Percussion Switch

On a Hammond tonewheel organ, there are four switches on the top right side of the front panel that control the use of the “Percussion” effect. The Percussion Switch lets you activate a circuit that amplifies one of the upper drawbars and then allows it to decay over time. The result is a highly characteristic sound that’s indispensable for jazz and other styles. The Native Instruments B4 II software allows you to use the onboard virtual switches to activate an effect that produces the same sound – however, when activating Percussion on a real B-3, the 1′ tone becomes silent. To duplicate this in B4 II, go to Setup View and activate the “Perc disables 1′ drawbar” setting.