Vibrato & Tremolo - Organ Flutes - Slow/Fast Rotary

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Vibrato & Tremolo - Organ Flutes - Slow/Fast Rotary

Postby Hugh-AR » 16 Mar 2022 17:17

I have always liked the 'Hammond organ' sound, and in particular the use of TREMOLO. This is not the same as VIBRATO.
From Wikipedia:
Vibrato (Italian, from past participle of "vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation ("extent of vibrato") and the speed with which the pitch is varied ("rate of vibrato").

TREMOLO alters the volume of the note (not it's pitch). This was originally achieved by a Leslie Speaker:
From Wikipedia:
The Leslie speaker is a combined amplifier and loudspeaker that projects the signal from an electric or electronic instrument and modifies the sound by rotating a baffle chamber ("drum") in front of the loudspeakers. A similar effect is provided by a rotating system of horns in front of the treble driver. It is most commonly associated with the Hammond organ.

In short: Vibrato deals with change in pitch. Tremolo deals with change in volume.

With the Farfisa organ I had years ago I had a Leslie Speaker Cabinet, which as I have described above created the Tremolo mechanically. This takes some time as motors have to speed up and slow down. I used to love to hear this effect done in this way. The trouble with 'electronic' Tremolo is that the change happens 'in an instant' .. and this does not sound the same!

If you like organ sounds then listen to what the Leslie does to the sound when switching between fast and slow Tremolo.

It's all about the music ♫ ♪ ♫ Organ: Yamaha AR80 & Keyboard: Tyros 4
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Re: Vibrato & Tremolo

Postby Hugh-AR » 17 Mar 2022 00:10

TREMOLO

On the Tyros the spinning speaker is called the ROTARY, and you can have it playing SLOW or FAST. I have set up my Tyros 4 by choosing ORGAN FLUTES from the VOICE section.

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This is what comes up on screen, with the 'default' of Organ Flutes set up. The flute drawbar footages can be adjusted by using the 'up' and 'down' buttons under the screen. As there are only eight rows of such buttons and there are nine drawbars, the 16' one is allocated to the ASSIGN slider, so move that 'up' or 'down' to adjust it.

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You could also try another combination by pressing the button next to PRESETS .. and then you get the following choices.

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I could, of course, change the sound of Organ Flutes by moving those drawbars, but I quite like it so shall leave them where they are.

To switch the ROTARY speaker between SLOW and FAST you press the button next to ROTARY SP SPEED (button C) and it will 'toggle' between one and the other.

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To hear what my Tyros 4 sounds like when doing this, click the below.

Click the below to listen; then click the back arrow at the top to get back to this page.
Tyros 4 Rotary Speed Slow/Fast DEMO

Next ... to see how this sounds in practice when playing something. So another DEMO, this time with a STYLE and playing a melody with an organ flute Voice. When trying to do this I realised I had a problem! I wanted to change the Rotary Speed from Slow to Fast by pressing that C button, but both hands were busy doing something else at the very moment I wanted to change that Rotary Speed! My left hand was playing a CHORD, and my right hand was playing the MELODY.

The answer? Get a foot switch to do it.

I have a footswitch that will do a straight on/off, so put this near my left foot (my right foot is always on an Expression - Volume - Pedal). To set this up, first press the DIRECT ACCESS button ..

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.. and this message comes up:

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Now tap that footswitch.

You get a number of choices, none of which are Rotary Speed. The one you want to find and choose is DSP VARIATION.

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Press the EXIT a few times to get back to your Registration. Pressing that footswitch will now toggle the Rotary Speed between FAST and SLOW.

Click the below to listen; then click the back arrow at the top to get back to this page.
Toggling Rotary Speed between Slow & Fast when playing something.
It's all about the music ♫ ♪ ♫ Organ: Yamaha AR80 & Keyboard: Tyros 4
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Re: Vibrato & Tremolo - Organ Flutes - Slow/Fast Rotary

Postby Hugh-AR » 18 Mar 2022 18:50

Examples of the difference between TREMOLO and VIBRATO.

Click on the below to listen; then click the back arrow at the top to get back to this page'

TREMOLO - a change in volume/direction of sound - applied to organ flute sounds (eg. Hammond Organ).
Whiter Shade of Pale played by Hugh Wallington on Yamaha AR80 organ.

VIBRATO - a change in pitch - applied to musical instruments or voices.
Aquarius, arranged and played by Brian Dawson.
It's all about the music ♫ ♪ ♫ Organ: Yamaha AR80 & Keyboard: Tyros 4
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Re: Vibrato & Tremolo - Organ Flutes - Slow/Fast Rotary

Postby Brian007 » 18 Mar 2022 19:09

Hi Hugh,

A very interesting article with some very good examples of what can be achieved with these type of effects, and well worth reading and listening too.

