmonic) as it makes the sound more full and 'alive', like the key click sound also does.

You have to test different registrations and see which ones are to your liking. The sound can be very good without it. Green Onions is played without Percussion.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[TheNorthernSoulKing]

@rounder2u Thank you. Is piano sheet music the same as organ music

[rounder2u]

Hi Northern Soul King

Piano and organ uses the same way of notation, so, yes, sheet music for piano works for organ as well in most cases. Especially if you have sheet music for popular or jazz songs.

But as those instruments are different, you have to adjust the playing technique for the song in question. I mean, e.g. you don't have piano pedals (like the sustain pedal) on the organ.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[TheNorthernSoulKing]

@rounder2u DId you learn to play on your own? I am having trouble finding organ lessons

[rounder2u]

Hi Northern Soul King

I did learn, and do learn, by my own. No lessons, no books.

But I do study songs (listening over and over again, and analyzing) by the Masters: e.g. Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, Richard Groove Holmes.

You might already have noticed that, as I have uploaded a version of Jimmy Smith's 'Bucket', where I try to stray not too far away during the full song from what he is playing on the swell. 'Bucket' took some time to memorize :-)

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[TheNorthernSoulKing]

@rounder2u I will upload a clip of my organ just messing around on it but is the bass supposed to sound smooth or rough? Cause only on the bass keys it does not sound right to me not sure but I will post one soon

[rounder2u]

Hi Northern Soul King

The bass on an all-tubed B-3/C-3 with an all-tubed Leslie 122 can sound smooth but it can also growl :-)

Upload and send me a message and I will listen and watch.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[TheNorthernSoulKing]

@rounder2u Thank you I will sometime tommorow. I will give a tour of the whole organ is there an easy way to lift off the back to see the motor and everything? Cause Mine is up againts a wall and I cant even move it, Its to heavy

[rounder2u]

Hi Northern Soul King

Looking forward to your video organ tour :-)

I might be wrong, but isn't Concorde the model where you tilt the whole top section open. It's not fastened by bolts or anything (just the sheer weight), just hinges. But, if I'm right, the organ still need some distance to the wall before you open it. Well, I might be totally wrong here.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[Drumcorpse1993]

Hey rounder.

i'm really impressed by your stuff you put on youtube! freakin' good hammond sound! you definitely deserve a b-3. go on, and let me know if there are new videos!

[rounder2u]

Thanks Drumcorpse!

An old, pre-74, B-3 would be wonderful, if it wasn't for the weight...

An old all-tubed Leslie (e.g. 122) would be great, though, to connect to my Nord C1.

My latest video upload, as of writing this comment, is 'Pumping the Blues'. There will be more, I hope :-)

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[omrixeren]

Thanks!

[omrixeren]

I have a Nord C2 now and i'm going to buy a hammond A102 :) I don't like the new B3 too cause it's digital..

[rounder2u]

Hi omrixeren

You will be the proud owner of a A-102. That's really great! A wonderful instrument. Just be sure to check it out if it has foam instead of felt inside, as the gooey foam will destroy the organ if it is not removed and renovated.

Anyway, a A-102 and a Nord C2 and you have the best of both worlds :-)

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[omrixeren]

You really deserve a real Hammond Organ!

[rounder2u]

Thanks omrixeren!

The analog Hammond B-3 ( and the C-3 or A-100) with one or two all-tubed Leslies (e.g. the 122) is the pinnacle of jazz organ gear. No doubt about that.

How I wish though that they weren't so incredibly prohibtively heavy! I mean, we're talking 'bout over 400 lb / almost 200 kg for the B-3, without the Leslie...

Btw, I'm not that interested in the digital 'New B-3'.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[benski27]

muhaaa.....awesome!!!!!!!

[rounder2u]

Thanks benski!

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[fohawk711]

Where did you get your piano and for how much?

[rounder2u]

Hi fohawk

I bough my Nord C1 quite some time ago, but if I should buy a new today I would go for the successor, the Nord C2. The same as the C1, maybe even more refined, and with an high quality sampled baroque pipe organ added.

Check out

americanmusicandsound (dot) com/norddealers.html

to find todays dealers and their prices.

When I bough mine it was about 2500USD. You could maybe find them at ebay.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[bluzplayer1]

Rounder

Indeed all Hammonds sound unique. Each one has many adjustments (my CV has a wicked tone control that not only adds significant tone but adds significant key click). BUT I can get all four hammonds to sound like WSOP, Evil Ways, etc. Joey's & Tony's hammond tones are WAY different than their clones...if you can't hear that you need an audioligist. What I can't do is get my organs to sound like your Nord :) Anyway, a good debate is always appreciated.

