VR Organ Tuning Guide

The VR09/VR730 Roland organ engine has a ‘sound on its own’ – it is ‘not bad’ but does reach the authenticity of top tier stage organs like Hammond SK, Yamaha YC, Viscount etc. Its ‘base sound’ – the ‘pure sine waves’ – is ‘very sine’ and lack many overtones and the organ/rotary has a few weaknesses (that can be fixed)
Experienced Hammond players will notice that it’s difficult to impossible to reproduce certain timbres of Hammond Tonewheels, particulary when using ‘standard’ B3 registrations
In this article we explain the ‘tricks’ and VR organ parameter tuning to improve VR ‘factory organ’ sound – for both Rock and Jazz organ.
Note: the proposals are collection of experiences of various VR players – you might find them usefull or disagree – at the end it’s down to personal taste

VR organ by music-style:

Due to its character, VR organ is

  • well suited for Rock, cheesy churchy Church Organ (exellent), Bob Marley style Reggae, Latin (Santana & al)
  • difficult to use for Jazz: while some “Jimmy-Smith-all-stops-out” do work, particulary modern Jazz with colourised tones, from mellow to spherical, is sometimes impossible to reproduce, even after tuning – VR09/730 is not the preferred organ for Jazz players
Tuning and ‘fixing’ VR organ

The following chapters explain how to get more out of VR organ:
(I) “Learn playing” (II) Tuning VR Organ (III) Tuning VR Rotary (IV) VR Rotary Settings

We explain how to “fix” major VR issues (taming ‘harsh’ VR Overdrive and correcting Rotary rotational speeds and ‘ramps’) and show how to use MFX ‘Twin Rotary’, finetune harmonics (drawbars), handle leakage etc

(I) Learn to play ‘Hammond’

Classic ‘Hammond playing techniques’ are fundamental for creating authentic Hammond sound:

  • An excellent book for ‘initiating’ organ play is Hammond Organ Complete (Dave Limina/Berklee, your local shop, amazon etc): it teaches playing techniques, typical registrations and includes an audio CD.
  • Those mastering the language of Goethe can work through Bonedo Hammond Workshop – an excellent introduction into organ playing
  • Tons of ‘organ guides’ can be found in the Wide Web (youtube, google, etc)

IMPORTANT : on Roland VR09/730 organ, “standard” registrations might not deliver the exact tone Hammond players would expect. Eventually balance drawbars by “ear”

(II) Tuning VR Organ

VR offers a number of ‘parameters’ which can significantly improve the ‘factory’ organ sound

  • Organ Type: ‘RockOrgan’ is probably the most used organ type – but for ‘mellow tones’, don’t hesitate to experiment with organ type ‘Jazz’ and Rotary type 1/2 or ‘standalone Twin-Rotary’ (see chapter III) – it can sound better on your PA than default Rock-organ
  • Rotary Type: read chapter III
  • Organ-Vibrato/Chorus: while VR ‘Vibrato’ maybe is one of the worst Hammond-VC implementations ever, VR ‘Chorus’ is not bad. Be carefull when combining Chorus and ‘VR Rotary’: Chorus-3 plus Rotary Type 3 produce a ‘muddy’ sound. Eventually select Chorus 1 or 2 – and/or use Rotary type 1 or 2. Chorus 3 works well with ‘standalone Twin-Rotary’
  • Higher harmonics: the Roland Tonewheel organ lacks a lot of ‘Hammond’ overtones (high frequencies). To a certain degree this can be compensated by adding small amounts of high harmonic bars. Example: to a typical 8880… organ-registration add 1 or 2 units of 1 1/3′ and/or 1′, e.g. 888800011. Note: using VR rotary in combination with MFX ‘Twin-Rotary’ and setting the MFX knob at 11 o’clock or higher pushes those ‘added harmonics’ towards the characteristical fine Hammond leakage (‘glass tone’), thus compensating the too dull ‘VR leakage’ parameter
  • Taming of the Overdrive (OD): VR overdrive is one of the most critisised features of the VR: harsh’, ‘digital’, ‘scratchy’. Another complain is that the OD knob lacks sensibility and immediately ‘goes full’. The following measures allow to tame the OD:
    • Use organ level : At default organ level (10) the OD-knob works rather “on-off”. The trick to ‘spread’ the range for adjusting OD is to reduce organ level: set OD to e.g. 12 o’clock, then reduce the organ level (LEVEL draw-fader): the OD effect softens. Adjust level so that OD sounds moderate: now you have the entire range of the knob to fine adjust OD
    • OD ‘stepping’: Turning the OD knob does not increase the effect continuosly but in steps – “ranges” – where the effect changes its tonal characteristic towards harshness: play with OD knob and organ level to find your personal ‘sweet spot’
    • Pre-Amp distortion : Avoid running organ into (added) pre-amp distortion (see next paragraph)
    • ‘OD dry’ (wet/dry) option : In VR menu ‘EFX’ you find the ‘OD dry’ parameter: it changes the ‘mix’ between ‘dry organ’ part and ‘overdriven organ’ part in the end signal. Note that this can be counter-productive: increasing ‘dry’ might want you to regain the lost amount of OD by turning the OD knob to the right – but turning the knob right places OD in the harsher sounding ranges (see before)
  • Overdrive (OD) vs. ‘VR preamp distortion’: a too high level drives the organ (and any other sound like EPs) into VR internal preamp (soundchip?) saturation which leads to harsh distortions (sounding like broken headphones) added to the original Overdrive effect as a supposedly ‘overly harsh’ overdrive. The following examples demonstrate organ with pure preamp distortion and organ with OD and preamp distortion:
    [LEFT] ‘clean’ organ (without OD): level is rised and preamp crackles kick in at second ‘5’ on each ‘rotary peak’
    [RIGHT] organ with some OD: level is rised and preamp crackles kick in at second ‘6’, rendering the “overdrive” overly harsh.

