Native Instruments B4 II - Manual (Page 78)

78 – B4 II
Both jazz organists and house producers tend to use similar drawbar setting
– primarily using lower drawbars with just a touch of higher harmonics, and
the addition of the percussion sound. The difference in use is based on
details: jazz cats will make a significant number of changes to the Rotator
while playing, while a house player will typically leave the Rotator at the slow
setting (using the organ sound as a grooving pad). A jazzer will breathe life
into the performance by pumping the expression pedal, but in house music
Velocity Sensitivity is used for accenting the groove.
The following settings will give you one (of an infinite number) of settings
used in this genre:
Finally, let’s look at a drawbar setting that will be useful for pulling off rock
solos. In addition to the rock pad sound listed above, we will want to add
both percussion and keyclick sounds. The percussion sound is added using
the Perc. switch, but the keyclick has to be added using the Keyclick control
on the Organ View. Turn up the level of Keyclick, and you will hear a bite at
the attack of each note. This, combined with the percussion and a slight bit
of overdrive will give you a sound that will bite its way through any mix.
The above tips are just a start. The tonewheel organ system has been in use
for several decades, and players are still finding new settings, techniques and
effects combinations for their sound. Experiment, try “impossible” settings
and fully exercise the B4’s capabilities. You will find that the seemingly simple
B4 interface can be used in an incredible number of musical applications.