All the best, Brian007
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Re: Vibrato & Tremolo - Organ Flutes - Slow/Fast Rotary

Postby Hugh-AR » 29 Mar 2022 15:11

Another good example of Fast and Slow Tremolo by Brian Sharp on a Kawai T5 organ.

Brian Sharp - Kawai T5 - Lil Darlin (1978)

It's all about the music ♫ ♪ ♫ Organ: Yamaha AR80 & Keyboard: Tyros 4
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Re: Vibrato & Tremolo - Organ Flutes - Slow/Fast Rotary

Postby dentyr » 27 Apr 2022 23:10

Tyros 4 Leslie Speaker Effect

(Note: Although screenshots are of the Tyros 4, the steps outlined will work on other Yamaha keyboards.)


1. Set an organ flute in R1 (or R2 etc.) by selecting ORGAN FLUTES in VOICE.

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Set the drawbars to the sound that you want.

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2. Press the DIRECT ACCESS button.

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The following message appears telling you to activate the place you want to go to.

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3. Press the DSP button

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4. This is the screen you are taken to. The DSP page you want is TYPE, so press that (button F).

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This next screen is where you set up the Rotary Speaker Effect to what you want.

Eg. Set BLOCK to DSP2; PART to RIGHT1 (or RIGHT2 if that is where you have it); CATEGORY to ROTARY SP; then TYPE to eg. ROTARY SP4 (but you can experiment with the others as they all give different effects). This will wind the rotary speed up and down as per the Leslie speakers. Your choices are highlighted in the block top left.

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Have made an MP3 file so you can hear the wind up and down.

Click the below to listen; then click the back-arrow at the top after to get back to this page.
DEMO of a gradual 'wind up' and 'wind down' of the Rotary Speaker.

Regards, Den.
Keyboards: Yamaha Tyros 4, PSR SX700, PSR S970and StagePa300
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Re: Vibrato & Tremolo - Organ Flutes - Slow/Fast Rotary

Postby Hugh-AR » 28 Apr 2022 21:36

In the explanation above, the Rotary Speed was on SLOW. To switch the ROTARY speaker between SLOW and FAST you press the button next to ROTARY SP SPEED (button C) and it will 'toggle' between one and the other.

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When you are playing something on the keyboard you would normally change your Voice at the end of a Verse or a Chorus. But when you are playing with Organ Flutes and using the Rotary Speaker this is not the case, as you would switch from Fast to Slow to Fast anywhere in a bar depending on how the mood takes you. So it is not convenient to change the speed manually as both hands are busy playing the melody and chords.

The solution is to use a footswitch to switch from Fast to Slow (and back), so you need the ON/OFF type of footswitch.
Eg. the Yamaha FC5:

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... or the Yamaha FC4 Piano Style Sustain Pedal:

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I use this second one as I find it more 'chunky' and not so susceptible to moving about.

To set the keyboard up for the footswitch to change the Rotary Speaker from Fast to Slow to Fast, press the DIRECT ACCESS button:

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... and when this message comes up ...

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... press the footswitch with your foot to get the correct page showing as below.
Set the footswitch to DSP VARIATION (scrolling down with the red arrows on the left until you find it).

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Now it will toggle between the two when you press the footswitch.

I have used the Rotary Speaker Effect (Leslie) in this piece:

Click the LINK below to play, then click the back-arrow at the top after to get back to this page.
Slow Boat to China played on the Tyros 4 using the Rotary Speaker Effect controlled by a footswitch.

Drawbars have been set up with the following footages:

1. 8', 4', 2' and 1'
2. 8', 4' and 2'.
It's all about the music ♫ ♪ ♫ Organ: Yamaha AR80 & Keyboard: Tyros 4
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Re: Vibrato & Tremolo - Organ Flutes - Slow/Fast Rotary

Postby dentyr » 30 Apr 2022 13:09

More on this by Hugh and Den.

Another way you can set up the Leslie Speaker Effect is by going to a page where you can set up the Rotary Speaker parameters directly.
All is explained in this video.



Below is the final page from the video. You can set all the choices by pressing the appropriate buttons under each section.

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You can adjust the CATEGORY by pressing buttons 1 or 2 under the screen.
You can adjust the TYPE by pressing buttons 3 or 4 under the screen.
The FAST/SLOW effect can be toggled by pressing the buttons under the ON/OFF .. button 5. Or you can use a footswitch.
The final column can be altered by pressing buttons 6, 7 or 8 under the screen. This final column, PARAMETER, VALUE controls the speed of the FAST Leslie. You can alter this between 0.00 (zero), where there is no Rotary Speaker Effect at all (so it sounds like a Church Organ) and 39.71 (where it sounds like a hammer drill!).

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