    Clean organ, preamp saturation at second “5”
    Organ with OD, preamp saturation at second “6”

    A typical trap for running organ into preamp-saturation is applying VR-OD: it not only adds overdrive but also rises overall organ level, as a consequence organ runs into preamp saturation. This usually happens unnoticed and VR-OD “seems” to be become overly harsh
    Other traps are TONE knob to left or right, too high organ level-fader, organ GAIN etc

    One can prepare ‘save’ registrations that prevent VR organ of (unintentional) preamp saturation (use headphones or use good monitors):

    • select organ type, rotary type, etc and set rotary ‘fast’
    • pull drawbars full out (or at least to the maximum you will use)
    • set OD to 12 o’clock (where OD-induced organ level is maximum)
    • adjust to taste: TONE, Organ Gain, Twin-Rotary, etc.
    • play massive chords, try to sonically identify preamp distortion ‘crackles’
    • adjust organ LEVEL fader until the ‘crackles’ completely disappear (organ-level can go down to 2-3)
    • save to a registration

    Now you can change drawbars and amount of OD without risk of running into preamp saturation

    NOTE: preamp saturation can be used intentionally e.g. for creating brute transistor amp distortion, e.g. for heavy hard rock

  • TONE: TONE knob is a ‘V’ (lambda)-shaped equalizer: turn clockwise to rise highs and bass for a clean, aggressive sound, turn counter-clockweise for a ‘nosey’ sound (TONE at 9-10 o’clock replicates quite realistically B3, Nord or Hammond SK timbre. Eventually compensate reduced bass with organ LOW GAIN)
  • Organ GAIN: in VR menu ‘Organ’, Low/High Gain can be used to reshape the tonal character. It can be combined with TONE for a sort of ‘3-band EQ’
  • Leakage: VR09/730 leakage (crosstalk) adds a lot of (non-authentic) ‘deep fuzz’ – especially ‘bass-centric’ speakers start rumbling like a powerplant substation – so be careful when adding leakage. To improve the leakage ‘timbre’, see above ‘higher harmonics’
  • Cry Baby, Cry: particulary VR Rotary types 2 and 3 produce a rather ‘damped’ tone. To make VR organ very bright:
    • turn TONE knob clockwise
    • play with ‘organ gain’ (VR menu ‘Organ’): example: set ‘low gain’ to -5 and ‘high gain’ to +10
    • use the brighter sounding VR Rotary type 1 – or even more extrem:
    • use ‘standalone TwinRotary’ for a sharp, cutting-through transistor rock organ or clean Jazz organ
  • VR organ level bug: in a ‘mixed’ registration (organ + other sounds), VR does NOT SAVE ORGAN LEVEL (the level jumps back to default 10 when recalling the registration). There are two workarounds to change level in mixed registrations:
    • Organ GAIN (VR menu ‘Organ’): setting low and high gain to indetical values (e.g. -5 / -5) changes the level without changing the EQ curve
    • CTRLR Editor : when VR is connected to CTRLR Editor, the latter sets an additinal ‘hidden organ level parameter’ in VR – which is saved in registrations (note: you can adjust level with both VR level-fader or the level knob in the editor)

(III) Tuning VR Rotary

Everybody loves ‘VR Rotary type 3’ introduced by later firmware update. But with all the excitement don’t forget the ‘older’ rotary types as they can produce decent (sometimes better) results with respect to PA and music style. You might also exploit the possibilities of MFX ‘Twin Rotary’.

