In Summary

Toontrack recently supercharged EZkeys once again with the release of Session Organ EKX. Promising EZ tonewheel nirvana, we navigate its almost infinite combination of settings to distil five classic tonewheel organ sounds without the grind.

Going Deeper

There was a time when many pros’ keyboard rigs would have looked a little light without a tonewheel organ providing the pulsating, ethereal magic carpet that is the Hammond sound. Either from smaller ‘spinet’ style instruments, through to the better-known console A100, B3, and C3 organs, Hammond’s additive synth in disguise provided a curious collision between all things ecclesiastical and the Devil’s Music. Becoming a sound in its own right, the organ’s impression on western music lives on.

Getting Sounds With Toontrack Session Organ EKX

The Hammond organ sound is known by millions, but getting sounds that sing can be elusive when faced with some of its enigmatic controls. You can get a full explanation of these in our article where we break down what everything does plus a lot more.

In the video we show you how to get five common organ sounds using Toontrack Session Organ EKX. Using its simple controls, we revisit everything from cutting rock organs, via reggae bars, laid-back mellow textures, as well as some of the cool jazz and soul tones for which the mighty Hammond is so well-known.

The Sounds:

Like just about any studio tool, it doesn’t matter how capable that device is without the right pair of hands. Even if you’re no keyboard virtuoso, knowing how to dial in the right sounds on the instrument can go a really long way to sounding like you know what you’re doing… Perhaps unfairly, the same can’t be said for virtuoso performances done on anything that says “Cheez Organ” on the tin.

We’ve dialled in the sounds here from scratch, but some of Toontrack’s own presets will provide a great place to start for those who aren’t totally organ-wise. The organ itself sounds great; the Leslie only has simple editing available, but the controls left in are a good compromise between authenticity and ease of use.

Luckily, if you’ve got the chops, Session Organ EKX has the sounds. It also lands with the usual compliment of extra Toontrack MIDI to inspire or even base whole compositions on. For everything else, the wonders of MIDI can also be used to record at slower tempos and/or merge data for those who sound best one limb at a time!