Essential Drawbar Settings Every Hammond Organ Player Should Know

15 of my exercises which I call Blues Etudes ( and some bonus material) are on Soundslice.
Check it out here: www.soundslice.com/store/blue...
I was asked to do a video about Drawbar Settings. I have to say I thought it was rather difficult to choose which settings to show you and which not. And since it's not exact science some of the settings are alleged settings and not everyone agrees on what they should be. For most of the settings I use the same settings for the lower manual, because I am an organ player that plays bass with my left hand.
Of course I use my beloved Crumar Mojo.
I hope you like, share and subscribe!
On request, my Mojo settings:
GENERATOR MODEL B3 1956 * MT
LEAKAGE 0
CROSSTALK 63
XTALK SHAPE 63
COMPLEX WHEELS ON
FOLDBACK ON 16 ON
RESISTOR WIRES OLD
PERC LEVEL 53
PERC DROPOUT 63
PERC SOFT LEVEL 63
PERC NORM LEVEL 63
PERC FAST DECAY 63
VIBRATO DEPTH 63
VIBRATO V/C MIX 63
KEYCLICK LENGTH 63
KEYCLICK COLOR 63
DRIVE TYPE TYPE 2
REVERB TYPE DIGITAL
REVERB LENGTH 63
HORN SLOW SPEED 99%
HORN FAST SPEED 98%
BASS SLOW SPEED 99%
BASS FAST SPEED 93%
HORN RAMP UP 150%
HORN RAMP DOWN 150%
BASS RAMP UP 142%
BASS RAMP DOWN 142%
ROTARY BALANCE 63
ROTARY AMBIENCE 64
ROTARY CABINET 0
ROTARY MIC ANGLE 90
ROTARY MIC DISTANCE 127
ROTARY HORN EQ 21
ROTARY FRONTSTOP ON
EQ XOVER FREQ. 1187 HZ
EQ MID LEVEL 63
PIANO LEVEL 63
PARADISE MOD. OFF
MEMPHIS SOUND ON
GENERATOR SHAPE BOOST 2
~-~~-~~~-~~-~
Please watch: "Play Like a Pro with this Carefree Hammond Organ Blues Exercise"
• Play Like a Pro with t...
~-~~-~~~-~~-~

[@aCloudOfHaze]

0:00 - Intro 0:28 - Jimmy Smith 1:08 - Larry Young 1:30 - Charles Earland 2:30 - "Groove" Holmes 2:54 - Squabbling/Erroll Garner 4:05 - General Solo/Comping 7:03 - Jon Lord/Child In Time 7:38 - Booker T/Green Onions 8:57 - Shimmering/Comping 9:28 - Soul Shimmer/Comp Variation 9:49 - Reggae Whistle/Bubble 10:18 - Reggae Bubble Variation 10:26 - Basic Comping Slow Blues 10:51 - Basic Soul Sound 11:43 - Basic Gospel 12:20 - Basic Gospel 2 13:30 - All Out! 14:23 - Whiter Shades Of Pale

[@frankmontis]

Thanks for this ! Should have done that myself :)

[@dolljones1710]

((

[@christ7897]

This is the 'must have' video for any owner of an instrument with drawbars. Brilliant Frank !!

[@frankmontis]

Chris T you are very welcome Chris ! Glad you like it!

[@andreacosta74]

ATTENTION, ATTENTION! FOR “STEPPENWOLFER” ORGAN SOUNDS LOVERS. ok guys, to get the Steppenwolf sounds with the Leslie, you have to do a fairly dangerous maneuver for your Leslie's health. But know that this was what Goldy McJohn did to get sounds that even today no clone-tonewheel can or wants to achieve. So you need a real Leslie: you will have to disconnect the crossover connections to the high horns, letting the signal go full range ONLY to the lower basket with the Eminent woofer. You understood well! Those sounds came only from a single woofer forced to become a wide band, stereo microphoned speaker with exceptional rotational vibrato depth and sensitivity to distortions! This is the secret of the Steppenwolf Hammond: mistreating the Leslie.

[@bamesjond8679]

Hammond would like that. Apparently he was not happy with the Leslie people and tried to make them stop producing the speaker, which is sad.

