The percussion circuit is specific to the upper manual and is an important part of controlling the Hammond during performance. If chorus is turned on, we will have it set to C3. During these lessons with will concentrate on the dry C3 setting. The pure vibrato settings are not that common in jazz and are mainly used as a special effect. We examine the chorus vibrato settings and how they can be used to achieve a wavering tone with the notes and also to increase the bass and treble frequencies. The chorus and vibrato is controlled with the 2 switches and the knob in the upper left of the organ. We cover some common drawbar registrations used in jazz organ and how to configure these on the Hammond B3 for the upper and lower manuals. When playing jazz organ, we mostly use the ‘A# preset’ and the ‘B natural preset’ which select the drawbars to provide real-time control of the tone of the organ. The preset keys are the reverse coloured keys on the left end of each manual. We do this using the preset keys and the drawbars. Once we have turned the organ on, we are ready to select what sound we want it to make. We discuss the manuals, drawbars, presets, pedals, percussion circuit, and chorus vibrato settings.
In this lesson we explore the anatomy of the Hammond B3 organ.
