Author Archives: nick
Nord C1 flightcase from Thon, in 7mm PVC
I ordered a custom build flightcase like this and requested them to add wheels and an extra handle on the backside. I have been using the nord C1 gig bag for years and wore out 3 of them, so thinking I should get a flightcase before the nord also falls apart completely.
I asked them to make it 2 cm higher than they would normally do, so I could fit the legs, the volume pedal and some cables inside the case. My plan was to put this into something and put this on Continue reading
Monkeybar CD: “Dear You” release, May 2012
My band Monkeybar with me on keyboards and vokal and Erik Nylander drums and drum machine are releasing our debut album “Dear You” in May:
Gøteborg: Brötz May 3rd 20:00
Oslo: Dattera til Hagen May 4th 21:00
Trondheim: Credo May 21st 22:30
Monkeybar plays original music in a mix of several styles: pop, techno, jazz.
Here a a couple of Mp3’s from our album:
Jazz trio in Theatre play in Oslo “Sorga kler Elektra”
I’m playing to a theatre play Sorga kler Elektra starting this satuready 28th april at “Det Norske Teateret” in Oslo. The concept is quite original with the band in the middle of 
stage. We play some jazz tunes, rock pop, both as instrumentals, background to speech and with vocal. The play is by american Eugene O’Neil, written in the 1930’s, and is based on the first greek tragedy Orestes.
It’s directed by Eirik Stubø.
I play my B3 with a leslie 122 and a leslie 21H, and a Yamaha CS60 synthesizer.
Håvard Stubø plays guitar and Erik Nylander plays drums.
My Prophet 600 startet playing by itself
I hadn’t used my Prophet 600 synthesizer for a while, guess a year or so. When I took it down to the club for an afternoon soundcheck, it started playing by itself! Very cool, I found it quite musical in a modern way. I sat down by the piano and improvised together with it.
Oberheim OBX synthesizer incl sound demos
photo from synthmuseum. I'll take a picture of mine to post soon
Even thought this website is called hammond.no it will not be limited to Hammond organs. Some people might dislike anything synth, in which case you can be safe by browsing on the Hammond organ tab. :) For the rest of you, enjoy the articles about analog synths!
Ok having that settled, I’ll start the synth article series with the Oberheim OBX from 1979. The OBX is besides the ARP 2600 one of my absolutely favorite synths! There are lots of other synths that I Continue reading
Arturia Minibrute Analog 550USD synth
First impression based on online sound demos
Arturia who is known for making software versions of old analog synths have announced their first physical analog synth at NAMM. It’s a small machine with two octaves keyboard and lots of knobs, and should be available in april.
I don’t need another monophonic analog synth, but my first impression about the minibrute from hearing samples online is that the sound is what I would expect. That is new analog, meaning more one dimensional, colder sound compared to the older analogues. I Continue reading
Clavia Nord C1 on the road
I’ve had the C1 in nearly 4 years now, and here are my views on how it’s been working for me. The C1 isn’t being sold anymore, but the not so different C2 is still being sold, as well as the soon to be released C2D (with drawbars).
Travelling with the nord C1
I bought the C1 in 2008, and today I simply cannot understand how I could live without it before. At almost every concert up to then I used a big B3 organ. I still prefer to bring the B3 when possible, but it is so convenient to use the Nord for a rehearsal, or for a gig when Continue reading
Nord C2D organ with drawbars announced
This was unexpected (for me): A nord organ with drawbars! Available in february which is very soon! I like the fact that it has 4 sets of drawbars, just as the real b3. The new Hammond SK2 dual manual organ only has one set of drawbars, that is not enought! And I also don’t understand why the SK2 is more than twice the weight of Continue reading
“Monkeybar” album coming in march/april 2012
This band is not new, but we havn’t played any concerts in Norway yet, and we have just recently changed name into Monkeybar based on our “hit” with the same name. Erik Nylander on drums and I have played together for around 10 years in different bands, and we started working with playing duo 6-7 years ago, but we never took it anywhere until in 2010 where we started looking at some tunes I had and seeing how we could arrange them. We found a really nice way of working together, and made some great music out of it. In 2011 we did two tours in Asia where we had a change to test out the material in front of an audience.