[@SciFiArtman]

Sometimes, an older singer's vibrato becomes more and more pronounced over the years and eventually develops into more of a warble. In my mind, the organist's version of this affectation is an overly aggressive volume pedal use, wherein the beauty of a performed melody is drowned out by rather extreme volume drops and swells, much like the older singer's warble. What was once a beautiful and powerful emotional expression becomes an annoying hindrance to the player's overall performance and reception. I saw this in my grandmother's impressive playing over the years. But everyone has their own style. Thanks for the wonderful exploration of drawbar settings! Your Crumar Mojo sure sounds sweet!

[@paulcooper9981]

The best quick intro to drawbar settings I have seen.

[@frankmontis]

Paul Cooper thanks Paul!

[@_brocklee]

Ghat damn these Crumars sound so good. Best clone wheels I can think of

[@frankmontis]

Yup, they sound great

[@Nightowl427272]

Good grief, this guy could make an ol’ Bontempi sound amazing… Excellent video!

[@Bozoplay]

Basically I am a beginner to playing the organ with any feeling but have played guitar for over 50 years. This video gave me a reference to be used on my mojo61 and it will speed up the learning curve by years. So glad I bought the keyboard and thanks for the lessons included it.

[@JammyGit]

I can't play keys or anything but I've always liked the sound of a Hammond, so as a guitarist I've got the next best thing - an ElectroHarmonix B9 effects pedal 😆 It makes a change to see someone like yourself freely giving the settings for the drawbars because back in the day, Hammond players used to hide their drawbar settings so that people couldn't copy their tones. They'd push them all back in when they finished their sets, which is a bit petty, so fair play to you 👍

[@lundsweden]

Back in the 60s and 70s, a strong reason to be a Vox Continental player was that it was much, much lighter than a B3! But now clonewheels sound great and are thankfully weigh a lot less! Great demo and clonewheel, I myself use the also excellent Sampleson B3 VST, which is free!

[@frankmontis]

I’ve never tried that one, thanks for the tip. I’m gonna check it out now :)

[@lizkrinsky5209]

Was gifted a vintage 1961 M101 and I really needed this video! Thanks!

[@edunabie]

Thanks for taking the time to put this out - major help to someone like me just starting out!

[@timodickscheid7506]

Thank you so much for sharing this great tutorial. It was extremely valuable and inspiring to me, a very instructive kickstart. And so much fun to listen to!

[@marioalfredorosales2585]

Hee aqui unas instrucciones d como configurar un drawbar organ como todos rockero me gusta como explica muy buena explicación felicidades

[@standominguez8172]

Wow I just now saw your Mojo settings. Maybe your settings will clear up my bass volume issue. Thanks again!

[@yes_no_maybe45]

so i’m learning our Hammond organ bc in extra like dat, this is helping so so much because i could never figure out how people got those different sounds so thank you!!

[@geobarbanera1881]

Fantastic video and very useful,Thanks Frank& Crumar Mojo

[@chucksyl]

Thanks, Frank! VERY helpful. And fantastic playing!

[@frankmontis]

You’re welcome and thank you !

[@potomacmotion]

Not only the settings... Thanks for the fine voicings!

[@andrewmarlow7699]

Awesome. Thank you for posting this.

[@innerfire-graham9016]

Thank you so much for this gem of knowledge, it has helped me so much!!

[@frankmontis]

You are very welcome !

[@jimmyodm697]

Thanks Frank! Just got my Crumar Mojo and this video is very handy and a good reference. Lekker bezig kerel!

[@frankmontis]

🙏👍🏻

[@robertstapleton3598]

Man, that was just great fun. Thanks!

[@frankmontis]

Thank YOU !

[@AndreaOcello]

Very well done! Best video about drawbar settings so far! ;-)

[@tocadoedu_edutoledo1873]

Wonderful workshop, Frank! Thank you very much Bro! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@frankmontis]

You are welcome !

[@brunocdt2765]

Yeah ! Great ! Thank you for sharing ! Now just playing !

[@OLDMANBADGER]

some lovely sounds

[@ppa6964]

WOW great playing, that clonewheel sounds great too

[@frankmontis]

Thank you !

[@popeyesailor9571]

I love the sound fron Rick Van derLinden from Trace and Ekseption

[@frankmontis]

popeye sailor Rick was a very gifted player, glad to see people still know who he was !

[@aCloudOfHaze]

Amazing video!

[@SimonOslender]

Great video brother!!!

[@RamonCliment-Musico-Compositor]

Awesome ! thanks for sharing.

