Can I use this in a KB3 mode?

KB3 Mode is a special mode designed to work like a classic tone wheel organ (the B3) does. Because of this, there are many differences in the functions of the various buttons, sliders, and other controllers. You will notice that the buttons on the left side of the keyboard and the sliders have labels in orange. These labels apply when you are in KB3 Mode.

1. Press the KB3 Mode button and then the #1 Sound Select button (or press 0 on the numeric keypad and Enter). Notice that the display looks different. The top line shows the bank and program number (4:000) and the program name (All Out). The bottom line gives you information about the status of the organ drawbars and the Chorus/vibrato setting.

2. A classic tone wheel organ has 9 drawbars, each of which controls the amount of amplitude for the fundamental and various harmonics. Choosing the balance of the harmonics and fundamental is the main thing controlling the sound of an organ program. Since the PC has only 4 sliders, we have set things up so that they can control either the first 4 or next four drawbars at one time. A button marked Drawbar Toggle switches the sliders between controlling the first 4 or next 4 drawbars. The mod wheel functions as the 9th drawbar.

Move the sliders and notice how the display changes for the first 4 numbers on the lower line of the display. Press Drawbar Toggle and move the sliders again. Now the next four numbers change. Finally move the mod wheel and notice that the last number changes. Notice that the numbers move between 0 and 8, just like a real tone wheel organ, which has those 9 distinct values for each drawbar.

If you have ever played a real organ, you know that as you pull the drawbars out (towards you) that increases the volume for that particular harmonic. The sliders on the PC2 follow this same convention, so they work the opposite of the way they work when playing other programs or setups. In a regular (non-KB3) program, when the slider is all the way down, it is at 0 value. But when playing a KB3 program, if the slider is all the way down, it is at full volume, since this is the equivalent of having the drawbar pulled all the way out.

Move some sliders so that at least some of them are set to a value other than 8. Now scroll away from this program and then go back to it. Notice that all the display returns to show all drawbars at a value of 8. Notice also that before the column of 8s it shows “P:”. The PC2 gives you the ability to choose a preset setting of each drawbar so that configuration is called up when you select the KB3 program. The “P” shows that the drawbars are set to Preset mode. If you select program number 80 Live Drawbars (you can press the #11 Sound select button), you will see that the “P” is replaced by an “L”. In this program, the Drawbars have no preset settings – they are “Live”. So sound you hear when you select this program will depend on the current position of the drawbars. Of course, even with a program that has preset drawbars, as soon as you move a slider, the value for that drawbar will change to reflect the slider position.
3. Switch Buttons 1-3 allow you to alter the settings for the Rotary Speaker and Chorus/Vibrato Effects. Press SW1 to turn the rotary speaker emulation on and off, and play the keyboard to hear the change in the sound of the Rotary speaker. If you would like to be able to control this function with a pedal instead of a button, plug a switch pedal into the Switch pedal 3 jack.

SW2 turns the Chorus/Vibrato Effect on and off. SW3 lets you choose between 3 Chorus settings and 3 Vibrato settings. When you press the button, it will not light up but you will see the display change to show you which setting is currently selected. SW2 must be On (lit up) in order to hear the changes.

4. The four buttons above the sliders are used to control the Percussion effect. Percussion is a characteristic feature of tone wheel organs. It’s especially useful while soloing, since percussion adds an extra plink (actually an extra tone at a defined harmonic) to the attack.

Percussion is created by a decaying envelope applied to one of the nine drawbars. The percussion effect is “single-triggered,” which means that once it’s triggered, it won’t trigger again until all keys go up. So if no keys are down, and you play a chord, percussion gets applied to all notes in the chord (and in fact, to all notes that are triggered during the short duration of the percussion envelope). Once the envelope runs its course, any notes you play while at least one key is held down get no percussion.

The button above Slider A turns Percussion On or Off. If it is On, then the other buttons are used to control the Volume (soft or loud), the Decay of the envelope (slow or fast), and the pitch (high or low).

Because on a real tone wheel organ, there are only 9 possible pitch sources (one for each drawbar), when you turn Percussion On, one of the drawbars stops working. On a real tone wheel organ, this will be the 9th drawbar. So you will notice when playing any of the KB3 presets that if you turn Percussion On, the mod wheel will no longer function. The PC2 actually gives you the ability to choose which drawbar is stolen, or even to have no drawbar stolen. You can set this when you are in the KB3 Program Editor.

Knowledge Base