We recorded a CD last may which we will release this spring. The music varies from the disco inspired monkeybar tune, to the folk styled “The Boat”.
I am very exciting about this album, and will try my best to get it out to as many people as possible.
I’m playing many different synths, while the organ has the fundamental and bass role on most tracks.
Here is the titletrack.
The Hammond B3 organ (photos)
I have a B3 organ from 1959. with a leslie 122 speaker. I love the wood and everything about it. Here are some pictures from a photosession we did in 2007 when making the cover for the “Nickelsen Trio” album. The wood background on this webpage is also taken Continue reading
Hammond Suzuki XPK-200L midi foot pedals
I read about these somewhere on the internet and got quite excited as they seem like a good compromise between the small one octave midi pedals I currently use, and the huge 27 note “Nord Keys 27“, which does look very nice, but too big for me to carry around. They have the longer pedals which should make it feel close to real hammond pedals, and would be great for playing with the heel.
I first read that the xpk-200L pedals should be available in the autumn of 2011, but now I see Q1 2012. They are already available in Japan, but the dealer I contacted said they couldn’t send out of the country. If anybody has any more info on this, please drop a line.
EDIT: they are available now from a few sources. I have not got the weight comfirmed exactly, but it seems to be around 18 kgs, which is much heavier than I hoped for. With a flight case this is going to be 25kgs at least, maybe closer to 30. I might still try them out. For now I’m still using my 1 octave set which is completely falling apart.
The B2 organ
I bought a B2 organ from ebay (seller adickson) some years ago and got it shipped to China. It came with a Hammond PR-40 tone cabinet. The B2 organs are much cheaper than B3’s, especially in the US where you can find them for a bargain. The PR-40 sounds pretty nice, I used it for gigging for a few years before I bought a leslie. The bass is deep Continue reading
Gluing legs on falling apart B2/B3 cabinet
The legs on my B2 was falling off. With some instructions from the Hamtech mailing list and Brynjar Blix I managed to glue them back on. Here hare some pictures from the process Continue reading
Changing caps of tone generator
I did change the capacitors on the tone generator of my B2 some years ago. Many people recommend this, as the old caps will drift in value over the years, and you can get a brighter sound after you change it. You have to unsolder all the old ones and put in new ones.
I am not sure if I would do it again, because there are some drawbacks. First, the sound Continue reading
The Hammond Organ
Background
What makes someone an organ player? I consider the Hammond organ my main instrument. Although I play piano and synthesizers also, there something about the approach that I makes some people organists and others pianists. Chords sounds different on organ vs piano for example. The organ is to thick sounding, I normally play 3 note chords, or maximum 4. On the piano I will put down from 4 to 8-10 notes in a chord. This is just one thing about the organ.
I have two organs, one 1959 B3 organ with a 122 leslie speaker, and a 1951 B2 organ with a 21H speaker. The B2’s can be a bargain, much cheaper than B3. And they sound really good, especially for jazz, as they can be quite smooth sounding, with less bite than a newer B3. You could also change some old parts if you’d like to get it to be more biting. I have installed the trek2 percussion kit, and I do think that percussions sounds really good, even thought I don’t use the 5th option, and I would prefer to have swithces instead of sliders, as the sliders take more time to adjust from off to on.
The leslie 122 is my favorite, I prefer it’s sounds to the 147. The 21H (and 22H and others) are essentially the same amp as a 122 but with less power. My 21H was lacking in power, and I changed the tank cap and then exchanged the two rectifier 5u4 tubes with solid state rectifiers. And what a difference! Much more power, and the bass was much more tighter. I was adviced against doing this, as the voltage on the tubes and the caps will be higher when using SS rectifiers compared to tube rectifiers. So you should at least replace the tank cap before doing this.
Well, this was just supposed to be the introduction. Read more post on organ here.
Website refresh!
Welcome to www.hammond.no
Finally a new website is here. The old one was not possible to update without remaking it totally, so here is the remake! It works already while more material are being added. I’ll write about my projects and Hammond and keyboard stuff. There is also a small STORE here where you can buy mp3’s and albums. Welcome and hope you’ll enjoy your stay and come back soon for more material.
Here’s a track from my band Excess Luggage called “Fast Swing”. Enjoy