[@billgrabbe9992]

Thank you, Frank! I've played keys for a long time, but I only recently purchased my first clonewheel. I am enjoying it immensely. I really appreciate the taste and sophistication you bring to your playing, and your generosity in providing this video. I just have one question - does your dog know that you tell everyone on KZbin that he is fat?

[@anthonysilva5312]

Squabble was off the fucking hook!!! Love it! You cook!

[@frankmontis]

Thank you !

[@RudyRisingWt]

This video is gold. Thanks mate!

[@simaojoseph]

You’ve got it bad Frank.

[@lyncboy]

GREAT STUFF FRANK !!! MASTER PLAYER !! MASTER EDUCATOR !!

[@jeffro777771]

Awesome vid, thank you

[@larrygraham3377]

Thanks for this great video.

[@frankmontis]

You’re very welcome!

[@youtubemusical]

Love you man!

[@standominguez8172]

Awesome video Frank. Wow it sure clears up a whole lot of stuff. All here in one video. Very generous of you to spend your time putting this video together. It's going to help me out tremendously! I appreciate it. I have a question. When I'm running the split mode, I lose volume on the bass side. Is there some way I can raise that volume up?

[@JoseManuelSandoval]

Amazing video! Thank you!

[@frankmontis]

Thanks 🙏

[@maduroholdings]

Excellent thank you

[@slurpderp9611]

Thank you so much for sharing!

[@frankmontis]

You’re very welcome:-)

[@AudiobookLibrary24-7]

Superb!

[@willstortimusic]

Amazing sounds

[@frankmontis]

🙏

[@blueeyedsoulman]

I also use the same drawbar settings on the lower manual all the time. I wish Crumar would make it so I could use both drawbar sets for the upper manual and just use presets for the lower manual. Makes a lot more sense to me.

[@Rialas]

Super cool.

[@jeffprata7047]

Great video man, it will help me a lot!!

[@frankmontis]

Jefferson Prata you’re very welcome !

[@elanparle]

Brilliant!

[@streamontv7841]

Very helpful!

[@chuckpayne2406]

good job---will help some --I have people ask me how to set drawbars---thanks on the effort on this

[@marcezallio]

Buenísimo!!!!

[@janbriggs7359]

This is Great ..thanks !!!

[@frankmontis]

jan Briggs you’re welcome!

[@skydklovnen282]

Thanks. Very useful :)

[@fabiomontagnolahammond78]

Great frank

[@soulrongang]

Thanks Frank... excellent insights from this. Curious to see a screen shot of your Mojo settings, if it's not too demanding. Sounds beautifully tweaked to my ear. Thanks again!

[@soulrongang]

If I didn't already thank you - THANK YOU, Frank. I've put your settings on one of the MojoEditor's memories.... a different flavor than what I arrived on my own gradual evolution. I guess the main difference is that I put the rotary ambience and zero, and have the cabinet around 40 all with a closer mic distance. Memphis sound is off by me - I like to hear the lower rotor baffle move. Yet every once and a while I loud your parameters and enjoy the different feel. It's all good, and who am I to take issue with your vastly greater experience and expertise. Of course I love your chops... This shows what a versatile organ the Mojo is in one's choices of tweaking.

[@mikeluisipiano]

Thank You Master!!!!!!!!!!!

[@frankmontis]

Thank YOU!

[@robertkennedymusic]

Minor correction: "The Cat" is by Lalo Schifrin. Jimmy Smith played it, as did many others. Lalo Schifrin wrote it.

[@frankmontis]

Robert Kennedy to be honest I didn’t know but to me The Cat will always be Jimmy Smith as Georgia On My Mind “is” Ray Charles :)

[@frankmontis]

Robert Kennedy but I’ll be more clear about whose version it is next time :-)

[@teashea1]

You the man

[@BobWijnen]

Hey Frank, just got informed that Larry Young used C2 instead of C1 and I think that one comes closer indeed. Nice vid! Gonna steal some of these...

[@frankmontis]

Thanks Bob! Noted!

[@wdilks]

Nice

[@FrazerGoodman]

Thanks

[@marcoballa]

Yeah

[@silverlight2004db]

great video! i'd really appreciate a lesson on swell pedal technique....no-one ever does that...