[rounder2u]

Hi bluzplayer

I agree: Joe's and Tony's Hammond B-3 sound different compared to when they play their New Hammond B-3 clonewheels. That's way I asked if you had heard the New B-3 :-)

Regarding sound settings to have the sound I have from my Nord C1, I always write down detailed info, drawbar registrations, etc, and file it under the 'more info' field for all my C1 videos.

Btw, check out the YouTube clip by 'tehtube'

'Hammond B3 vs Nord C1'

or 'Jeremy Monteiro - Alligator Boogaloo'

[bluzplayer1]

When you gently play a hammond key, slowly pressing it down a small bit at a time...each of the tonewheels/drawbars sounds independantly. Until the Nord makes 9 different sounds on the strike of every key...it will never sound like a Hammond. As a clone, it's a good. Leslie or not...the Hammond is the standard everything else is measured against.

[rounder2u]

Hi bluzplayer

I really like theoretical B-3 Hammondology! :-)

I just wanna add that one Hammond B-3 can sound quite different from the next one too!

Mentioning the busbar transients, we also have to take into account worn and always more or less dirty busbars, that will affect those transients.

So, does a Hammond sound like a Hammond? Well, it depends on which B-3 we compare against.

And all great players often did/do modifications (e.g Groove Holmes and Dennerleins bass mods).

[bluzplayer1]

Sorry Rounder...this just isn't a Hammond no matter how many times you repeat it. I own 4 Hammonds (D, CV, A100 & M3) and 2 Leslies (145 & 122) and none of them sound as digital as this. The Nord is good...and very gig worthy by about 425 Lbs. Nice playing btw!

[rounder2u]

Thanks bluzplayer!

I'd love to connect the Nord C1 through your great tubed Leslie 122!

That is the secret of the sound.

The Leslie is the better part of the Hammond sound, and with a Nord C1 and a tubed Leslie and it's 15" woofer I would use the foldback instead for the left hand. With a tubed Leslie I would also do recordings with mic's instead of line out, as the Leslie would enhance the sound.

Question: would you say the Hammond New B-3 sounds like a Hammond?

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[bluzplayer1]

Rounder

I've only hear the New Hammonds over the web. At $35,000 I doubt I'll ever hear one live. I do know that the VB3 (vsti)played through my M3 (RCA input) to my Leslie sounds GREAT...but it's still not a Hammond. Making 9 different contacts to the busbar and tonewheels everytime you strike a key is different than anything else (even the New Hammonds try to clone "The Sound".

[paranormaalutrecht]

Nice instrument but you CAN hear that it is digital.. like the (very expensive) hammond b3 digital... Examin that instrument and than listen to a REAL tonewheel organ... is a GREAT difference....

But, If I had to choose.. than I would buy the nord.. much cheaper.. and I think a nice sound.

[rounder2u]

Hi paranormaalutrecht

I beg to differ :-)

If I connect this Nord C1 to an old tubed Leslie 122 you couldn't tell the difference.

You see, a great part of the 'Hammond' sound comes from the tubed driven Leslie cabinet. Then you have the 'growl'.

The nest best thing is to connect the Nord C1 to an all tubed preamp, and then to a rotary speaker cabinet.

The third best thing is to use the Nord C1 built in sound and Leslie simulator.

Well, that's my two cents anyway :-)

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[paranormaalutrecht]

I have tried the test,,, in the music shop, 4 houses from here :P :) yeah yeah and online on their website... blind... I cán hear the difference :P

But it is a very nice instrument!

[rounder2u]

Hi paranormaalutrecht

You did connect the Nord C1 to an all-tubed Leslie? That's great! Then you really know what this little C1 beast is capable of :-)

I think the tech advancements during recent years in the clonewheel departement is amazing: now we have a number of great clonewheels of different brands to choose from in the market. And with the C1/C2 you get three/four organs that you can carry under one arm, without costing you an arm and a leg.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[paranormaalutrecht]

Did you see the test on their side? ...

I think it's better to buy this one than the japanese tin-cans... with the name-plate on it: hammond.. This instrument sounds more like a real hammond than the suzuki made garbage.

Great sound.

[mrspoonses]

i can never hear when you play your left hand in these videos. Is it just me or something to do with the video?

