Since things are somewhat slow in the Arranger market at the moment, I thought some of you might be interested in alternate music sources (instruments, VstI's, etc.). This particular VST may have been around awhile???, I don't know, but I just became aware of it (via Keyboard Corner). What got my attention was the promo price (good thru 3/31/22) of $99. After listening to demo and sound samples (and features) on the 1k Multimedia site, I literally burned my fingertips on my computer keyboard ordering it plus a companion Leslie set (offered at a combo price of $149. Yes, subjective I know, but I think it sounds fantastic. I already have 3 dedicated organs but hey, one can never have too many organs , besides, I had two nice controllers sitting around gathering dust (3 if you count my aging but wonderful Roland A70) and several unused audio interfaces, so I only needed the software.

If anyone's interested or is a Hammond aficionado, here is a link to their site.

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/index.php?A=hammondb3x&R=INIT

chas

Played Hammonds for many years and miss not having one now. My Roland BK9 has the VK8 built in and it keeps me happy when I need to play some organ. Its amazing whats out there now with Clones and VSTs. I may give yours a listen. Wish we had this stuff back in the day. Glad you found something to keep your tonewheels spinning, good lick with it.

Bill, for years I regretted not buying your B3 (I'm not real sure why I didn't) but now that I'm trying desperately to get in a mindset to downsize, the regret has diminished somewhat . Instead of adding a monster (size wise), I desperately need to DECLUTTER. I have so much stuff that I know I'll never ever use, and yet it's so hard to part with. I've given so much stuff to my grandson that he refuses to take any more . I wish I had Russ's energy and put it all on REVERB. ehhhh, maybe tomorrow . By all means, give that VST a listen. BTW, there is a trial version available.

chas

The thing I miss most on the BK9 Hammond sim is a good pre-Leslie spring reverb insert, but I’m still struggling even with a long-throw EV-7 expression pedal to shade the line as well as the real thing (we have one at church, so I’m pretty familiar with the foot muscle memory). But all in all, of arranger B3 sims, the BK9 gets as close as any but it’s still a poor second place to the real snarling beast!

Another consideration is the sheer volume of a B3 and a 147..! We tend to play our arrangers at a fairly subdued level, but sit down at the real thing (especially with a real band) and pretty soon (with any luck!) the drummer is complaining he can’t hear himself!!!

There’s a lot to be said for power!

Diki, you touched on something that's very important but seldom mentioned when discussing 'clonewheels' of any type ('clonewheels', VSTi's, synth voices, etc.) and that's the effect of the expression pedal. That's especially true in Jazz or Gospel music, less so in Rock where 'wide open' all the time is generally the rule . With all my organs, the weakest link (subjectively) is the expression pedal. I've tried every one made I think, and none captures the feel or exactly produces the same effect as a real old hammond pedal on a real old hammond organ. Maybe it's something in the 'old' technology that the new technology just can't exactly duplicate....or maybe it's just our imagination (I don't think so).

Anyhow, I'd like to hear Bill Lewis's thoughts on the matter. He probably knows the Hammond as well or better than anyone here. I only brought up this topic because I know there are a lot of ex (or current) HAMMOND organ players here on the forum.

chas

The ear is such a non-linear organ (hah!) that trying to exactly reproduce the real thing’s sound at a much reduced volume is always an uphill battle.

To be honest, I’m not sure that even a 100% accurate emulation would sound right at half volume or less. Frequencies ‘mask’ each other at different levels depending on overall volume, and so much of the Beast’s sound depended on how the organ interacted with the preamps in the Leslie, and how the cabinet ‘spoke’ as more and more volume made it resonate. And then how the room it was in started to act as volume started to rise.

It’s a very complex sound, for me it seldom starts to feel like the real thing until I play it at the real thing’s volume. I always made sure if I was cutting a Hammond track in the studio that it was full bore, and the hell with bleed! Even if I was using a clone… I don’t feel or play like a Hammond player until I’m playing at real club level!