[@frankmontis]

Well, as a matter of fact I do teach and I talk about using swell pedal too. Sorry for not noticing your comment before. If you’re Interested in lessons, check out www.hammondlessons.com Frank

[@wilmerbugsbunny8628]

Soul effects is good

[@divicos]

Hi Frank! Thanks for the great video! I want to share with you two more basic Reggae settings i am comfortable with when playing with my (mostly Reggae Roots) band. Upper 008005000 Lower 800000003 (better played an octave up than you will "naturally" do) and Upper 208800004 Lower 008400006 Both with Leslie (slow or fast it's about to your preference), C1 or C2 on Lower manual, and absolutely no percussion. However, to have a real feeling of the bubble sound, basic pattern should be something more like: 1 & i & 2 & i & 3 & i & 4 & i & - L U L - L U L - L U L - L U L The Lower (quick) strikes are indeed what make the bubbling. Upper variations to this basics is up to your fantasy.

[@divicos]

Glad you liked it!! But for clarity sake, your reggae settings sounds great too! There are so many possibilities with drawbars, and i always keep experimenting with them.. I particulary liked your "squabbling" one, will surely give it a try in my next gig! ;) P.s. how about more Crumar Seven video?? Love that instrument, i'm saving to purchase it, and i like the way you make it sound!

[@Makraska]

Excellent - how it should be done.

[@frankmontis]

Thank you!

[@Wonka275]

Solid video! But the Groove Holmes sound is more accurate if you push the 1' drawbar in to 6 and put the chorus on C2 and the Leslie on brake. He used a few different settings throughout his career but his distinct sound is that one.

[@Wonka275]

Of course! Excellent work though, it's good to have videos that show the ins and outs of classic Hammond playing! Thoroughly enjoyed, and the Mojo sounds killer, awesome grit!

[@Wonka275]

Nice! Thanks for sharing brother!

[@mitchelldries6628]

great vid! very informative and dig yer technique and expression....

[@frankmontis]

mitchell dries thanks Mitchell!

[@Animac.Mentis]

I love basic Jazz organ sound. I have a question. What do you say about Bardens' Never Let Go keyboard solo? (A Live Record version). It has a unique sound I guess. Thank you very much.

[@MPP9600]

Been trying to replicate the great organ sound at the end of "Biggest Part of Me" (Ambrosia), do you have a match to that with the settings and drawbars to pass on to us? Please?

[@jackcarlsson5527]

2:37 was that you've got it bad girl???

[@frankmontis]

It was :)

[@mrdali67]

Nice one Frank. Just a thaught.. watched yout video with your old B3 and noticed the wonderfull keyclick on it. Any reason you have the Mojo click almost off ? I usually have my Mojo61 all up at 2 o' clock 🙂🎹

[@rikjanschilder5925]

Very helpful! What specific expression pedal do you use?

[@Liberosefi]

hi, could you tell me the position of the drawbars used by keith Emerson in "Salt Cay"? thank you very much

[@rengertijhuisQualityOfLife]

Hi Frank, great video! love to watch it and experiment with it myself. I was just wondering why you switch manuals at the gospel settings (LH bass on the upper manual)? Thanks!

[@rengertijhuisQualityOfLife]

Frank Montis ok thanks! And another question off topic, I have downloaded the files for the crumar cabinet from your website. Great, and thx a lot! Are there two types? A large one and a small one? Thx in advance!

[@rengertijhuisQualityOfLife]

Ok, I saw a version V 500 and V 600. I'll have a second look. Thanks for your reply!

[@Fingertipsable]

What drawbar setting on David Sanborns Soul Serenade?

[@clwimberley]

What vibrato setting do you have this on? C3?

[@kainejoyes2981]

Green onion settings are wrong, there’s a video on line of broker himself taking about setting Top deck: 88880000 2nd harmonic on- with soft on Bottom deck: 88800000 nothing else Leslie off - second part Leslie kicks in

[@mope7647]

Grazie per il tuo tutorial certosino. Complimenti . Io ho un mjo desktop che piloto con 2 m-audio oxygen 49 per lower ch midi 2, oxygen 61 pro per l'upper. I suoni come questi che hai videato nel tutorial non mi rirscono abbastanza bebe. Per esempio a me che avevo un hammond L100, se non ricordo male. Le mie orecchie sono abituate al suono Emerson, buon anima, con molte percussioni dove si sente il click. Che consigli mi dai? Saluti Modesto

[@kaspartambur]

Requesting help >newbie< , why did you change the roles of the manuals for the gospel sounds (lower was usually bass, upper was comp/solo)? Is there a certain difference in the manuals originally? Puzzled. Anyway, thanks for the settings & memorable names for them!

