B3 sound Using MODX7

[Rikk Anderson]

How can I get a B3 sound
And how can I enhance organs sound on modx getting different sound on stage then in my music room

 

[delaware dave]

Yamaha is notorious for having sub-par B3/leslie emulations and despite the complaints for more than a decade the organs continue to be subpar. The leslie is particularly worse than the organ, so my suggestion would be to route the organ out dry (no leslie) and run it through an emulation like a Lester K or Neo Ventilator pedal. Since the Modx7 only has two outputs (i.e. no aux outputs) you would run the pedal in bypass mode until you switch to organ, then move the pedal off bypass then back to bypass when moving away from organ.

 

[happyrat1]

Or you could consider adding a dedicated Hammond emulation module. That's what I did for my Juno DS.

hammond module - YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Gary

 

[anotherscott]

How can I get a B3 sound
And how can I enhance organs sound on modx getting different sound on stage then in my music room

There are plenty of B3 sounds in it... are you saying you can't find them? Or you're not satisfied with them?

Picking up from what Dave said, keyboards that don't have dedicated organ engines tend not to have the best organ sounds, because to do it properly, simply playing samples won't duplicate the way organs behave. (There are also phase issues, and a tendency to eat up polyphony at an alarming rate if any semblance of individual drawbar control is provided.) The MODX has two engines, sample playback and FM synthesis, and neither is ideal for emulating organ sounds. Plus there is the difficulty of emulating the rotary effect and overdrive... which is tricky enough to implement that the most highly regarded pedal that creates that effect is $500 just to do that one effect properly, and plenty of people buy it. This stuff just isn't built into your modx. That said, the MODX has decent organ sounds for a keyboard that doesn't actually include any organ-specific technology (i.e. if you compare to Korg Kross/Krome, Casio Privias, Roland Juno DS... in fact, even the Roland FA which *does* have an organ engine isn't so great). Organ is tricky!

If you find the B3 sounds in the MODX unsatisfactory, short of adding another board, you have options of a pedal as Dave suggested, a separate organ module (e.g. Legend, Gemini) as Gary suggested, or connecting to a laptop/tablet running a better organ emulation (VB3, B5, Blue3). A nice thing about the MODX is its Zone Master function that makes it easy to mix internal and external sounds.

Lastly, what do you mean about getting a different sound on stage than in your music room? Are you satisfied with the sound in one location but not the other? What playback systems are you using for each? The amp you use and whether you're going mono or stereo can make a difference.

 

[Rikk Anderson]

Thanks Snotherscott
I’ve been using two QSC K2 8 at venues but I’ve been noticing a voltage drop at certain venues. I’ll be going to in-ears with my own mixer.
Want thank you for your time
My vr730 has draw bars and sounds better for organ..but I like the layered option with modx 7
Think I’ll buy a pedal
Would love to bring my Jupiter80 to gigs but I’m not getter younger. lol
Thanks again!

 

[andydave100]

So how do I find the B3 sounds in the MODX? Maybe obvious, but not clear to me. Thanks.

 

[anotherscott]

All the Performances in the Category of Organ, with the Subcategory of Tone Wheel.

 

[andydave100]

Thanks anotherscott!
Just curious, how did you know this (or how would someone have determined this?)

 

[anotherscott]

The organ category is obvious, but beyond that, there's just the knowledge that Hammond organs produced their sound via tonewheels. So yeah, it does depend on certain knowledge, just as Rhodes EPs used tines and Wurlitzer EPs used reeds, and so terms like "tine EP" and "reed EP" would similarly indicate the instrument. Or that Mellotrons used tapes, so something called "tape strings" would be a Mellotron sound. Oh, and the fact that the Hammond was a tonewheel organ is why instruments that simulate the Hammond have been called clonewheel organs. ;-)

 

[andydave100]

Very interesting...... l‘ll ask one more question, because if anyone can answer it, it’s probably you. I’m learning to play Smokin on my MODX. I read that Tom Scholz played the song on a Hammond M3. Do you know which sound on the MODX best represents the organ in this song? Thanks again for your help.

 

[anotherscott]

Differences among tonewheel Hammond organs are mostly pretty minor. An M3 still sounds very much like a B3, the exact model isn't very significant. The big difference in Hammond organ sounds is how you set the drawbars, not which model Hammond you're playing. So just go through the tonewheel presets and see if something sounds close to you, and if not, you can go to the "All 9 Bars!" performance, and adjust the 9 individual tones that make up the sound, just as you were able to do on the real Hammond organs. Though I admit that trying to duplicate a sound that way is not the easiest thing to do, especially if you're new to it. There is also only so close the MODX can get to the sound of a real Hammond organ, since the characteristics of its Leslie speaker system are a big part of the sound and hard to duplicate.

 

[andydave100]

Very good, I’ll try that out. Up to this point, I’ve been using “The Basics” which I feel is pretty close. I’ll also adjust the individual tones to see if it gets any closer, as you suggest. Thanks again.