How to Set a Hammond Organ

A Hammond Organ, especially a B3 or a C3, may look incredibly intimidating at first. However, once you figure out how to set it, it becomes easier to play. Setting a Hammond Organ is a matter of figuring out what the drawbars do. Each individual drawbar on a Hammond Organ adds a distinctly different characteristic to the timbre of the Hammond Organ in such a way that allows you to uniquely configure your own sounds.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Hammond Organ (B3 or C3)

1. Turn the power on the Hammond Organ to "On." Make sure that you let the Hammond Organ sit for a few minutes and warm up. If you play it too soon after turning it on, then the inner workings of the Hammond Organ will be harmed.

2. Hold down a note and pull out any of the drawbars. If you pull out the third one, then the tonic overtone will play.

3. Pull out the right-most drawbar if you want a tinnier sound. The left-most drawbars will add a "meatier" sound to the organ.

4. Add percussion to the Hammond Organ sound by utilizing the percussion mechanism on the left-hand side of the organ. This adds a click sound to the organ tone which is useful for jazz and rock.

5. Play your organ once you find a drawbar setting that you like. Remember what this drawbar setting is, because you might want to come back to it in the future.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure the volume of the Hammond Organ is not set too high before you play it. This can permanently damage your eardrum.

Resources

• Organ Synthesis