@@ -1,29 +1,43 @@ Yes, it's true. Classical organists who are used to playing on pipe organs generally hate the Hammonds. Why? Well here are ten reasons (in no particular order)~:
-# Most Hammonds have the unique preset keys or theatre organ-like flip tab stops. To a classical organist, the preset keys are an unnatural abomination and the flip tab stops are not far behind
. Pipe organs stops
have big round knobs to
push and pull
.
+# The flat 25-pedal clavier is nonstandard and limiting.
+ Classical organs have 32 concave radiating pedals that are far easier to play,
+ and that are in a standard layout (though U.S. and European standards are different).
+ The concave design makes it easier to reach pedals at the ends of the pedalboard,
+ especially for organists of smaller build.
+ Some classical literature requires the additional pedals, which extend the top of the pedalboard
+ range from C to G.
+ The pedalboard is probably the biggest practical problem for classical organists playing Hammonds.
+ If Hammond would have extended the pedalboard up to D, instead of C, the entire organ literature,
+ up to the 19th Century, could be played on the Hammond organ.
+
+ Several Hammond models (including the RT-3 and D-100) are equipped with a full 32-note, concave radiating
+ AGO-standard pedal clavier.
+ In general, these models are somewhat rare, however (due to their larger size and weight) they are not
+ especially sought after, and can often be had relatively cheaply.
+
+
# Most Hammonds have the unique reverse-color
preset keys or theatre organ-like flip tab stops. To a classical organist, the preset keys are an unnatural abomination. Pipe organs have push-buttons between the manuals
and toe studs for presets, and have drawknobs or tabs for individual stops. On pipe organs, the presets can be adjusted by the organist to activate and retire different stops; on a Hammond, they can only be adjusted from inside the rear panel
.
# Hammonds have drawbars to mix the organs harmonics together.
- Pipe organs have ranks of pipes of different sizes, shapes, materials, etc. each with it's
own tone.
- A Hammond has nine sets of sounds that, to a pipe
organist, sound like boring flute pipes. While it
is possible to get a fair imitation
of a single type of pipe voice
, it is difficult to impossible to imitate multiple ranks
of pipes. Reed voices, especially are unsatisfactory
on a Hammond.
+ Pipe organs have ranks of pipes of different sizes, shapes, materials, etc. each with its
own tone.
+ A Hammond has nine sets of sounds that, to a classical
organist, sound like boring flute pipes. A classical organist who
is familiar with Hammonds can achieve reasonably good approximations
of flute pipes and mixtures
, but they lack the "chiff" -- the opening transients --
of pipes. Reed voices can't be adequately emulated
on a Hammond because the buzzy square-wave tone would require many more upper drawbars to achieve
.
-# Most Hammonds have WaterfallKeys stepped above each other like stairs.
- Pipe organs have DivingBoardKeys that overhang each other.
- A
classical organist sometimes needs to play with a thumb playing one manual and the other fingers on the same hand playing another.
+# Most Hammonds have WaterfallKeys stepped above each other like stairs. Spacing between manuals is relatively large to make room for busbars
.
+ Pipe organs have DivingBoardKeys that may
overhang each other slightly
. Spacing is narrow, and standarized, to allow more than two manuals. Also, a
classical organist sometimes needs to "thumb down" -- that is,
play with a thumb playing one manual and the other fingers on the same hand playing on
another manual (though the number of situations that actually require this is small)
.
-# The expression pedal on a Hammond changes the volume of both manuals and the pedal clavier
.
+# The expression pedal on a Hammond changes the volume of both manuals and the pedals
.
On a pipe organ, [Swell] refers to pipes enclosed in a chamber with shutters that are opened and closed with the Swell pedal. These pipes are assigned to the Swell manual (of course...). The [Great] pipes and the pedal pipes are almost never inside a swell chamber. The [Swell] manual is the "only" manual whose volume should change with the __Swell__ pedal.
- To control
the volume of the Great and pedal pipes, the organist can only close or open stops until
the volume and tonal quality are correct.
- The [Swell] manual is
the only manual whose volume should change with
the __Swell__
pedal. Certain Hammonds directed specifically at Classical organists (Model E, Grand 100) did split the manuals into two expression circuits.
+ Classical organists expect to be able to change
the volume of the swell without affecting
the volume of
the great or
the pedal division
. Certain Hammonds directed specifically at Classical organists (Model E, Grand 100) did split the manuals into two expression circuits.
-# The attack on a Hammond is much too fast
. Hammond engineers tried all sorts of manual tapering, busbar greasing, speaker fiddling, amplifier filtering, etc. to hide the KeyClick.
