Updated Hammond B3 - Csound emulator

   This morning, I spent some time with the emulator and the Csound and CsoundAV software.
   I had forgotten much of what I had to do to get the setup working. This was almost a new beginning for me.
   What I found was that some of the older program aids I had used were now antiquated and would not work in the Windows 10 operating system. Eventually, I found a similar software that was compatible with the current version of Windows. Still there was much to do.
   The B3 emulator is a program that consists of a list of parameters and commands, including some for the GUI(Graphical User Interface) (emulated knobs and switches on a control panel). I had to tweak the command line options, known as 'switches', to get the thing to run in CsoundAV. The command line options can be, and are in this case, included at the top of the instrument/score file. The command line I ended up using is:
-+q0 +p1  -m0 -+O -+K -b400 -+P

   There was another problem. The control panel for the emulator has a page for loading, setting, and saving lists of presets. Presets are lists of settings for the virtual organ. The settings are for all the knobs and switches on the control panel, similar to the ones found on a Hammond B3.

   I tried to load the set that comes with the emulator. They're contained in a file:"b3_snap.txt" that is read into the program when the load button is 'clicked.'

   When I tried to select a preset from the loaded file, CsoundAV would crash/close. I tried moving the file out of the Program Files (x86) directory used by the o/s since there are usually permission issues to deal with when accessing that directory, issues that do not exist outside of that and one or two others. That didn't work. What seems to work is changing the name of the file and the default name in the CsoundAV settings panel. CsoundAV no longer crashed. I don't know why.

   To run the Hammond B3 emulator, download Gabriel Maldonados CsoundAV, his free version of VMCI (v2.2), and Josep Comajuncosas DirectHammondv2rt.csd file, along with the presets file mentioned. Locate a midi driver such as loopMIDI.

   The package will install itself. Run the program. Locate the Hammond file. Set the defaults in CsoundAV, Load and run the Hammond emulator with the command line switches listed and you should see a panel pop up, brown. Wait a second and another panel will open up to allow you to select the input source. Wait another 10 or fifteen seconds and an output panel will pop up. I select 0 and 5 respectively. The VMCI will give you a virtual midi driver and a virtual keyboard to play the organ with. I use Midiox. Midiox is a versatile piece of software designed to do the same thing but has more features. The keyboard icon has too be 'clicked' for the computer keyboard to play notes.

   Midiox must be opened/run first and left running, of course, and the focus must be shifted to Midiox before the computer keyboard can sennd midi signals to the CsoundAV software running the Hammond B3 emulator.

   I haven't got the emulator to work with the current version of Csound proper, which now also, has a virtual keyboard for computer keyboard input. That may come later. I'm running the 64-bit version of Windows 10 Pro, and the 64-bit version of CsoundAV, and Csound. I don't know if the same setup will work in a 32-bit environment.
   Csound now incorporates a Real-Time feature. Gabriel Maldonados software is not necessary.

The nature of instruments and their effect on music; a brief disourse

   Several years ago I began studying the potentials of computers in relation to music. I explored midi file composition using several software programs. As mentioned before, I used  the computer to record organ compositions on my 1968 Hammond H-182. When I discovered Gabriel Maldonado's CsoundAV for real time performance, I had no way to input note data to the computer software. I discovered a couple of pieces of software that would, together, allow me to do that.
   This introduced me to the use of a computer keyboard as a musical instrument. After some time, I began to dwell on the differences between instruments and the nature of the physical possibilities and limitations in playing them.
   One of the advantages of a computer keyboard over the standard 88s is the small physical space of the keyboard corresponds to a greater musical space. For example, octaves are mush easier to play on a computer keyboard than the 88. A guitar can only be played six notes at a time, thus the keyboard, of any kind, tends to be an advantage over the fretboard. The fretless nature of classical string instruments can have certain advantages over the fretboard.
   All of these differences affect the writing and performing of music. I would even suggest that some music, read in notation form, can infer some things about the instrument for which the music was written.
   This is another indication of the potentials and limitations of the nature of the instrument and their effects on musical composition and performance. There is a reason why I prefer the keyboard over the guitar. There are many more possibilities due to the nature of the instrument alone.

1968 Hammond H182 organ

   In 2006, I was making my rounds of the thrift and collectibles shops. I entered a branch of the Salvation Army thrift store chain and spied an old organ near the entrance. I knew immediately, I wanted the organ. I had watched desirable potential purchases disappear overnight because I hesitated. This time, I bargained to purchase the organ and pick it up within a week.
   I built a platform for transporting the organ from one inch thick plywood, four three inch casters, two with locks, and some tie down, rachet controlled, straps. I found later the organ with bench and pedals weighs over 425 pounds.

