Look for mixing tips for a Hammond B3 organ

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Dub head
Member Since: May 03, 2004

I'm just curious if any one has had any experience mixing a Hammond B3 organ (or similar) into a mix? Any tips??

Thanks! -Al

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Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Jan 25, 2005 12:49 pm

with a leslie or without?

Dub head
Member
Since: May 03, 2004


Jan 25, 2005 12:55 pm

With. rotating speaker/lesile setup. Recording is fine, I'm just looking for a way to add a little more "ompf" behind it. Just curious if anyone else out there had any experiece with them.

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Jan 25, 2005 01:12 pm

maybe some tube overdrive or somethin' like that, try some drastic eqing too....maybe take a small room reverb and compress the snot outta it...i'm really shootin' in the dark here, i have zero experiance with this!

peace

wyd

Dub head
Member
Since: May 03, 2004


Jan 25, 2005 03:24 pm

Thanks for your help. I have a wee bit of overdrive on it, but I'd prefer to have it clean. Room reverb has helped alot, but I want to run it post through my spring reverb unit; that's more authentic just not as clean ;-)

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jan 25, 2005 03:48 pm

When I think of a Hammond B3, "ompf" doesn't really come in to mind, I look at a B3 as a garnish, not a main course...so I dunno...interesting thought, I'll have to let that bounce around in my mellon for a bit...

Noize would know, hopefully he'll see this thread...if not, I will call him and tell him...

crazy canuck
Member
Since: Nov 25, 2004


Jan 26, 2005 10:07 am

I agree dB...When I think of the B3 I think of mid/high midrange tones...If you want more low end to it try boosting around 125 hz to muddy it up a bit or add warmth, just don't go overboard! I would listen to it with the rest of the mix while sweeping a midrange boost around to find a nice spot for it, then add some warmth. Good luck, I wish I had a B3 and Leslie :(


Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Feb 05, 2005 06:20 pm

Albertv05, sorry Im late here.

A couple questions first. Did you record the leslie with one or two mic's? I always used two, one on the drum and one on the horn. Preferably a large diaphram on the drum (bottom) and either a 57 or similar on the horn (top).

The other question is what type of music is it being used in, blues, jazz, etc.?

My B3 was modified pretty much like John Lords from Deep Purple. In the early days of using it I opted for the more dirty sounds with pretty heavy reverb.

It cleaned up nicely though for sounds like Booker -T, Spencer Davis Group and the like.

As for EQ, I would generaly give a tiny boost around 160 to 200 hz depending on where the rest of the mix was at, just to give it a bit more presance with the rythm section. I would only mess with the mids and upper end when it needed to be the lead instrument. Otherwise as dB said, it is mostly a subtle use in the rythm section and I would use a good large room reverb to set it back in the mix without being buried.

Let me know if this helps, and if you post what type of music and such I might have a few more tweaks to help you get it in the mix.


jimmie neutron
Member
Since: Feb 14, 2005


Feb 16, 2005 09:38 pm

Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Spirit, Steppenwolf, Argent, REO Speedwagon. All had B3 as major (especially ELP) instrument. You could get a copy of a song you like the sound of, rip it into your computer as a wav, import it into your program, do a spectrum analysis on it and compare that to your B3 EQ. You might get a clue as to where it's shy or heavy (if it is). I'm thinkin' mike placement, mike brand/type, room acoustics, what you're playing it back through, etc. might be what cripples it for you. Ask someone else what they think of it's sound recorded. Noize2U above is very correcto mundo on setup. PS: don't sell yours, like I did mine a few years back. I miss it bad. A bear to pickup and go with, but man, what a sound.

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