The Amazing Invention of Laurens Hammond
The electric organ that bears his name was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934. He was a prolific inventor and, although not a musician, he appreciated the benefits of music.
He began development by removing the insides of an old piano and using the keyboard as a controller and eventually he created the now-famous tonewheel generator.
The organ was originally intended as a low-cost instrument for the home and as an alternative to the expensive church pipe organs although in the 1960s and 1970s it was ‘discovered’ by jazz and rock musicians and became a staple part of a keyboard player’s arsenal.
Tonewheel Generation
Tonewheel generation uses a system of rotating mechanical tonewheels which generate harmonics that are picked up by electromagnetic pickups. It’s actually one of the first forms of additive synthesis. The volume of the harmonics are mixed and controlled by drawbars and it’s capable of generating a wide range of sounds suitable for most types of music.
The first production Hammond was the Model A. Then came the BC model with a chorus generator featuring slightly detuned tonewheels.
Many other models followed but the basic design and cabinet retained their familiar Hammond look. The legendary B3 was released in 1955 and became the most well-known and well-loved organs of all time. Various additions and modifications continued to be made to the product line resulting in popular models such as the M3, the L100 and the A100.
Although Laurens Hammond died in 1973, his legacy lives on. Many other Hammond models were produced and the brand is still in production today, manufactured by Suzuki.
Cult Organs
Naturally, over the years, many other musical instrument manufacturers produced electronic organs. Many featured the famous drawbars for tone control and many took a different route entirely, using synthesis to create their sounds. Some of them, such as organs by Vox (the Vox Continental) and Farfisa, also attained cult status particularly in the 1960s and 1970s.
Farfisa popularised the combo organ and their early technology was based on transistor accordion.
With the advent of sampling and digital synthesis, it was only a matter of time before extremely realistic Hammond organ sounds could be produced by computer although computers are not able to recreate the physical pleasure of sitting on an organ bench, playing the keys and pedals!
Speaking Of Leslie
If there’s one name which is synonymously linked with Hammond, it’s Leslie. In 1941 Donald Leslie developed the Leslie speaker under its original name of the Vibratone. It went through several name changes until becoming the ‘Leslie Vibratone’ in 1946.
The Leslie Speaker consists of two driver units - a bass unit and a treble unit with horns. The ‘Leslie’ effect is created by rotating the speakers to produce its distinctive Doppler effect, a sort of cross between vibrato, tremolo and chorus.
The Hammond organ and Leslie Speaker were made for each other and rarely is a Hammond played without one. They can be heard on many rock and jazz albums of the 60s and 70s and remain a firm keyboard favourite today.
Oddly, in the early days, Don Leslie was refused a job by Hammond. Seventeen years later he offered to sell his company to Hammond but after hearing nothing for a month he declare that it was too late!
Hammond finally did buy the company in 1980 and today it’s part of Hammond Suzuki.
Like the Hammond sound, the Leslie Doppler effect has been mimicked by other speakers and recreated electronically. It’s not limited to use with organs and running other sounds through the system can create a vast range of wonderful effects.