‘Real Leslie’ rotational speeds and accelerations

All men are equal – but Leslies are not 🙂 There is no such thing as the true unique real ‘Leslie speed’. Leslies rotate differently depending on model, ageing of bearings, tension/ageing of belts (friction, slip), the chosen pulleys of the belt driven horn, etc. etc. etc.

Grosso modo ‘authentic values’ are: tremolo (fast) speed: 360-400 rpm, chorale (slow) speed: 40-50 rpm.
Setting (slow/fast) speeds of drum and horn to identical values will result in a ‘church like’, rather ‘clean pulsing’ effect as drum and horn will be phase-coherent. Setting them slightly apart causes a ‘phase shift’ between drum and horn, which makes the sound more vivid.

In real life, rpms of horn and drum always differ to a certain amount (on purpose or by imperfections/ageing) and usually the horn rotates faster. On real Leslies the ‘pulleys’ of the belt driven horn can be changed which varies speed about ca. +/- 10 rpms.

VR Rotary types

VR has two ‘principal’ rotaries: the ‘VR rotary’ (VR left panel ‘ROTARY SOUND’ button) and the ‘Twin Rotary’ of VR MFX section (which is a full rotary on its own).
Both rotaries can be used standalone (‘pure’) or in combination (the original idea behind ‘Twin Rotary’).
VR menu ‘Rotary’ options (type, speed/acceleration options etc) apply to both ‘VR Rotary’ and ‘Twin Rotary’

  1. ‘pure’ VR Rotary with types 1-3 : ‘ROTARY SOUND’ button (VR left panel) is ON while no MFX ‘Twin Rotary’ is added
  2. ‘pure’ Twin Rotary with types 1-3 : ‘ROTARY SOUND’ button (VR left panel) is OFF, VR MFX is set to ‘Twin Rotary’ with MFX knob set to max
  3. ‘combined’ Rotaries with types 1-3 : ‘ROTARY SOUND’ button (VR left panel) is ON and MFX is set to ‘Twin Rotary’. While the original idea is simulating two Leslies on stage (used by some Rock bands), adding a slice of Twin Rotary to VR Rotary can significantly improve the sound of VR rotary
Using VR Twin-Rotary ‘standalone’

MFX Twin Rotary (TR) can be used not only as an effect added to VR-Rotary but as a Leslie on its own. As such it is fully controlled by ‘slow/fast/stop’ (ROTARY buttons/mod-lever) and all parameters of VR menu ‘Rotary’

‘Standalone Twin Rotary’ produces a very clear, sharp, transistor-like sound that can be used for aggressive Rock organ or clear Jazz/Reggae organ or as ‘clean sound’ feeded into an external ‘amp simulation’ (effect processor, FX pedal)

To setup ‘standalone Twin Rotary’:

  • switch VR ‘ROTARY SOUND’ OFF (switches VR ‘amp simulation’ off)
  • set MFX to ‘Twin Rotary’
  • turn the MFX knob clockwise (preferably to max)
  • chose a Rotary type: Twin Rotary also varies with ‘rotary type’ of VR-menu ‘ROTARY’:
          type 1 sets Twin Rotary to a rather ‘monophonic’ rotary effect
          type 2 sets Twin Rotary to a decent stereo rotary effect
          type 3 is _identical_ to type 2 but slighly louder
  • tune ‘rotary’ speed/fall/rise/acc. options in VR-menu. Note: values differ for Twin Rotary (see tables below)
  • apply Overdrive, organ Chorus/Vibrato, organ low/high gain etc. to your taste
Using VR Twin-Rotary in combination with ‘VR Rotary’

Adding an amount of MFX ‘Twin Rotary’ (TR) to the standard VR rotary can positively influence the rotary sound.
The contribution of MFX Twin-Rotary to the ‘rotor sound spectrum’ becomes significant when rising the knob to 11 o’clock or plus:

  • it adds more ‘complexity’ to the ‘rotor tonal spectrum, making the sound more ‘vivid’ and ‘spheric’
  • it improves the (not so nice) ‘whining’ character of VR Rotary
  • it pronounces high organ frequencies, adding (authentic) Hammond leakage ‘glass sound’ (that lacks in VR organ)

Be careful: large amounts of ‘Twin Rotary’ (2 o’clock and more) have a risk of rendering it into a ‘chorus effect’.

