The Cat
Jimmy Smith · 1964
- Credited as
- Hammond B-3 organ
- Performer
- played by Jimmy Smith
- Role
- Lead organ
- Reference quality
- 5 out of 5 as a listening reference
MEDIUMExact model named by the sources
Instrument
Hammond B-3
Organ · Hammond Organ Company · Introduced 1954
An electric organ built by the Hammond Organ Company from 1954 until 1975. Its tone is generated mechanically rather than electronically: metal tonewheels spin in front of electromagnetic pickups, and drawbars mix the resulting harmonics.
What it sounds like
Sustained and built from stacked harmonics rather than a single waveform. Drawbars set the balance of those harmonics; harmonic percussion adds a decaying attack; key click gives each note a percussive edge. Most of the movement associated with the instrument comes from a Leslie rotating speaker rather than from the organ itself.
Hear it
Recordings featuring the Hammond B-3
Imagine this sound
Getting the Hammond B-3 sound
Historical instrument ≠ modern equivalent. These are editorial suggestions for getting close, not claims about what was used on any recording.
Dedicated emulation
Hammond B-3X
IK Multimedia
Officially licensed virtual Hammond B-3, developed in cooperation with the Hammond Organ Company and Suzuki Musical Instruments. Models the tonewheel generator, the drawbars and a Leslie rotary cabinet.
Described by IK Multimedia as the first official Hammond B-3 virtual instrument, designed in cooperation with the Hammond Organ Company.
Dedicated emulation
B-3 V
Arturia
Software emulation of the tonewheel organ and its Leslie rotary speaker, with modelled tonewheel leakage, drawbar leakage and key click.
Not licensed by the Hammond Organ Company — unlike IK Multimedia's B-3X, which is. Both model the instrument directly; only one carries the manufacturer's endorsement.
How it works
Metal tonewheels turn on a shaft driven by a synchronous motor, each passing in front of an electromagnetic pickup. The varying magnetic field induces a small alternating current close to a sine wave, and because every wheel is geared to the same motor all notes hold a constant pitch relationship to one another. Drawbars control how much of each harmonic reaches the output. Harmonic percussion, the feature the B-3 and C-3 introduced, adds a decaying second or third harmonic when a key is pressed.
Three models are routinely confused with the B-3. The C-3 is internally identical in a different cabinet. The M-3 is a smaller spinet with 44-note manuals rather than the B-3's 61. The A-100 is effectively a self-contained B-3 with its own amplifier and speakers.
History
- 1934Laurens Hammond files the patent for his electric organ on 24 April 1934.
- 1954The B-3 is introduced, adding harmonic percussion to the tonewheel design.
- 1950s–1970sGospel churches adopt the instrument early and heavily, and it becomes equally central to jazz, R&B and rock.
- 1975Production of the electro-mechanical B-3 ends. About 270,000 had been built.