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1. History: The pipe organ is a pneumatic sound pipe and keyboard instrument with a history of more than 2,000 years. Because it produces sound through many huge pipes, it is bulky and expensive. The largest pipe organ in the world is more than ten meters high. There are more than 30,000 sound tubes and seven layers of keyboards. The sound is magnificent. It has been used since ancient times and is an indispensable musical instrument in Christian rituals. In 1935, American inventor Lawrence Hammond improved and optimized the patented reed organ technology and used simulation technology to create a lightweight and practical electromechanical organ. It had two layers of hand keyboards and one layer of feet. The keyboard can produce more than twenty different sounds. It can be compared with the traditional pipe organ , and its appearance is similar to the traditional pipe organ, so it is also called the "Hammond Pipe Organ". However, the sounding principle of the Hammond is through electromechanical components, which is completely different from the sound produced by a real pipe organ through sound pipes, so it is not a real pipe organ. In 1959, the Japanese YAMAHA company developed the world's first double-key transistor electronic pipe organ D-1 based on the Hammond organ patent it purchased, and used electone as its registered trademark (meaning "electronic sound"). ). The D-1 is actually a replica of the Hammond piano, but due to the use of advanced transistor technology, the internal circuit and overall performance have been greatly improved. The volume of the sound stops has been reduced and placed on both sides of the piano. It is equipped with function keys that can edit and store timbres, which greatly facilitates the player to switch timbres during performance. Later, many series such as FS, ME, HS, and EL were developed, with nearly a thousand tones, establishing YAMAHA's dominance as the double-key electronic keyboard.
The Hammond organ has evolved to this day and is a different instrument in many ways. In summary, its development process can be divided into three stages: 1. Traditional pipe organ --> 2. Hammond electromechanical organ --> 3. (YAMAHA) double-key electronic organ, as shown in the figure below
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Image 1-1 Small pipe organ (continued in churches from the 3rd century BC to the present day). |
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Image 2 Hammond pipe organ (electromechanical organ, first appeared in 1935 and continues to be improved today. See here) |
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Image 3 (YAMAHA) Double-row electronic keyboard (first appeared in 1959 and continues to be widely used today) |
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2. Structure: In 1934, the American Hammond Company successfully launched a new type of Hammond pipe organ product. It soon replaced the reed organ. Engineer Hammond replaced the reeds and tone tubes with a set of rapidly rotating magnetic wheels called tuning wheels. The tuning wheel excites the transducer, producing electrical signals of different frequencies that are sent through the amplifier to the speaker. The organ was electric, replacing the reed organ's twin bellows pedals with a single "expression" pedal more like a pipe organ. Unlike a reed organ, the organist simply changes the position of the pedals to vary the volume at will. Hammond organs are widely used in popular music such as jazz, gospel and rock music. |
Image below: The rotating mechanical tone tooth (Tone Wheel) and electromagnetic pickup device of the "Hammond Pipe Organ" |
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3. Features: With the continuous advancement of science and digital simulation technology, the colors gradually developed by Hammond organ have become richer and more realistic, including strings, brass, woodwinds, folk music, percussion, etc. One person and one organ can produce the effect of a symphony orchestra. Its use became more widespread in blues, rock, and progressive rock.(See 01, 02,03,04)
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4. Morricone Music Example
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