Re: Vibrato/Tremolo in Leslie Speakers

[hippo@xxxxxxxxxx (Hugh Messenger)]

At 1:49 PM 6/4/95, Barry Schaede wrote:
>Mike Curtis' recent post on vibrato mentioned Leslie speakers as source
>of true vibrato.

As a Hammond player as well as a harp player, I get to play around with a
lot of rotating speakers.  I've tried harp through just about every model
of Lesley, plus other makes of rotating speakers (I have a mid 60's Yamaha
model that is one of the weirdest speakers I've ever seen, sold originally
as a "chorus" device).  IMHO, harp just sounds silly through a Lesley.
Makes a Hammoond sound like a million bucks, but makes a harp sound like
the player is standing on a carousel, about to throw up.

One thing the Hammond/Lesley FAQ didn't talk about is miking the beasts up.
This is a real bitch, as to get the true effect amplified through the PA
needs at least four microphones, two on the top horns and two on the bass
"bucket".  Each pair can either live at 90 or 180 degrees apart - opinions
vary as to which sounds better.  I like the 90 degree arrangement myself.
Anyone who has experience of miking up amplifiers in a less than
acoustically perfect stage environment can probably guess what an ordeal
putting four mikes on a single amp is ...

PetPeeve - last time I saw the Allman Brothers, the sound man used a single
mike on the top horns and nothing on the bass bucket.  This was in a 2,500
seat auditorium.  Greg sounded like he was playing a Melotron instead of a
Hammond!

   -- hugh