   After I managed to get the thing home, I replaced a cracking power cord with a new one. I opened the back and found a long tube of the manufacturer's original lubricating oil in a position on the inside side wall. I got on the web and spent some time googling for data. Eventually, I found a handful of invaluable sites that left me with a full set of schematics and block diagrams.
   There were a couple of other problems. One of the keys sat about a few millimeters higher than the others. I let that go for a more serious problem. On the left side of the lower manual are a set of keys of reverse color, black is white and white is black. These keys manipulated the sound of the music from that manual. A manual is what is thought of as a keyboard. The Hammond has two, an upper and lower manual. Both have the reverse color keys on the left. The lower set would not stay pressed keeping me from using the lower manual.

   I studied the diagrams and schematics. I found a web site where a similar organ was partially dismantled and got an idea on how to go about the repair. I did not have complete information, but figured I could pick up what I needed along the way.
   Eventually, I got the keys unstuck. A simple bending of a piece of metal corrected the sticking action.
   I read how to oil the organ and used the discovered oil to finish that task.
   The organ has an extensive control set which can make testing the organ an exhausting and tedious experience.

   I worked with the organ and got to the point that I could use everything but the celeste function. The celeste, like the artificial Leslie built in, uses an electro-mechanical scanner. A rotating drum that contains a series of capacitors that effect the electrical parameters of the sound. I would have to remove and disassemble, repair and reassemble and re-insert the device. I decided to forgo that pleasure, at least for the time being. I weighed the value of the celeste effect against the cost in time and labor and decided to pass over that repair.
   I got the spring reverb to work by 'jiggling' a couple of electron tubes in that circuit.
   I spent, by far, the most time in learning how to use the organ. As I said, there is an extensive control set. Switches, knobs, pedals and buttons to go with the keys.
   The Hammond H series has been referred to some as Hammond's effort to build a super B3.
The built-in electro-mechanical Leslie effect, the built in power amplifier and speakers(3), and the electro-mechanical vibrato, along with other features make the H series a competitive model.
   The disadvantage is the weight due to the extra hardware and the omission of some controls considered less than important. The famous B3 'waterfall' keys were replaced by a 'diving board' set of keys.
   One thing I eventually discovered is that I could attain that well known, growling distortion by overdriving the built in amplifier.
   I sat for days discovering the different controls and what effect they had on the sound.
   I experimented with miking the organ for a different sound. I used a cheap battery powered, stereo microphone that I plugged into my computer. I used ordinary stereo sound recording software to record session. Really beats lugging around a thirty pound reel to reel tape recorder.
   The number represents the model and cabinet style. The 182 is Italian Provincial Walnut. Mine was made in 1968. At that time, electronics were moving from electron tubes to transistors. The Hammond H182 was a hybrid containing both.
   What follows is a description taken from the site www.theatreorgans.com:

"

Model H-100 Series

Production Years:	1965 through 1974
Cabinet Size:	50 1/2" wide, 26 1/2" deep, 50" high with music rack, 445 lbs with pedals and bench.
Finish:	H-111 Traditional styling in Mahogany H-112 Traditional styling in Walnut H-133 French Provincial in Cherry H-143 Early American in Cherry H-182 Italian Provincial in Walnut H-195 Mediterrean in Oak H-262 Institutional Model with locking roll top...Walnut, some preset and other differences. H-324 Comtempory in Pecan with built-in Auto-Rhythm H-382 Italian Provincial in Walnut with built-in Auto-Rhythm H-395 Mediterranean in Oak with built-in Auto-Rhythm - HX100 like H100 in X66 cabinet
Manuals:	Two 61 note manuals with overhanging keys. 25 note detachable pedalboard.
Controls:	One expression pedal effecting both manuals and pedals...tone compensated photo-cell type. Kick switch mounted to pedal cancels vibrato "immediately". 9 presets and 2 adjust keys for each manual. 2 sets of 11 drawbars for upper manual, 2 sets of 10 drawbars for lower manual. 4 pedal drawbars. 28 tabs for percussion, vibrato, sustain, reverb, etc.
Amp/Output:	Stereo amplification plus a bass channel. Two 8" speakers and one 15" speaker. Mixture of solid-state and tube circuitry.
Features:	96 tonewheel generator with self-starting synchronous motor. Tones go up to a high B (around 8,000Hz), then foldback. Foldback note: 16' goes all the way down, the higher harmonic in the mixture drawbars does not foldback. Reiteration, percussion touch control, harp sustain, string bass, lots of vibrato/chorus controls, reverb controls."

   I had some free time and spent a lot of it exploring composition on the organ. I would write an album of instrumental music dedicate to and name after a memorable young woman named Erin. The album title is 'Erin Song.'