[rounder2u]

Hi mrsspoonses

I think I can answer that: The organ goes very deep in the bass. This means that you need good speakers to hear the bass clearly, or a good subwoofer.

You can also connect headphones to your computer (headphones usually goes deep down in the bass).

Built in laptop speakers or those tiny PC speakers just won't do.

Bass is an important part of the jazz organ idiom and I can promise you, there are loads of bass in my Nord C1 videos :-)

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[MVanthoor]

@rounder2u Hmmmzz..... you bass sounds fine here.

My old XH-200 shakes the house when played loud. It has a huge subwoofer. When setting (for example) 88 800 448 on the upper manual and 00 844 000 on the lower one, using 33 on the bass pedals is quite enough bass. Set 44 to create a loud bass. I wouldn't even dare to set 88 on the bass and then go full out.

I have never found any headphones that have enough bass power AND clear mid and higs to bring justice to this organ's huge bass sound....

[rounder2u]

Hi MVanthoor

Thanks!

The XH-200? That is a mighty beast!

Well, it's good to know that you have additional bass power in case you'll need it in a venue like a club, outside the house. But then there is the problem of actually moving those things...

Have you tried the Koss Porta Pro as headphone? They are very efficient which gives high volume, and the sound is surprisingly good not only for hi-fi, but even for keys. And they are not expensive.

Keep swinging at your XH-200,

Rounder

[MVanthoor]

@rounder2u Koss Porta Pro...

Thanks dude, I'll look into this. Most headphones require me to change bass registrations when using them, and -if- they have enough bass power (Sony MDR-XB700, Philips 8500 series) then the rest of the sound is crap.

I also need high power headphones, so I don't need to set the master volume too loud. Doing that creates amplifier noise (XH-200 has 6x 50W RMS + that huge sub, so a big amp too), and you can hear that very well through the headphones.

[rounder2u]

Hi MVanthoor

I'm not at all a headphone expert, but I believe one key factor for you is to look into how much sound pressure you get from a specific headphone given the input. As much dB/mW as possible. As efficient headphones as possible.

6x50 W RMS plus the sub :-) That's even mightier than I thought!

Keep swinging and shaking the house in its foundations,

Rounder

[MVanthoor]

I lied :P Remembered it wrong. It's 4x 40W RMS (mid and high) and a 80W RMS sub, total of 240W RMS. Comparable to the Roland AT900.

And I'll keep playing for sure :) If I can get a decent vidcam for not too much mony, i might actually record something one day. Are you using the internal mic?

[rounder2u]

Hi MVanthoor

I'm not using the mic of the camcorder. I record line out from the organ to the computer line in. Then I syncronize the picture with the sound in the computer. Then I add the title and upload to YouTube.

Unfortunately YouTube's audio processing has gone worse as of rather lately, which means that they are introducing a lot of artefacts/distortion. During the first stage of processing the audio sounds great, but after the second final step it's worse.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[MVanthoor]

@rounder2u Hm. I tried to record the Line-Out from my XH-200 into my notebook using the mic/line-in, but for some reason, the sound is very, very bad. I'll have to check that out to see if it's the notebook or the organ. I assume that the line-out is working, and that the line-in/mic of the notebook just isn't good enough.

[rounder2u]

Hi MVanthoor

Can you connect the line out from the organ to a hi-fi amp line in? E.g. to the AUX line in input. If this sounds OK, then it might be something about adjusting how the notebook is handling line in. If the hi-fi amp line in sound bad/very distorted, there might be something with the line out signal from the organ. It might be adjusted for a keyboard amp line in, but not for weaker hi-fi/computer line in signals.

My two cents, I could be wrong.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[MVanthoor]

@rounder2u I'll look into it someday.

BTW, some time ago I finally heard the Nord C2 live over a Leslie 3300W. I can only say one thing... W.o.W. Just as good, maybe even better, than the Hammond XK3C and a lot cheaper.

If they'd go with 20 REAL drawbars, tidy up the control panel, remove the text and paint the thing in glossy black, I'd get one. It is on par at least, with the sound, beats the Hammond hands down in price, but it looses big time on the "drawbar organ feeling" (for me). Pity.

[rounder2u]

Hi MVanthoor

The Leslie 3300 is great. I read that a little drawback is that the bass rolls off steep too early, maybe 50Hz. An old 122 goes lower.

I agree with you, analog drawbars are better, especially for ppl playing the drawbars much. For ppl using many presets the Nord system is better. I would choose analog drawbars over digital if the sound quality otherwise is equal :-)

Good that you took time to experience the great combination of a Nord C2 and a 3300 live.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[HendrikBass]

Very nice.

