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Vagabond Synth Nerd’s Journal Vol. 222 - The Meeting of Monster Machine and Korg’s Nautilus Part III

2025-01-23

Theme:sound&person, sound

■ CX-3 is a virtual tonewheel organ that’s a piece of Korg's legacy

This is Part III of our exploration of Korg's workstation synthesizer, the Nautilus.
In the last issue, I gave you a bird's eye view of the Nautilus, a brief introduction to its operation, and a quick look at the CX-3's organ engine.

This time, we will focus on the CX-3 virtual organ, which is the main axis of Nautilus' nine sound engines.

KORG / Nautilus NAUTILUS-61

KORG / Nautilus NAUTILUS-61

The CX-3 is a dedicated organ machine released by Korg in 1980, and is known as a masterpiece that reproduced the tone-wheel sound of the Hammond organ using original technology.

KORG CX-3(1980,front), CC BY 2.0 (Source: Wikipedia)

The CX series was unmatched in terms of longevity.
The CX-3's sound engine is used in the Nautilus and offers even more refined specifications.

The CX-3 is a virtual organ that simulates a Hammond organ.

The CX-3 has two types of tones: a Vintage version that faithfully models the Hammond organ's unique noise, and a Clean version that eliminates noise.

Furthermore, when a Hammond organ produces a sound, the “Leslie speaker,” which has a rotating horn (speaker) inside, is the most common method, and the CX-3 faithfully models even the noise that the Leslie constantly emits as the horn rotates.

In addition, the new EX drawbars and percussion, which are central to Hammond's sound creation, can be used to create new sounds for the Hammond organ that have never existed before.

There are many other categories of organ tone settings, but this report will focus on the Vintage and Clean sounds and the parameters around the indispensable Leslie speaker.

■The difference between the sounds of Vintage and Clean

Vintage

Vintage is a unique sound of Hammond, which is a vintage organ. The sound of the Hammond is produced by a tone wheel (a metal disk) that rotates to generate a sine wave, which is amplified by a pickup.
The pickup picks up not only the sine wave but also the sound (noise) of the tone wheel rotation.
The rotating sound inside the organ is called leakage noise, and it is no exaggeration to say that this leakage noise sound is a characteristic of the Hammond organ. In this sense, leakage noise is just that signature Hammond sound.
Nautilus also allows you to control the level of this leakage noise sound.

The screen below shows the display where Vintage is selected on the CX-3. The text is small, so it is difficult to understand, but on the left side of the display, there is a category for selecting Vintage or Clean in the Wheel Type of Tone, and Vintage is selected in yellow (see Screen 2).

[Screen 1] Display of the Nautilus organ tone settings.

[Screen 2] Up-size of the above display

You can see that the Leakage Level, the fourth parameter from the top of the Tone wheel, is set to 30. This Leakage Level is a parameter that sets the leakage noise level generated by the rotation of the tone wheel. The maximum level for this parameter is 99.

When this level is set to maximum, the treble part of the organ tone will sound clipped. It is difficult to describe, but you will hear an electric sound (noise) such as squeaking on the high notes of the organ tones. The level of 99 is extreme, but if the level is set to 0, this sound (noise) will disappear.

As for what level is appropriate, the default for this organ tone is 30, so the performer should decide on his or her own preferred level.

You may want to change it depending on the genre of music you play. If you play hard rock, you can set the leakage noise higher, and if you play bossa nova, you can set it to a lower level to get a similar feel.

However, the leakage noise is not the whole organ tone setting, so it is a matter of finding the right balance....

I prefer 60 or higher with a little more leakage noise. This leakage noise is a sound factor directly related to the image of the Hammond organ, so if you play organ tones on the Nautilus, you should definitely check the leakage noise.

[Clean]

Setting the tone to Clean produces a beautiful organ tone. It does not have Hammond's characteristic noise. But sonically speaking, it is definitely a Hammond organ. However, those who like that distinctive Hammond organ sound may find it to be a little lacking.

■ Leslie Speaker Settings

Next, let's look at the Leslie speaker settings. The manual describes it as a rotary speaker.
The Leslie speaker is absolutely necessary to produce the organ sound. In Nautilus, the Leslie speaker can also be set.

First, select an organ tone from the tone screen and press the MODE button in the upper left corner of Screen 3.

[Screen 3] Quick access button - MODE button in the upper left.

Then, from Mode Select (Screen 4), tap Program in the upper center, then tap Leslie Speaker on the screen to bring up Screen 5. From this screen, select the two Leslie Speakers.

[Screen 4] Mode Select

Leslie selection can be Classic CX-3 or Custom.

[Screen 5] Leslie Speaker Selection Screen

[Screen 6] Leslie Speaker Selection Screen

The images of the Leslie speakers on the left side of Screens 5 and 6 show ClassicCX-3 and Custom, each with a different sound.

The Custom speaker is the image of the back side of the Leslie speaker (Image 5), and the ClassicCX-3 is the image of the front side of the Leslie speaker. The Leslie front side image looks like a dresser. The different image representations allow the user to determine at a glance which Leslie type has been selected.

According to the manual, the ClassicCX-3 is the version used in Korg's early Kronos and the Custom is a modified version of it.

The Custom may be superior in sound. Comparing the two, the ClassicCX-3 sounds a bit flat, while the Custom has a fuller, more three-dimensional sound.

Even with the Yamaha YC61, the new version has a new Leslie speaker category called “Studio” and its sound was a step better than the old version, so I will choose the improved version of Custom for Nautilus for now.

Also, it seems that the distortion is different when using a volume pedal, so I will check this area later.

In this article, I divided the Nautilus leakage noise setting and the Leslie speaker setting, which are major elements of the organ sound, and explained their origins and what I thought about the sounds.

There are so many factors that shape the sound of the Hammond organ that it is impossible to write about them all in this report, but I hope you will consider them as symbolic factors.

In the next issue, I will report on the drawbar, which is the heart of the Hammond organ and determines the tone of the organ. Please look forward to it!


The “sound & person” column is made up of contributions from you.
For details about contributing, click here.

shinsekenban

高校時代よりプログレシブロックの虜になり、大学入学と同時に軽音楽部に入部。キーボードを担当し、イエス、キャメル、四人囃子等のコピーバンドに参加。静岡の放送局に入社し、バンド活動を続ける。シンセサイザーの番組やニュース番組の音楽物、楽器リポート等を制作、また番組の音楽、選曲、SE ,ジングル制作等も担当。静岡県内のローランド、ヤマハ、鈴木楽器、河合楽器など楽器メーカーも取材多数。
富田勲、佐藤博、深町純、井上鑑、渡辺貞夫、マル・ウォルドロン、ゲイリー・バートン、小曽根真、本田俊之、渡辺香津美、村田陽一、上原ひろみ、デビッド・リンドレー、中村善郎、オルケスタ・デ・ラ・ルスなど(敬称略)、多くのミュージシャンを取材。
<好きな音楽>ジャズ、ボサノバ、フュージョン、プログレシブロック、Jポップ
<好きなミュージシャン>マイルス・デイビス、ビル・エバンス、ウェザーリポート、トム・ジョビン、ELP、ピンク・フロイド、イエス、キング・クリムゾン、佐藤博、村田陽一、中村善郎、松下誠、南佳孝等

KORG / ノーチラス NAUTILUS-61

KORG

ノーチラス NAUTILUS-61

¥222,800(incl. tax)

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