Important: as discussed above, ‘Twin Rotary’ is (also) influenced by the ‘speed/rise/fall’ settings in VR menu ‘Rotary’ – but the menu values result in significantly higher rpms compared to VR standard Rotary (see ‘Tuning Tables’ below).
When MFX pot is set past 11 o’clock, ‘TR rotation’ domiates over ‘VR rotation’ and the audible rotation speed becomes a multiple of VR Rotary speed.
This ‘rpm transfer’ affects only slow speed but not the fast mode
To correct the rotation open VR menu ‘Rotary’ and adjust slow speeds as follows:
– for fotary type 1: woofer: 5, tweeter: 5 (both ca. 55 rpm)
– for rotary type 2+3: woofer: 3, tweeter: 10 (both ca. 47 rpm)
Notes:
‘tweeter 10’ for type 2/3 is no typo: with Rotary type 2/3 VR Rotary tweeter speed dominates Twin Rotary tweeter speed (for any high MFX level)
the adjustment is necessary only for MFX-TR settings higher than 11 o’clock, with MFX-TR equal or lower 11 o’clock , standard VR settings do apply

(IV) VR Rotary Settings

VR ‘factory settings’ of woofer/tweeter speed and ramps are “un-authentic” and do not correspond to real Leslies: ‘realistic’ settings are given in the tables below (for the different VR Rotary types)

Tuning parameters in this chapter are given as ‘VR menu numbers’ (midi-value) and real values:
rotation speed: ‘rpm’ (rotations per minute)
ramps (rise/fall/acceleration times): seconds

Hints:

  • ‘golden rule’: Leslies usually spin at ca. 45-55 rpm in SLOW and 370-420 rpm in FAST mode with speeds of Woofer slighly slower than Tweeter (ca 5-10 rpm in SLOW and 5-30 rpm in FAST mode)
  • Tricks to measure ‘rpms’ and ‘times’ of VR Rotaries (use headphones)
    a) Rotary speeds using VR ‘tap tempo’ : example for woofer-slow: pull low harmonics(16″, 8″), switch rotary speed to slow,
        in VR menu ‘Rotary’ set speed of Tweeter to 0
        Play a note and tap the ‘rotary beat’ on VR ‘Tap Tempo’
        Observe the displayed values and average
    b) Ramps: use a clock to measure fall/rise times
    c) Users of CTRLR EDITOR: V-Organ shows rpm and time

How to read the tables: ‘value’ is the number to set in VR menu ‘Rotary’ (or CTRLR EDITOR), the brackets show the equivalent rotation per minute (rpm) and ramp times (seconds)
Menu numbers can correspond to different real speeds and ramps depending on rotary type. Example: Woofer Slow value ’10’ results in 47 rpm for Rotary Type 1/2/3 and 105 rpm for Twin-Rotary

