[HAM] McDuff's Sound, was New B3 Demo

[Scott Hawthorn]

At 09:11 PM 6/1/2003, Randal Muir wrote:
>Scott Hawthorn wrote (About "Live at the Five Spot")
> > Ridiculous. Jack plays with his normal settings.
>Do you really think so Scott?  I cannot hear the C3 chorus on this
>recording.  Not to mention the clean sound he uses.  On my recordings
>there's more grit.

Ah, now I see where the confusion lies. There are a couple of things going
on here.

First, McDuff has always used both chorus and straight tone, as he saw fit.
In later years, in an attempt to sound more "modern," ( and possibly
because of indifference) he quit bothering with chorus vibrato, as did
Jimmy Smith. Ironic that Joey DeFrancesco still uses a great deal of chorus
at times, partly in homage to these guys' old sound! (And, I'm sure, just
because he likes it.)

Second, you may be thinking of Jack's old "Live!" record, famous for having
an odd-sounding box on it. I can't remember if anyone has ever figured out
what organ that was, but it sounded thin, distorted, and totally cool. It
was likely his personal box at the time. I think part of it was just the
recording.

Third, I was reacting to what  thought was being discussed, and that would
be the drawbar settings. True, Jack's early records used alot of 888800000,
but he later reverted mostly to the standard 888000000. When you hear his
sound as more "gritty," you really are hearing only a difference in
approach to playing, not different organ settings. It's amazing, but an
experienced listener can easily identify/distinguish passages played by
Smith, McDuff, McGriff, et al, all using the same 888000000! Expression
pedal use, fingering techniques, timing, phrasing, emotional approach, and
other obscure differences all contribute to a distinctive sound. That's why
those guys were master players. Each one sounded like no one else.

-Scott