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Conference napalm::commusic_v1

Title:	* * Computer Music, MIDI, and Related Topics * *
Notice:	Conference has been write-locked. Use new version.
Moderator:	DYPSS1::SCHAFER

Created:	Thu Feb 20 1986
Last Modified:	Mon Aug 29 1994
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	2852
Total number of notes:	33157

2292.0. "MIDI'd Hammond - Anyone got a clue?" by ELWOOD::REILLY (Hammond Eggs) Mon Mar 19 1990 15:16

    I went to hear Jimmy McGriff last Friday night at Scullers.  For those
    of you who don't know him, he plays a Hammond B3 in the Philly style of 
    jazz/R&B, not unlike Jimmy Smith and Groove Holmes.  He did have one
    interesting twist though...  He had his B3 MIDI'd to a DX7, such that
    the B3 was the controller and the DX7 was the SGU.  He had them both
    mixed into a Leslie and a secondary Roland amp.  There were several
    foreign knobs on the B3 console.  It appeared that the upper manual
    (Swell) was midi'd and the lower manual (Great) was at least zoned.
    He had some killer left hand that wasn't all Hammond, and he also could
    take solo leads on the DX, using the upper manual of the B3.
    
    Now for the question:  Does anyone know of an outfit or kit that will
    allow retrofit of a Hammond to allow a midi implementation?  Doesn't
    have to be velocity sensitive, as far as I could tell...
    
    Please don't tell me how you can get a B3 sound out of most synths, I'm
    really not looking to substitute what I already have.  And besides,
    once you've really played a B3 for a serious length of time, it's hard
    to substitute anything that really works as well.  
    
    So, does anybody know how to put a Hammond into the realm of MIDI?
    
    Thanks,
    /Terry

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
2292.1	In Keyboard mag	STAR::NORCOTT	Wakarimasu ka?	`Mon Mar 19 1990 15:30`	6
	There is an article in last month's Keyboard that mention a guy who does MIDI on B3's. The article is about the rolling stones' 2 keyboard players. I will look it up tonight. bill
2292.2	Probably what you saw...	CSC32::MOLLER	Nightmare on Sesame Street	`Tue Mar 20 1990 10:59`	7
	The ones that I've read about have an additional set of switches installed under the keyboards, and these switches connect to a MIDI interface. In a sense, none of the Hammond ciruitry is used. The only thing that the Hammond provides is a mechanical keyboard connection to the switches. The ones that I read about didn't have velocity sensativity. Jens
2292.3	Is there a company that does midi retrofits?	ELWOOD::REILLY	Hammond Eggs	`Tue Mar 20 1990 13:24`	7
	I believe that velocity sensitivity isn't an issue - didn't seem to make any difference with the DX. Jens, where did you read about the installation or kit? Can you point me in a specific direction to get more info? Thanks, /Terry
2292.4	hi, Terry!	NRPUR::MCCONNELL	Member of the FSW....wanna join?	`Tue Mar 20 1990 14:20`	13
	Hey, Terry...when that MIDI-bug bites...it bites hard, eh? (8^/ I'm not an expert on this by any stretch (Terry, you know me, you know the validity in that statement ;-) but I seem to remember a company named FORTE out of Califiornia (may have other locations too) that did MIDI retrofits of LOTS of stuff (including acoustic pianos etc...). They might be able to help you out there. I don't have their address anymore, but Kurlan's in Worcester is where I found out about them...perhaps you could start there. Steve PS how's SAVVY doing?
2292.5	A place to start	CSC32::MOLLER	Nightmare on Sesame Street	`Tue Mar 20 1990 14:52`	11
	This from an old KEYBOARD magazine (might not be valid anymore): Miditec 543 Darwin Cresent Thunder Bay Ontario, Canada P7B 5W5 (807) 345-3077 I think that they had a generic upgrade kit for keyboards (like about $200.00 for all features)
2292.6	Back and Forth Like Ping Pong Stereo!	ELWOOD::REILLY	Hammond Eggs	`Wed May 02 1990 12:56`	17
	Just an update... I contacted Forte music through Kurlan in Worcester and was told that they no longer offer kits. I also called Miditec in Thunder Bay Ontario, Canada and they never replied to my message left on their recorder. I was told that there was an outfit in Florida that retrofitted the entire organ and added velocity sensitive midi. I spoke to them (Forgot the name) and found out that they wanted $2k/manual to do the job, and get this: I HAD TO MAIL THEM THE ORGAN! Not quite what I had in mind! Anyway, during the conversation I had with them, they told me that McGriff's organ was done by a New York outfit, which they didn't bother to name. So, I'm really not any closer today than I was two months ago. Are there any New Yorkers out there that know of a company that may retrofit Hammonds so that they can generate Midi data? This is getting REAL frustrating! /Terry
2292.7	...	TALLIS::SEIGEL	SYNTH when?	`Wed May 02 1990 15:11`	9
	Terry, Why not send a note to KEYBOARD? As Keith Emerson is on the board, and he had his C3 midi'd for the ELPowell tour, perhaps he can shed some light? THough I expect it'll be big bucks no matter who does it. Why don't you get a good B3 sound out of some of your synths? ;^) andy
2292.8	... and bad with tubes	INISH::HNELSON		`Wed May 02 1990 16:13`	8
	This probably will get moved (sorry, mr. moderator), but: I have this C3 in my basement which worked fine until some tube blew, and now I've moved and didn't drag the C3 and does anybody have any idea what this thing is worth? It's a GREAT sound, and I really enjoyed it, but the JX-10 does good Hammond and the new house doesn't have a place for the C3. Perhaps you could send me mail, please? Thanks tons, Hoyt, in love but out of space
2292.9	If you move it...	WEFXEM::COTE	Strom clods are forming...	`Wed May 02 1990 16:37`	3
	It's worthless. You'd be better off giving it to me... Edd
2292.10		NRPUR::MCCONNELL	Boycot reply titles!	`Thu May 03 1990 12:41`	8
	re: .9 8-) I was hoping no one would have said this before I got here. Blast, I gotta log in here every day >8^\ Steve