1968 Conqueror of American Rock - Chapter 168



Only Noblemtl

168. NAMM Show (5)

The Hammond organ is an electronic organ invented by Dr. Lawrence Hammond in the United States in 1935, and the B3 and C3 models are recognized as legendary masterpieces.

Before the electric guitar sound evolved to its next level, the sizzling Hammond organ’s role in intense rock music was comparable to that of the guitar.

When asked to name a representative band that shows off its power by racing with guitars and organs, everyone would name Deep Purple.

Although the Nam Show featured newly developed instruments, the Hammond organ was presented with slightly modified designs or improved functions based on already famous models.

Laurence Hammond had no hesitation in signing Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord as an endorser years ago. While Hammond organs are usually used in jazz, blues, soul, and gospel music, Jon Lord has also made a name for himself as an organist in rock bands.

Unlike most organists, he showed off his flashy performance and tremendous playing skills on stage. He not only played standing up without sitting on a chair, but also pushed and pulled the nine draw bars in a flashy manner, and even tilted the organ body when his performance reached its peak. He was the one who wrote the history of the Hammond organ in rock bands.

The Hammond organ he demonstrated was one of the most popular booths at the Nam Show today.

“John, you’re the best.”

After a month-long show on the Sunset Strip, all members of Deep Purple returned to England, but Jon Lord stayed in LA for the Nam Show demo. Ritchie Blackmore, who was not on good terms with the other members, stayed with him and came to Nam Show today to support his demo.

“Thanks, Richie. I really like the sizzling sound of the amp this year, haha.”

The developer stayed behind to answer technical questions from attendees, and the two decided to take a tour of the exhibition hall.

“America is truly an amazing country. It hosts such a huge world-class musical instrument fair every year.”

“That’s why. The California climate is perfect for drying wood. That’s why American brands like Fender and Gibson are the best.”

Although Britain currently leads the way in amplifier manufacturing technology, the United States is overwhelmingly ahead when it comes to electric guitars.

“When I see that, Brian May is really great. What do you think as a guitarist?”

“I have to admit, that guy. Even though he made the guitar with his father because he had no money, he’s really smart. England is humid and it’s hard to dry wood, but he came up with the idea of ​​tearing down wood from an 18th century fireplace and making it, haha.”

“Brian uses his harmonies very cleverly. Calculating the delay and layering the chords on the returning notes is something that not just anyone can do. It’s a thoroughly calculated harmonies.”

The two walked around the large exhibition hall, raving about Brian May. Then, their eyes were drawn to one place. People were lined up outside a small booth in the far corner, unable to enter.

“What kind of instrument is it that has so many people gathered in such a remote place?”

The two people’s footsteps naturally headed towards that place. The sound of the performance being demonstrated gradually came closer.

“Huh? This is Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3!”

John Lord, who majored in classical music, shouted out the name of the song as soon as he heard it. I never thought I would hear this song on a Nam show… … .

“It’s true. But it’s different. I can hear sounds similar to string instruments, organ sounds, and most of all, the electric guitar leads the song.”

Ritchie Blackmore was also one of those rock guitarists who believed in classics. When he couldn’t see inside the booth because of the crowd, he looked up at the sign.

Garage Brew.

It was the brand name of the overdrive pedal ‘La Metal’ created by James Choi.

“John, look at that sign over there.”

“Huh… … I see. Since it’s our first time exhibiting as a small brand, we were assigned to this small corner spot, hehe. But what kind of instrument is it that produces sounds like an orchestra in such a small space?”

Of course, it didn’t sound like a real orchestra. But it was a sound that could be used in a concert hall. And how many keyboardists could there be in that small space to make it sound like so many people were playing? John Lord was dying of curiosity.

“John, I think I can hear the Hammond organ too.”

“Similar, but no. Besides, there is a separate Hammond organ booth, so there is no way they would launch it here. But they copied it really well.”

For a more rugged sound, Jon Lord connected a Hammond C3 organ to Leslie speakers and a Marshall guitar amplifier, creating a unique tone and power rivaling that of an electric guitar.

