From mate_stubb@yahoo.com Fri Feb 20 07:44:43 2004
Subject:The story with Hammond pedal tones

> Are the Hammond -3 series pedal tones
> simply a 16' and 8' drawbar tone? Or do the two drawbars available
> on them - and the VK8 - use the 16' and 8' convention to represent
> a composite of a deeper octave in any way?

All 9 drawbar pitches are used by the pedals, but are controlled in
fixed ratios from just 2 drawbars. The 16' pitch is a deeper octave
than is available on the manuals, but that is only because the bottom
octave of the 16' drawbar on the manuals folds back up an octave.

Also in the early consoles (B-2 or BV and earlier, I don't remember
which), the bottom octave of tonewheels was just like the higher ones
in tone. But the later consoles (B-3 and up) use "complex tonewheels"
in the bottom octave which have much more harmonic content than the
higher pitches. This is achieved by the tooth pattern on the
tonewheel being different.

> When I played pedals and
> heard others, way back in my non-clone days, they had a decidedly
> fatter, almost sub-woofer, contact 'thunk,' different than playing
> the 'same' (?) notes on the lower manual.

That's why you'll see jazz organists play bass lines with their left
hand on the lower manual, and pat the pedals with their foot to get a
brief burp or thunk at the beginning of the note. It doesn't even
matter what pedal they hit - it sort of serves the same purpose as
key click. I watched Joey D play the other night, and while he would
occasionally kick pedals by playing the real notes, that was only for
brief 2 or 4 bar spurts. The rest of the time he would rest his foot
on the footrest and tap the same pedal in a staccato manner while
playing bass with his left hand.

> imagined Hammond did some electronic magic
> to make the pedals sound as they did.

No electronic magic was available when this organ was designed. Call
it "electromechanical magic"

Moe