Home organ voices

[RobertM]

Hello everyone,
One of my favourite organ sounds is the "sweet Lowrey". I read the "home organ" on T5, G1, & SX is based on or sampled from the Holiday, but is it?   Set up a registration, without effects, with the same tab/drawbar settings (eg 16, 8 & 4 ) in R1, 2, & 3 with Home (Lowrey), Vintage (Hammond) and Euro (Wersi) then switch between them as you play. Not much difference is there?
So that leads me to think it may be added effects, vibrato, tremolo, chorus, rotary, reverb etc. that really makes the difference. Peter Baartmans for instance does a nice T5 demo of the home organ in one if his videos, but can I replicate it?, no way!
So the point of this post is, can someone, like AndyG maybe ☺,  pass on some tips with examples, on getting the best organ sounds, with emphasis on the use of effects.
I note Lowrey use an effect called Vibratrem which seems to suggest a combination of vibrato and tremolo.
Who can come up with a sweet Lowrey sound for the Yamaha?  Perhaps Kawai..........?
Robert.

[RobertM]

Hello again,
I must say I'm astonished at the lack of response to this post. Does no-one like Lowrey voices?  As the brand is now out of production surely a way of generating interest and perpetuating the model is making the Lowrey sound available on arranger keyboards.  After all, there are countless voices and packs available for other brands.
Is the Lowrey sound sacrosanct ?
Robert.

[overover]

Hi Robert,

the "Home" type Organ Voices on the SX900 can be either "Organ Flutes" Voices or Sample-based Voices (Voice type "Regular"). You can see this in the SX900 Data List, section "Voice List", page 3 (Organ Panel Voices).

By the way: An SX900 "Organ Flutes" Voice is based on one of three different "Wave Variations": "Sine" (Sinus wave), "Vintage" ("Hammond-like") or "Euro" ("Wersi-like"). (See also the attached picture.)

Note: There are many additional Organ Voices in the "Legacy/Organ" Voice folder. To find and call up the "Legacy" folder, touch the "Up" arrow at the bottom right of the Voice Selection display (when Preset is selected), and then select page 2. Refer also to the SX900 Data List, pages 8/9.

When an "Organ Flutes" Voice is selected, in the Voice Select Display touch the "Menu" icon and then "Voice Edit". This will open the "Voice Edit" display, and you can adjust many parameters of the current "Organ Flutes" Voice as desired. Please don't forget to SAVE the edited Voice as a so called "User Voice" (in USER drive or on a USB stick). (Refer to pages 50/51 of the SX900 Reference Manual for this!)


Best regards,
Chris

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[RobertM]

Hi Chris,
Many thanks for your reply, it clarifies several things for me. For instance, I didn't realise the organ flutes were not a sampled voice. I presumed the Home organ flutes were a sample too.
Now you have mentioned the Legacy Voices and the editor I'll have another go.
One voice I've been able to "create" after reading one of AndyG's posts is:-
Home tabs 8 or 8 & 4, rotary off, vibrato 3,speed 36, harmony 4-way closed 2, and just a bit of reverb. Has a sort of soft, liquid sound which I like about the sweet Lowrey.
Regards,
Robert.

[overover]

Hi Robert,

in fact, the "Wave Variations" of the Organ Flutes Voices are also (Wave) Samples. But they are "only" used as the basis of the so called "Additive Synthesis" tone generation: Each "footage" has its own Sample, and all available "footages" can be mixed together to get the desired Organ sound. The Effects used (which can of course also be edited as desired) also play a major role in the final sound of an "Organ Flutes" Voice.

All other Voices use so called "Multi Samples". This means, the the actual sound of the instrument in question was sampled separately for each key (and usually also at different volumes, which are then assigned to different velocity ranges on the keyboard).


Best regards,
Chris

[RobertM]

Hi Chris,
This gets more and more interesting and I think I'm beginning to appreciate the mechanics of the voices.
Thank you.
Robert.

[jcook980]

Well, Goldy McJohn made that studio Lowrey sound mighty sweet on Born to Be Wild 

[andyg]

Alas, the S class instruments don't have that Home Organ sound on tap, so you have to fake it. Not sure if you can load in the US Organ Expansion Pack, has anyone tried this on an S or SX?

The person who did the sampling for the Lowrey sounds is one of my oldest friends in the business. He tells me that he sampled a Lowrey GAK. Next model up from the Holiday K at the time of manufacture (circa 1971), but the same sound. One of the last of the 'old school' Lowrey models. Interestingly, the Holiday K and the GAK didn't have a 5 1/3' or a 1', so these had to be created from other samples.

It's possible to create yet more Lowrey organ voices on Genos, Tyros and S class keyboards by editing existing sounds - best done with the oldest sounds in 'Legacy' and I did create a whole set of sounds from the slightly larger GAKH, which had a 'Brass Symphonizer'. Alas, COVID came along, the music school closed down and the Tyros 5 - and the computer that had the backup files - are now long gone. If I get my hands on a T5 or Genos I will recreate them.

I also lost all my registration files, including all the ones that played mix and match with Hammond and Lowrey on Genos and T5. It was possible to emulate other makes, like Thomas and Baldwin!

[EileenL]

Yes Andy it will load into SX900. I have tried it. There were two versions one for Tyros 5 and one for PSR970. Either one will load OK.

[RobertM]

Hello again,
Thank you Andy and Eileen for your replies. My interest in "sweet Lowrey" voices started by watching the many videos by Tom Horton and Trevor Flunder, which have become a permanent tutorial for me.
I am aware of the US Organ expansion pack but unable to download it for either my SX900 or S975.
After Chris mentioned the content in Legacy I have been experimenting but can't seem to hit on that magic fluid sound of the real thing.
I have used Andy's idea of Vintage, Home and Euro each in R1,R2 R3 as suggested and have come up with some pleasant combinations.
I hope some kind person in UK will make a T5 or Genos available so you can re-create the voices for all members. Fingers crossed ☺.
Regards to all,
Robert.

[LaHawk]

I could not load either the Genos or T-5 Euro and US Organ Expansion Pack into the SX-900.

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[EileenL]

It is not the Euro and US pack it is the Euro Organ Artist. As I purchased mine I am able to use them in both Keyboards. Yamaha seem to have altered the format on there free packs and they will only work in the keyboard they were made for.
  I had purchased most of the Yamaha packs over the years so still use those.