From dpothaar@hotmail.com Tue Feb 05 11:40:56 2002
Subject:Re: Smokin' update

<< tape to slow down, which creates a rising pitch when it's played back at
normal speed.>>>

Wow! That is the weirdest explaination of them all. I guess I have no
experience with tape machines of the type that he would have used.... but it
just sounds absolutely nuts. Thanks Ed for that interesting tid-bit!
Straight from the Tom Sholtz. :)

From: "Ed Fliege"
Reply-To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
To:
Subject: [CWSG] Smokin' update
Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 10:54:32 -0800

Hello fellow Clonites,
Remember a little while back our discussion about the methods Tom Scholz of
Boston fame used to achieve the rising & falling effect in "Smokin'"? Well,
at the time I decided to write Mr. Scholz and see what he had to say, then I
promptly forgot about it. Yesterday I actually received a reply and it
follows for yous guys to peruse:

Ed,

Probably thought you'd never hear back from us, eh??

In fact, we finally got a chance to ask Tom this question today. He's been
a
little busy lately, between trying to finish up the new BOSTON album, and
getting the band together to play the National Anthem at the Fiesta Bowl on
New Year's Day.

His answer, as interpreted by a non-player:

Getting the falling pitch was easiest. He reached over with his free hand
and briefly killed the power. As it comes back on, there's a brief period
where it loses the 60 cycle calibration, causing the pitch to drop.

The rising pitch was a bit hairier. His organ (we think it was a B-3, but
don't really know for sure) was placed near the tape machine, and he would
reach over & grab the flywheel on the tape deck, causing the tape to slow
down, which creates a rising pitch when it's played back at normal speed.
This was pretty risky, as the flywheel rotated at high speed and had spokes
on it, endangering stray fingers.

These days, he uses a very strangely modified B-3 onstage, which includes a
variable pitch "wheel" -- much safer for his fingers, if nothing else.

Hope this helps. At least it's a better answer than the one he gives when
asked about his modified Echoplex pedal for guitar (aka the hyperspace
pedal):

"Professional secret."

Thanks for the note, Ed!

In a message dated 10/31/2001 2:46:30 AM Eastern Standard Time,
bdmojo@groovedaddies.com writes:

> I have a question for Tom Scholz that I'm hoping you can pass on to him.
> Thank you.
>
> Tom,
> I belong to an internet Hammond organ/Leslie Clone Users Group and we've
> been having a spirited discussion of late concerning a technique you
used
on
> the song "Smokin'". The part where the organ both rises and lowers in
> pitch; how'd you do it? In our little group so far I've counted 15
> different theories about how you achieved this, but I thought I'd go
right
> to the source and find out for sure. Can you also tell us what model
> Hammond you used on that cut and was it modified? Thank you for taking
the
> time to de-mystify this for us.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ed Fliege
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