Special Effects

Special Effects with the Drawbars

From the Hammond "Spinet Organ Playing Guide"

Xylophones

Wood: 00 0800 600

Metal: 00 0880 008.

Percussion: Normal, Fast, Second. Vibrato: off.

Calliope

00 8000 000 (Accompaniment 0603 0000 [on a spinet lower manual - equivalent to 00 0603 000 on the upper manual (or a B-3)]). Vibrato: Chorus and Small.

Marimba

Trill upper manual 00 8000 000. Sustain lower manual 5000 0000.

Door Chime

00 6200 000. Strike Eb to Middle C. Percussion: Normal, Slow, Second. Vibrato: off.

Piccolo

00 0008 000. Vibrato: Small. Play near high C.

Dog Bark

08 8000 000. Play C, C#, D above middle C. Percussion: on.

Banjo

00 3688 870. Play fast rolled chords low on keyboard. Vibrato: Small.

Grandfather's Clock

30 2000 000. Strike lower B-F. Vibrato: off; Percussion: on.

Tugboat

Lower manual: 8500 0001. Play lowest F-F#-G. Vibrato: small.

Harp

00 5210 202. Play fast arpeggios.

Sleigh Bells

00 0888 888. Handfull high on keyboard. Percussion: on Normal.

More

Bagpipes

U - 00 2378 843

L - 03 3333 330 (Drone)

Vibrato: Chorus

Play drone high on lower manual (C and G if in key of C)

Train Whistle (Steam Engine)

88 8888 766

Turn organ off, then back on rapidly. Then quickly play the root position of the Fm chord in the second octave above middle C intermittently.

Violin

024 444 200

Full reverb, tremolo & vibrato. Play high on upper manual.

Wind

80 0000 002 or 00 8002 352

Full vibrato, reverb & tremolo. Start low on lower manual and, using the palm and the fingers to cover as many keys as possible, work the hand up and down the keyboard.

String Bass

80 8400 000

Played in a walking bass pattern low on console keyboard. "Used by many jazz artists. (See also StandardJazzRegistrations.)

Birds

00 8040 000 (Seagulls)

00 8000 000 (Seagulls)

08 8000 880 (Crows)

Full vibrato and reverb. Play highest F - C - B - Bb rapidly.

Bongos

00 8040 000

Slap keys with fingertips. Full reverb.

Calliope

00 0800 080 (Same for left hand)

No vibrato, and full reverb. Turning organ off and on will add effect.

Clavets

00 8020 000

Full reverb. Play highest two notes on keyboard as in bongo method.

Diapason

84 8877 665 Vibrato: off

Diesel Horn

88 8800 000

Play C - Eb - Gb above middle C.

Diesel Engine

88 0000 000

No vibrato and full reverb. Hold lowest three notes on keyboard.

French Horn

00 8660 000 Vibrato: off

Oboe

05 6780 000 Vibrato: off

Steel Guitar

00 8888 800 Vibrato: off

Hawaiian Guitar

00 8888 800 Vibrato: full

Turn on and off while playing chords.

Thunder

88 8888 000 Vibrato: full, Reverb: full

After initial crash played low on keyboard, diminish last three drawbars to zero.

Special Effects with the Presets

Hold the C cancel key with the little finger of the left hand and rapidly trill a pair of preset keys. The cancel key will keep the mechanical latch from holding the presets as they are trilled. Try to play this cleanly as having two preset keys closed on the buses at the same time makes for some awful noises... I wish I could remember who used this technique. It may have been on one of EthelSmiths recordings.

Special Effects with the Start and Run Switches

You can use the Start and Run Switches to "bend" a note. If you turn off the the Run switch briefly, the synchronous motor starts to slow and the pitch drops. If you hold the switch off too long, the synchronous motor can stall. To "bend" the note up, turn on the Start switch (note that this can chew up the start gearing a little). One of the most famous uses of this technique is at the very end of Santana's Everything's Coming Our Way. You can easily hear ?GreggRolie off-speed the organ at 3:04. The pitch drops as Gregg turns off the RunSwitch to the start motor. This drops the tone generator's speed and drops the pitch. At 3:05 he turns the RunSwitch on and perhaps just a touch of ?StartSwitch and you'll hear the tone surge slightly over pitch and then drops back into synch right as the song ends. It is not a good idea to hold the Start switch on too long! It is going to heat up the synchronous motor and the start motor.

I don't know why you'd want to do this, but it is possible to synchronize the synchronous motor at 600RPM instead of 1200RPM. Sometimes people do this by accident if they flip the Run switch on too early in the start sequence. It makes for some interesting noises from the ToneGenerator...

See NonharmonicOvertones for additional registration resources.