High Walker Blues - Nord C1 Hammond B-3 Organ Clone Clavia
Channel: rounder2u
Date: 2009-09-14

Here is my composition 'High Walker Blues'. I had two main ideas behind this song and they are both about the walking bass line.
First, I wanted to use a bass line where every note is played two times, like F, F, Eb, Eb, D, D, and so forth.
My other main idea was to do some walking up high on the lower manual. At one point in the song I'm walking downwards almost three octaves.

Intro: I start with a keyboard 'thump' rhythm and then add a walking bass line.

Chorus 1: The first theme. I'm adding add a few keyboard thumps on the lower manual for the rhythm.

Chorus 2: The same theme, but this time I do the 'every note is played two times' for the walking bass line.

Chorus 3: The second theme. The same walking bass line as in the chorus before. I did try to create a second theme that is not that much 'bluesy' in comparison with the rest of the song.

Chorus 4: Here I'm picking up regarding intensity for the solo, while at the same time starting walking the bass line higher up. I start with a thumb glissando upwards, followed by a fast one note tremolo ('machine gun' tremolo). During the sub-dominant (Bb chord) I go up to the highest C note at the keyboard with the bass line also reaching it's highest note, Bb. From here and for the rest of the chorus the bass line just keeps on going down and down to the lowest key of the keyboard. The right hand ends the chorus with a short pedal tone phrase.

Chorus 5: The solo starts with a two-note tremolo. When I go the half-step way up to Bb I'm starting with a F6 chord played in unison with the bass line. I'm resting a short while with a Bb9/Ab chord. Then it goes all the way up to the highest note of the keyboard again, again with the bass walking high up. The chorus ends with a two bar eight notes triplet phrase.

Then I start 'rewinding' the song :-)

Chorus 6: Same as Chorus 3.

Chorus 7: Same as Chorus 2.

Chorus 8: Same as Chorus 1.

Ending: I'm holding the F6/Eb chord while doing an one octave downwards thumb glissando with the left hand. When the left hand comes to the low F I'm holding it, and switch the half-moon switch for the Leslie rotary speaker simulator from Stop to Fast. 

When the rotation has begun I'm sliding down my right hand from the upper to the lower manual (with care taken to hit a few additional random notes during the slide), and immediately continuing with a chorded triplet phrase followed by a, well, let me call it a 'chord glissando', up to the last F6/E chord. I'm curling my fingers to have the 'chord glissando' going smoothly. The song ends by punching in the F on both the upper and lower manual.

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The organ is a Clavia Nord C1 - a Hammond B-3 clonewheel organ.

Nord C1 Registrations and Settings:
Upper 88 8000 000. Chorus C3. Percussion On, Soft, Fast, Third.
Lower 80 8000 000. No Chorus.
Bass lower manual 80.
Leslie simulator Stop position, except during the ending where I switch to Fast.
Equalizer not used.
Overdrive not used.
Reverb Hall, Soft, 50%.
Tonewheel mode Vintage 2 (high level of tonewheel crosstalk and cable leakage artefacts).

The sound is recorded line out from the organ. No additional external effects, external amplifiers or speakers are used.
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