A combo organ, so-named and classified by popular culture due to its original intended use by small, touring
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
,
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' (G ...
and
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
groups known as "combo bands", as well as some models having "Combo" as part of their brand or model names, is an
electronic organ of the
frequency divider type, generally produced between the early 1960s and the late 1970s. This type of organ predated, and contributed largely to, the development of modern synthesizers. The combo organ concept, at least in the context of mass-production, is thought to have arisen from popular demand, when smaller home organs were seen in music stores. Combo organs were probably originally developed in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, based on the
Univox polyphonic
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...
version of the
Clavioline
The clavioline is an electronic keyboard instrument, a forerunner to the analog synthesizer. It was invented by French engineer Constant Martin in 1947 in Versailles.
The instrument consists of a keyboard and a separate amplifier and speaker ...
, and some models included the inner-workings of
Italian-made
transistor
upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink).
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
s. They were the brainchild of necessity for portable organs of simple design, mainly for use in these small groups. Combo organs ended up having a major impact on the music scene of the mid- and late 1960s, particularly on
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
of that era.
-- A combo organ could best be defined as "a portable electric organ designed to be used by a musical combo".
Details
![Voxcontinental](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Voxcontinental.jpg)
A combo organ is an electronic portable organ, usually
transistor
upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink).
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...
ized (although some older designs used
tubes; and later models,
integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
s), that was designed for use on stage, usually in the context of a band or group. A combo organ is usually supported on a removable or folding stand or legs;
these originally would have been supplied as part of the instrument. Combo organs were best known for their bright, reedy sound; their portability; surprising versatility; and relatively low cost. Most such instruments have no built-in amplification.
A typical combo organ has one manual (
keyboard
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
), covering four or five octaves, though a few models had two manuals of three or four octaves. A number of different pitches and tone-colours ("voices") were featured, often using rocker-switches, tabs or
drawbars to function as "stops" to select them. Although the sounds may bear such names as "flute", "string" or "horn", they are not intended to sound like their orchestral namesakes - the nomenclature is borrowed from
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...
tradition. Some instruments allow the keyboard to be split, the lowest octave or two producing a pedal-like bass tone. Most combo organs offer
vibrato as a special effect; a few feature more unusual effects such as "repeat percussion" (
tremolo
In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo.
The first is a rapid reiteration:
* Of a single Musical note, note, particularly used on String instrument#Bowing, bowed string instrument ...
), "slalom" (
pitch bend
In electronic music, a pitch wheel, pitch bend or bender is a control on a synthesizer to vary the pitch in a continuously variable manner (portamento).
The first synthesizer with a pitch wheel was the Minimoog, in 1970.
Alternatively, pitch ben ...
) or
wah-wah. A
volume pedal
An expression pedal is an important control found on many musical instruments including organs, electronic keyboards, and pedal steel guitar. The musician uses the pedal to control different aspects of the sound, commonly volume. Separate express ...
is normally used to vary the volume while playing. Less frequently an optional set of
bass pedals
Bass pedals are an electronic musical instrument with a foot-operated pedal keyboard with a range of one or more octaves. The earliest bass pedals from the 1970s consisted of a pedalboard and analog synthesizer tone generation circuitry packaged ...
could be attached.
Soundwise, combo organs are very similar to each other, although there are definite discernible tonal characteristics that differ between models that might be considered "default" for each model. For instance, the
Vox Continental tends toward having somewhat of a
Hammond
Hammond may refer to:
People
* Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist
* Hammond (surname)
* Justice Hammond (disambiguation)
Places Antarctica
* Hammond Glacier, Antarctica
Australia
*Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...
-like, or "
sine wave
A sine wave, sinusoidal wave, or just sinusoid is a curve, mathematical curve defined in terms of the ''sine'' trigonometric function, of which it is the graph of a function, graph. It is a type of continuous wave and also a Smoothness, smooth p ...
"-like sound (only thinner); while the
Farfisa Combo Compact has an aggressive, raspy quality to some of its boosted tones, and the
Gibson G-101 has a cleaner, contoured, more "
sawtooth wave
The sawtooth wave (or saw wave) is a kind of non-sinusoidal waveform. It is so named based on its resemblance to the teeth of a plain-toothed saw with a zero rake angle. A single sawtooth, or an intermittently triggered sawtooth, is called a ...
"-like tone, with
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
-like, percussive sound capabilities and a slight "after-jingle", with
Sustain selected, on some voice settings.
To collectors, players and enthusiasts, the visual aesthetic is often as important as the sound. Originally, the instruments were often available in bright and unusual colors (orange, blue, bright red, green) with showy chrome legs, multi-colored stop-tabs, and reverse-colored or gray-and-white keys. Towards the mid-1970s, combo organs began to take on a more muted appearance, with woodgrain or black covering and conventional keyboard colors. Many combo organs were produced in such countries as Italy or Japan, yet some more common models used by major acts were manufactured in the United Kingdom or the United States. Organs that are intended to emulate the sound and characteristics of a
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
are not generally regarded as combo organs; see
clonewheel organ.
-- They have been sold to the public from 1946 to present, beginning in Germany with Jorgensen Electronics then gradually spreading worldwide by the 1960s. Kinds of tone generation have included tube or transistor analog oscillators & dividers, mechanoelectrical sources such as a few Hammond tonewheel combo models in 1969 & a Noble amplified reed combo organ in 1966, with fully digital beginning in 1974 and since becoming the predominant type. They have been made with one to three keyboards. Sounds, styles, and features vary greatly.
Models
Well-known combo organs include:
*
Vox Continental (UK, USA, Italy)
*
Vox Jaguar
The Vox Continental is a transistorised combo organ that was manufactured between 1962 and 1971 by the British musical equipment manufacturer Vox. It was designed for touring musicians and as an alternative to the heavy Hammond organ. It supp ...
(Italy)
*
Philicorda
The Philicorda was an electronic organ first produced in the 1960s by Philips. It was Philips' first entry into musical instruments and targeted the home market.
History
The Philicorda came out of the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium in Ein ...
by
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
(Netherlands)
*
Farfisa Combo Compact series (Italy)
*Farfisa Professional, VIP and FAST series (Italy)
*
Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:
* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below).
** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
A3 and YC series (Japan)
*
Doric Organ
The Doric Transistorized Organ is a model of combo organ produced in Italy in the 1960s.
History
Doric organs were also sold under the brand name Ekosonic and were marketed as being the "lightest on the market" at . Much like early Farfisa combo ...
(Italy)
*
Ace Tone "TOP" series (Japan)
*
Gibson G-101 (USA)
*
Fender Contempo (USA)
Popularity
The combo organ's greatest popularity was during the 1960s, when it was featured on hits by
The Doors
The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
,
The Animals,
Iron Butterfly,
Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two differen ...
,
Them
Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to:
Books
* ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet''
* '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...
,
Strawberry Alarm Clock, and many others and it was the main instrument of Pink Floyd's
Richard Wright, from 1966 to 1973. Although the instrument fell from favor during the 1970s, there was a resurgence about 1977 when
new wave artists such as
Blondie,
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
,
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.[Talkin ...](_blank)
and
XTC
XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in ...
used them. More recently, vintage combo organs have been used by
The Horrors,
Stereolab,
Pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
* ...
,
Kaiser Chiefs and
Arctic Monkeys.
References
External links
Combo Organ HeavenSite about combo organ manufacturers and models
Combo Organ NationForum for combo organ owners
Combo Organ GroupMailing group and information repository
{{DEFAULTSORT:Combo Organ
Electronic organs