[@frankmontis]

Sorry for the late reply. In this case, to be honest, just because I noticed certain gospel players do this. I decided to do this too without knowing exactly why :-).

[@FKL]

Do they need percussion on the left hand?

[@KyleWhitlock-Music]

Hey Frank- I noticed that the onscreen drawbar settings- Graphic does not match what you're playing in the video (?) Trying to figure out if there's something wrong with my computer or not... Even so I see what you're doing in the video and thanks so much for sharing!!

[@KyleWhitlock-Music]

Frank Montis got it! I was reading the lower manual setting and confusing that with the upper manual. Sorry!

[@vertigo0105]

Great video for showing common draw bars used. A couple of notes on the last one at 14:23 - Whiter Shades Of Pale. I think the keyboard player tweaked that a bit in the original recording as it doesn't quite have the 6886000 setting that most people think. Either that or he used an overdrive/distortion setting that made the it sound like they were in a slightly different configuration..!? I recently worked on getting that sound on my Yamaha Montage Synth and 6886000 was not quite right...and I had tried it on numerous different waveform libraries & presets on my Yamaha synth, my software based B3 virtual modelling based synth, as well as watching other videos of that configuration on other synths/organs. He also uses the percussion on slow with the lower harmonic for the intro and the higher harmonic for the part leading up to the rotary effect. Here is a clip of it that I uploaded to Soundcloud dot com of me playing the patch that I programmed on the Montage for that song: soundcloud dot c o m /dclowe/montage-whitershade-orga (the first half has all the instruments and the second half has the organ part by itself). If anyone has a Yamaha Montage or MODX(+) synth and wants a copy of the patch (Performance) that I programmed for this song, you can search for and download/sync it from Soundmondo dot com. I named it "B3 Organ WhiterShade" ;)

[@standominguez8172]

Frank, in regards to your personal mojo settings, I'm not quite sure about the percentages you indicate. I don't want to sound a bit ignorant, but what are the percentages in reference to?

[@standominguez8172]

That's what crossed my mind; for example 150% of 64=96.

[@piersdelavison2941]

Just checking, is this the Mojo's internal Leslie / Drive / Reverb / etc. that we're hearing? Any outboard gear used at all?

[@frankmontis]

It’s all the internal sounds yes

[@blueeyedsoulman]

Is this through a speaker and mic'd or direct?

[@blueeyedsoulman]

I don't know why but it has no brilliance. It sounds like there's a towel thrown over the speakers. My way around this is with the Aphex Aural Exciter. It's like a "presence" control on an amp. They are pretty cheap on Ebay.

[@daviddoyle4516]

Dats about right Bra,,,,,,

[@rayewen3347]

I am trying to learn drawbar settings but you show one setting (is it upper or lower?) but not the other. It would be better if you labeled them upper and/or lower. Thanks.

[@DazzleCamo]

He's on 858000000 pretty much the whole time, but does write them out in the patch notes

[@rayewen3347]

@@DazzleCamo Yes, but the upper and lower are different. I guess I an take them from the video. Thanks.

[@Hammondguy88]

Frank what organ setting are you using. Right now I’m set up for 1963 A100

[@rockinrobin8821]

Hello Frank I'm trying your settings right now on my Mojo :) Where is the Drive Type setting? I can't find it Thanks ! Robin

[@rockinrobin8821]

Frank Montis I used both phone and laptop to access the editor. I can't find any Drive parameter. I'm on v1.31

[@rockinrobin8821]

Nor do I find Piano level actually :(

[@rockinrobin8821]

Frank Montis Ok that makes sense since there were some other differences :) well thanks for your help!

[@ShiningTrapezoid]

Do you feel like you're really missing the other set of drawbars when you're using the single manual with separate lower?

[@missourirabb]

I wish all these were charted out. The video is great, but not the most useful for creating presets.

[@horowizard]

That's quite a stretch at 0:23.

[@horowizard]

Don't be so modest! That's a Ninth you're grabbing, plus all those other notes crammed in between. Horace Silver could stretch a Tenth. * Sigh *

[@jamesallen5223]

Note: 5:05

[@organeu]

it says "HAMMOND DRAWBARS" and it's a MOJO organ, nothing to do with it even if for me the MOJO Crumar is the closest organ to the HAMMOND. The information is misleading because we think we are seeing a HAMMOND organ, a real authentic one!

[@frankmontis]

No it’s not misleading at all. The drawbars and sound are modelled after a real Hammond, so the settings are exactly the same.