- Organ pipes lag a hair behind the keypress as the valve under the opens and air flows into the mouth. The bigger the pipe, the slower the attack
.
+# The attack on a Hammond is much too abrupt
. Hammond engineers tried all sorts of manual tapering, busbar greasing, speaker fiddling, amplifier filtering, etc. to hide the KeyClick.
+ Organ pipes lag a hair behind the keypress as the pipe begins to
valve under the opens and air flows into the mouth. More importantly, the column of air in the pipe takes some time to begin vibrating, and can produce opening transients (chiff) that are different than the continuous tone it produces
. The bigger the pipe, the more pronounced these effects are
.
# The Hammond is too "pure". Pipes in a organ, not matter how carefully tuned do not stay tuned to each other for long. The position of the pipes in the building, temperature changes and humidity changes can all affect pipe tuning. Subtle differences in pipe tuning give the organ a rich complex tone. The synchronous motor, gears and tonewheels "lock" the Hammond in tune. Hammond tried to imitate this effect first with tremolo and then with the chorus generator and the scanner vibrato.
-# The flat 25-
pedal clavier was too limiting
. Classical organs have 32 radial arc pedals that are far easier to play. The greater number of pedals and
the radial arc make two-footed
pedal solos and pedal chords possible.
-
-# Weak (
and I do mean WEAK) pedal voices
. Hammond never gave the pedal clavier it's
proper importance. Besides
the 25
-pedal clavier
, the pedal voices are far too limiting
on the most popular Hammonds
. There are
, for instance
, no 32' tones available except on certain models that were synthesized with tube oscillators.
+# A weak
pedal division
. In a finer pipe organ,
the pedal division is as strong as the manuals, having not only bass stops but foundations, reeds,
and color stops as well
. Hammond never gave the pedal division its
proper importance, probably because amateur church organists who served in churches in
the Hammond target market lacked the training to use it
-- many amateur organists only use the bottom octave of pedals, or do not use pedals at all. Pipe organs in smaller churches often lack a proper
pedal divison
, but make up for it (to a degree) through use of couplers that allow
the stops
on a manual to be played with
the pedals
. The Hammond does not provide this
, and with only two drawbars
for the pedals
, it is impossible to get a big sound. Also, there are
no 32' tones available except on certain models that were synthesized with tube oscillators.
# The harmonics are all wrong... Now, try to remain calm, it's true. Hammonds use harmonics from the equal tempered scale but these (while close) are not the same frequencies as the natural harmonics. Stike a key on the piano, the fundamental is tuned to the tempered scale (let's not bring spread tuning into this) but the natural harmonics of vibrating strings are not equal tempered. Case in point; the 7th harmonic is included in very few Hammond models because the equal tempered equivalent on the tone generator to the 7th harmonic is way off pitch. Models with the 7th either put up with the error or had another tone generator to provide a true 7th.
-# The keybed (action) is all wrong... Again, try to remain calm, this is also true. While the Hammond does feel a lot like an electric action pipe organ, a real honest-to-god
''tracker'' pipe organ couples the key manuals directly and mechanically to the valves under the pipes. When you press a key, you can actually feel a tactile ''pluck'' as the valve is opened against the wind pressure and then suddenly releases as the air rushes into the pipe. Rodgers Organ Company and other electronic imitators of pipe
organs used to offer an optional ''tracker touch''
with a little magnet under each key. When the key was
pressed, the magnet was
pulled away from a steel rail that added
just a touch of heaviness to the spring tension. After about 4mm of travel, the magnet would suddenly break it's attraction to the steel and the key released against only the spring tension to the keybed. Trust me (JimCook), it was
a very cool feeling keyboard even when playing non
-classical styles
.
+# The keybed (action) is all wrong... Again, try to remain calm, this is also true. While the Hammond does feel a lot like an electric action pipe organ, a real honest-to-God
''tracker'' pipe organ couples the key manuals directly and mechanically to the valves under the pipes. When you press a key, you can actually feel a tactile ''pluck'' as the valve is opened against the wind pressure and then suddenly releases as the air rushes into the pipe. Pipe
organs with electric or electropneumatic action simulate this action
with a little magnet under each key. When the key is
pressed, the magnet is
pulled away from a steel rail that adds
just a touch of heaviness to the spring tension. After about 4mm of travel, the magnet would suddenly break it's attraction to the steel and the key released against only the spring tension to the keybed. Electronic organs made by Rodgers and Allen often have
a similar touch.
+
+On the other hand, most B
-3 session players have at least some
classical organ training
.