[rounder2u]

Thanks HendrikBass!

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[soulwopp]

Keep on Keyin'........Great...

[rounder2u]

Thanks soulwopp!

No plan to stopping yet :-)

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[crazypainter56]

Great video-!!!!---anyone up to do "Green eyed Lady" By Sugarloaf---There is a Nord C2 version coming out any day now-----Charlie---

[rounder2u]

Thanks crazypainter!

I understand that the coming C2 is quite the same as the Nord C1 but with a sampled baroque style pipe organ added :-)

But what is more tempting for me is that Clavia as it seem also will release 'Pedal Keys 27' - a foot pedal board for e.g. the C1 and C2. I wonder if I can restrict myself from getting my grubby feets on that one :-)

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[169B3]

That is sounding sweet. Love it!

[rounder2u]

Thanks 169B3!

Keep swinging at your B-3,

Rounder

[blofeldre]

Very nice stuff! Keep grooving man!

[rounder2u]

Thanks blofeldre!

Will do. I have the next one in the pipeline. I just need to find some time for it. It looks like it will be a funk piece.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[bcmummy]

The bass note reminds me of a slowly turning Leslie.

Wobba wobba wobba wobba wobba...

Nice job man :) Sounds good to me!

[rounder2u]

Thanks bcmummy!

I have the Leslie simulator in Slow position for this song :-)

(You can click the 'more info' field to check out all organ settings, etc.)

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[TenguYokai]

i wouldnt know to much about organs but this is sick!i love how the bass notes almost feel like a juggernaut.

props man

[rounder2u]

Hi TenguYokai

Thanks!

I'm happy that you listened with earphones or big loudspekers (maybe with a sub connected). Because that's needed to have the full impact of the low frequencies. And that's the base for this song :-)

A juggernaut :-) Actually, I did a simulation starting a motor, played on the lowest keys, in a 'draft version' of this song. And I'm trying to convey the feeling of 'motoring along' when I play it.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[supered86]

sick!

[rounder2u]

Thanks Eddie!

[elleann2]

you love play on F tone, don't you?

[rounder2u]

Hi elleann

As a mere amateur I have to start somewhere :-)

Of course it would be great beeing able to play any song in any key like those giants Milt Jackson, Dizzy Gillespie, etc, but I'm quite happy if I can play one song not too awful in one key :-)

The key of F suits the organ well, as the dominant goes all the way down to the lovely low C in the bass. I like the deep distinctive bass.

Keys of D flat, A flat, B natural, well, those are sweet dreams for me...

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[OrganusMaximus]

Hey, what's up with the guy "wishing you get a real Hammond". The C1 is great, a real instrument in its own right.

I love my C1 as much as my Hammond (sometimes more).

Nice playing Rounder.

[rounder2u]

Thanks OrganusMaximus!

Well, the Hammond e.g. B-3/C-3/A-100 is an electro-magnetic electro-mechanical oil-smelling, 'woodcrafted', prohibititively heavy and amazing over-engineering wonder! It would be great having one.

Congrats to you for being the happy owner of the best of both worlds! You can smell the oil and see the mechanics but still carry the sound under you arm! :-)

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[yogimantra]

what to say hope you'll get real hammond someday ;-)

you sure know how to use it

[yogimantra]

the only thing is that you would have to learn to play bass line with your legs and it would be perfect

[rounder2u]

Hi yogi

The Nord C1 has input for a bass pedal board, and it would of course be great to have, and also a big challenge learning to use it.

Jimmy Smith often used the pedal board for quick "thumps" and did the actual walking with his left hand. For ballads and slow numbers though he did walk the bass with his left foot.

Check out Barbara Dennerlein here at YouTube. She has the best bass pedal work, in my opinion.

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[rounder2u]

Thanks yogi!

I think the Nord C1 is doing as fine as the real deal when it comes to the sounds and keyboard feeling, but I'm thinking of maybe getting a tube preamp (after the line out) to get tube distortion. Or getting a tube Leslie, or a tube keyboard amp.

If I invest in a Hammond, it would for sure be a B-3 or a C-3 model!

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[fantomen1975]

WoW!

[rounder2u]

:-)

[kw231263]

Groovin there Rounder,sounds great

[rounder2u]

Thanks Kim!

Keep swinging,

Rounder

[happyslappysoong]

groovy!

[rounder2u]

Thanks happyslappy!