# A wild new addition to my studio. Oh the Hammond sound! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2026, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836 "2026-09-05T04:50:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/1 "2026-09-05T04:50:47Z")
I realized that I liked playing my Rhodes but never was really good at it. A few months back I found a superb Rhodes imitation that is man portable–a Crumar Seven. That has the tines mathematically modeled and sounds absolutely like the real deal which I refuse to cart around anymore. Includes a good Wurli to boot. Then my mind drifted to Hammond organs and I found a thing called a Ferrofish B4000+ used at Guitar Center. After some teething pains, Steppenwolf walked into my studio. Boy am I having fun. “What song had the Hammond organ in the 1970s?” my daugher asked. “All of them.” Last night I was playing “Eclipse” by Pink Floyd, followed by “Green is the Colour” and “A Saucerful of Secrets” I’ll eventually take it to church and watch the pearls being clutched. That growl! The darned thing even has a knob to adjust how “old and broken” it is. What fun! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/2 "2026-09-05T05:00:01Z")
I admire those with Musical abilities, as I have none. Doesn’t stop me from buying more stuff! 😆 I’m glad you are enjoying your new stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/3 "2026-09-05T05:43:43Z")
Remember “Fire” by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown? That is certainly a Hammond song. How about “Road Ladies” off Frank Zappa’s “Chunga’s Revenge”? ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/4 "2026-09-05T11:59:11Z")
Let’s not Gregg Allman on the B3. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/5 "2026-09-05T12:39:32Z")
Gotta love that “Old and broken” knob. How well do you think “Hoedown” would go over in church? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/6 "2026-09-05T12:41:26Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I’ll eventually take it to church and watch the pearls being clutched. “Wait a minute, this sounds like rock and/or roll!” ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/7 "2026-09-05T13:59:19Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I’ll eventually take it to church and watch the pearls being clutched. I’m really no expert on instruments, but I once read somewhere that the Hammond organ originally was developed as a church organ, to resemble the sound of big pipe organs. Of course, musicians soon took it for also making worldly music. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/8 "2026-09-05T15:17:40Z")
That sounds reasonable, but I wonder what audio effect the Leslie cabinet was reproducing? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/9 "2026-09-05T15:39:45Z")
When I think of Hammond the first two things that come to mind are Brian Auger and Jeremy Clarkson yelling at Richard. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/10 "2026-09-05T16:02:38Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I wonder what audio effect the Leslie cabinet was reproducing? > **[Tremulant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremulant?wprov=sfti1)** > > A tremulant (from Latin tremulus 'trembling'; French: tremblant, Italian: tremolo, Spanish: temblor) is a device on a pipe organ which varies the wind supply to the pipes of one or more divisions (or, in some cases, the whole organ). This causes their amplitude and pitch to fluctuate, producing a tremolo and vibrato effect. A large organ may have several tremulants, affecting different ranks (sets) of pipes. Many tremulants are variable, allowing for the speed and depth of tremolo to be co The t... Pretty much the exact same thing. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/11 "2026-09-05T16:28:11Z")
Thanks! My wife, the church organist, has been holding out on me. I’ll fix her wagon; I’m telling Jesus. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/12 "2026-09-06T04:12:29Z")
Three Dog Night - **Classic Tracks:** The Hammond organ prominently powered hits like “One Man Band,” “Easy to Be Hard,” and “Joy to the World” ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/13 "2026-09-06T05:01:26Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > That sounds reasonable, but I wonder what audio effect the Leslie cabinet was reproducing? Doing whip-its ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/14 "2026-09-06T05:54:28Z")
My high school jazz band had a Hammond B-3 with a Leslie speaker, and I loved playing it. The B-3 by itself had a rich sound, but a lot of that famous “fat” Hammond sound actually came from the attached Leslie speaker. The organ produced a fairly clean, steady tone; the Leslie sent it through physically rotating speakers, creating that swirling mix of pitch shift, volume changes, phase effects, and room reflections. A sustained chord suddenly sounded much bigger than it had any right to. The best part was switching the Leslie from slow to fast and hearing the rotors gradually wind up. You could hold one chord and make it sound as if something extremely dramatic was about to happen, even if the rest of the band was just trying to get through “Louie Louie.” Add a little tube overdrive and the thing could go from church organ to gospel roar to full-blown rock growl in seconds. So whenever I hear that classic Hammond sound, I still think of that B-3 in our band room. The Hammond supplied the notes. The Leslie supplied the attitude. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/15 "2026-09-06T11:08:22Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > What fun! Have you put it through a Marshall for that Jon Lord sound yet? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/16 "2026-09-06T13:06:44Z")
Details are sketchy, but I remember reading that Paul McCartney put headphones on a violin and ran the cord into a Leslie cabinet and then mic-ed the cabinet. I don’t remember which song. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/17 "2026-09-06T13:18:12Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > That sounds reasonable, but I wonder what audio effect the Leslie cabinet was reproducing? The Hammond and Leslie combo was not the original design. It was a combination made by musicians and disliked by Hammond: From [here](https://www.hammond.eu/Info/Story): > Don Leslie thought he had hit on a miracle, and rightly so, He promptly took his hot invention right to Laurens Hammond but as fate would have it…Laurens Hammond hated the idea! He meant for his organ to play church and classical music. But Don Leslie knew he had something golden, so he went into business for himself, producing the musical innovation that was called “Vibratone-The Pipe Voice Of The Electric Organ” > > The Dean of Theatre Organists Jesse Crawford was among the first to popularize the sound of the Hammond and Vibratone combination, and did he ever! For a while, what we now know as “Leslies” were popularly called “Crawford” or “Hollywood” speakers. And yes, the rumor is true…Hammond Dealers were NOT allowed to sell Leslie speakers. They couldn’t even acknowledge there was such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/18 "2026-09-06T13:43:02Z")
Good article, thanks. I’m curious: how does the Leslie effect change to the listener if s/he walks from the back of the church to the front or the reverse? For that matter, the effect must sound different in every location in the church, no? Fascinating accessory. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/19 "2026-09-06T16:09:10Z")
The real ones must have sounded amazing. My device simply produces the same sound via stereo, as if you were listening to Steppenwolf with headphones as they kick in the Leslies. Still, it’s an amazing sound, and it really adds energy to the scene. I did a 3D print of a half-moon switch to put on the front of my Crumar keyboard and used a Stratocaster 3-way switch to replicate the original Leslie control. Left = slow, middle = brake, right = fast. It does mean a quick swipe of the hand is needed, but I was getting annoyed at yet another foot pedal. The swell pedal is enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/20 "2026-09-06T16:11:20Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > The best part was switching the Leslie from slow to fast and hearing the rotors gradually wind up. I found out, through the controls on my device, that there are two speeds involved. There is a horn and a bass output with both rotors running at the same time, and they spun up and down at different rates because of the differing mass, so the horn spins up quicker and stops quicker, while the bass spins up slower and down slower. This combines to add something special to the Leslie sound. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836.md?page=2)