  1. VR ‘factory’ settings (un-authentic)
    VR ‘factory settings’ do not correspond to ‘real Leslies’ – but if you like the sound leave it as it is.
    • VR Rotary Type 2/3 factory setting:
        Woofer SLOW Tweeter SLOW Woofer FAST Tweeter FAST
      value (rpm) 12 (56 rpm) 23 (108 rpm) 62 (292 rpm) 99 (467 rpm)
        Woofer RISE Tweeter RISE Woofer FALL Tweeter FALL
      value (time) 36 (7s) 92 (1.2s) 36 (7s) 80 (1.7s)
  2. VR ‘authentic’ setting of a ‘real Leslie’
    VR ‘authentic settings’ correspond to an ‘averaged real Leslie’
    • VR Rotary Type 1 ‘authentic setting’ (eventually mixed with MFX Twin-Rotary at MFX knob < 11 o'clock)
        Woofer SLOW Tweeter SLOW Woofer FAST Tweeter FAST
      value (rpm) 9 (42 rpm) 10 (47 rpm) 80 (377 rpm) 82 (387 rpm)
        Woofer Accel. Tweeter Accel. – –
      value (time) 6 (6s) 12 (1.5s) – –
    • VR Rotary Type 2/3 ‘authentic setting’ (eventually mixed with MFX Twin-Rotary at MFX knob < 11 o'clock)
        Woofer SLOW Tweeter SLOW Woofer FAST Tweeter FAST
      value (rpm) 9 (42 rpm) 10 (47 rpm) 82 (387 rpm) 85 (401 rpm)
        Woofer RISE Tweeter RISE Woofer FALL Tweeter FALL
      value (time) 50 (5s) 90 (1.2s) 50 (5s) 85 (1.4s)
    • pure VR Twin-Rotary (rotary type 1) ‘authentic setting’
        Woofer SLOW Tweeter SLOW Woofer FAST Tweeter FAST
      value (rpm) 5 (55 rpm) 5 (55 rpm) 94 (360 rpm) 95 (370 rpm)
        Woofer Accel. Tweeter Accel. – –
      value (time) 6 (6s) 12 (1.5s) – –
    • pure VR Twin-Rotary (rotary type 2/3) ‘authentic setting’
      important: TR slow speed settings are somewhat strange: woofer slow speed MUST be 1 unit higher than Tweeter to approximately match the 50 rpms.
        Woofer SLOW Tweeter SLOW Woofer FAST Tweeter FAST
      value (rpm) 3 (48 rpm) 2 (48 rpm) 74 (390 rpm) 77 (380 rpm)
        Woofer RISE Tweeter RISE Woofer FALL Tweeter FALL
      value (time) 50 (5s) 90 (1.2s) 50 (5s) 85 (1.4s)
    • combined VR Rotary Type 1 and MFX Twin-Rotary at MFX >11 o’clock, ‘authentic setting’
        Woofer SLOW Tweeter SLOW Woofer FAST Tweeter FAST
      value (rpm) 5 (55 rpm) 5 (55 rpm) 80 (377 rpm) 82 (387 rpm)
        Woofer Accel. Tweeter Accel. – –
      value (time) 6 (6s) 12 (1.5s) – –
    • combined VR Rotary Type 2/3 and MFX Twin-Rotary at MFX >11 o’clock, ‘authentic setting’
        Woofer SLOW Tweeter SLOW Woofer FAST Tweeter FAST
      value (rpm) 3 (47 rpm) 10 (47 rpm) 82 (387 rpm) 85 (401 rpm)
        Woofer RISE Tweeter RISE Woofer FALL Tweeter FALL
      value (time) 50 (5s) 90 (1.2s) 50 (5s) 85 (1.4s)
  3. other Examples of ‘real Leslies’ and ‘Rotary sims’
    VR Rotary parameter sets derived from ‘real Leslie’, ‘organ apps’ etc.
    • ‘Leslie 147’ (measurement by Mr. Fischer), values for VR rotary type 2/3:
        Woofer SLOW Tweeter SLOW Woofer FAST Tweeter FAST
      value (rpm) 8 (35 rpm) 10 (47 rpm) 72 (340 rpm) 85 (400 rpm)
        Woofer RISE Tweeter RISE Woofer FALL Tweeter FALL
      value (time) 50 (5s) 91 (1.2s) 50 (5s) 83 (1.5s)
    • Averaged values of a couple of ‘real’ Leslies, values for VR rotary type 2/3
        Woofer SLOW Tweeter SLOW Woofer FAST Tweeter FAST
      value (rpm) 9 (42 rpm) 9 (42 rpm) 78 (368 rpm) 79 (372 rpm)
    • Neo Ventilator, values for VR rotary type 2/3
        Woofer SLOW Tweeter SLOW Woofer FAST Tweeter FAST
      value (rpm) 10 (48 rpm) 10 (48 rpm) 83 (390 rpm) 87 (408 rpm)
    • GSI VB3-II ‘organ app’, values for VR rotary type 2/3
        Woofer SLOW Tweeter SLOW Woofer FAST Tweeter FAST
      value (rpm) 9 (43 rpm) 10 (46 rpm) 81 (384 rpm) 88 (414 rpm)
        Woofer RISE Tweeter RISE Woofer FALL Tweeter FALL
      value (time) 42 (6s) 97 (1s) 58 (3.5s) 105 (0.8s)