Having the desire to "get back out there again", I linked up with a local non-profit "School of Rock" program and joined an adult rock band with two others, a guitarist and a drummer. We didn't have a bass player or vocalist sign up, so our instructor played bass for us (you can see him in the shadows of one image), and by default I sang lead vocals -- and I haven't sung much over the last 40+ years either! (And it showed on week 1, but I sure did a lot of vocal exercises and singing over the last 9 weeks.) For only playing together as a band that many times (9), our band "Perfect Strangers" closed out the school's annual fundraising concert with a 4-song set and we were treated to a professional stage, sound system and lighting. Neither of the other 2 band members had ever played such a large venue before, or even with a formal band (other than just their informal jams); and it's been 4 decades plus for me since my UMass days when I played out a lot, so this event and the school-of-rock program turned out to be the perfect way to get back into it.
Anyway, my Hammond SK Pro 73 organ sounded awesome and easily handled a wide variety of voices, such as: Church Hammond for Bach's "Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor" intro that I connected to Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers" intro with a heavily-overdriven Hammond tone -- as that seemed to be a great way to introduce the band -- as "Perfect Strangers" was our name. From there we morphed into Collective Soul's "Gel" and a guitar & synth patch combination did the soft intro, plus I played overdriven Hammond chords while the guitarist did his solo. Sounds for ELP's "Lucky Man" included strings (as background on verses & choruses 2-4) along with a soft Hammond tone on verses & choruses 3 & 4, plus an organ solo we put in after the 3rd verse/chorus to lengthen the song, and man oh man -- the synthesizer on the SK Pro did a really great job emulating Keith's Moog synth solo! I put it into "unison" mode and dialed in 6 voices, with a slight detune and some delay & reverb, adjusted the ASDR and filters by ear, and then added in some ring modulation as the synth solo ended. Wowza! Then it was a Vox Continental organ tone used for The Doors "Light My Fire", followed by Hammond organ (88886) on verse/chorus plus an overdriven version of that drawbar setting for the main riff to finish our set with Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water".
At the end of the gig, I got a lot of questions and great feedback on the SK Pro organ and I think I might have helped to sell one or two, as the younger kids and parents couldn't believe all the sounds that I had coaxed out of 1 keyboard. Plus, I think I rocked it too.
For sure, the Hammond did much better than my vocal chords did -- but it was all for a good cause, we had fun, the band did great considering all factors, and the audience enjoyed the show.I think the best part -- besides being up on stage and turning my Hammond into "The Beast" (as they used to call Jon Lord's [Deep Purple] organ for his intro to "Perfect Strangers") -- is that my wife & kids, and other friends and family all got to see "this 'ol man rock" just like he used to tell stories about. And now you can too... See links below.
But now I want MORE!!! The "beast" has been unleashed!!!
ROCK ON!!!
Old No7
Also adding 2 youtube unlisted links:
Organ Intro
(mashup of Bach's "Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor" into a heavily-overdriven Hammond tone for Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers")
Organ Solo
(done at the end of Smoke On The Water)
(Click links to start 'em)
https://youtu.be/UIH5AtUzOIk?si=jtjVunm5eCntELkl
https://youtu.be/D2GczV-V3gA?si=EyNVMcrJhv83x9Ry