A feast of strings that sound like dozens of string instruments, a sizzling Hammond organ, and a frighteningly aggressive guitar solo. How many people are in there…?

John Lord had also tried practicing this piece, but had given up several times due to the crazy irregular scale and the excessive stretching that made his fingers feel like they were going to tear.

He spread out his ten fingers in front of him.

It was a tricky fingering that required the middle and ring fingers to be separated by more than a third, or the thumb to go straight from the little finger to the next note. He thought that only someone with the hands of a basketball player could do it.

In addition, the 11th and 12th broken chord arpeggios were so scary that I could almost spit them out just by looking at the score. The notes were so dense that I had to look at them with a magnifying glass. No matter how many people were playing, it was clear that each person was taking turns playing the main theme.

“John, come to your senses.”

Richie shook John’s shoulder, his face looking like he had lost his mind, as if he was worried about him.

“Ah… … Uh… … Hmm. No matter how much I think about it, it’s definitely a new instrument I don’t know about. And the main melody is played alternately by two keyboardists and James, and each of them adds harmonies. One of them is definitely that girl named Angela. She’s such an unconventional player that it doesn’t feel awkward at all to play such a variety of irregular scales. But if you listen closely, the other keyboardist plays almost exactly as in the original score. If my guess that there are two keyboard players is correct.”

John Lord pulled himself together and focused on the music again.

“I wonder how James came up with the idea to play this on guitar. It’s not as easy to play as on piano, but I tried playing this on guitar and it was just so fucking annoying. I tore up the sheet music.”

“It’s the last part of the first movement. Surely they won’t play the third movement in Namsho? If they do, I’ll go to them and bow to them.”

John Lord meant it.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

As the first movement ended, cheers erupted from inside and outside the booth. This level of cheering was a rare sight at a musical instrument exhibition hall, not a concert hall. Moreover, it was not even the main stage, but a small booth in the corner.

“The booth that created the most sensation at this year’s Nam Show was Garage Brew.”

Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore decided to stand and wait until the crowd cleared away.

* * *

Wow!

“Well done, Angela. Siyoon was perfect too.”

Angela was in high spirits after finishing the demonstration, but Siyoon was exhausted. I told her that she didn’t have to work so hard…

Angela took care of Siyoon.

“Isn’t this song Rachmaninoff’s The Devil’s Song?”

A bespectacled weekly magazine reporter asked, holding a notebook and pen.

Huh, what about the devil’s song? It’s just a dirty, complicated, and pervertedly difficult song.

“To be exact, it’s Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, the first movement. The rumor that it’s the devil’s song is just a rumor. It’s quite a complicated piece. There are so many parts that are difficult to play with the length of normal fingers. So I thought that if three people played together, it would cover it to some extent. And I arranged it so that the performance of our product could be well displayed.”

I answered the questions about the performance,

“It almost feels like an orchestra with just two keyboards. What kind of technology was used?”

“Until now, organs have basically used additive synthesis. In addition, we developed a sound module method… … .”

Brad explained the complex technical parts in detail.

Musical instrument store employees from all over the country were inundated with requests to contract our products. They moved to other locations along with the CW marketing team.

As people started to leave, two familiar faces appeared outside the booth. They were Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord.

“Hello, James Choi. I really enjoyed your performance. I almost died of curiosity because I couldn’t see you, haha.”

“I’m sorry. If I had known Mr. John Rhodes was coming, I would have invited him in… … . Please come inside, both of you.”

Two folding chairs were spread out.

“I’m sorry the booth is so shabby.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m just grateful that I can come in like this, haha.”

John Lord was as gentle and easygoing as I had known him to be. He glanced in the direction of Angela and Shiyoon and then got straight to the point.

“Excuse me… How many people played the Rachmaninoff piece you just played?”

It was a look of genuine curiosity.

“How many people did you hear playing?”

“When I heard it from outside, it seemed like there were quite a few people playing, but when I listened closely, it sounded like three people were playing the main theme in turns. The electric guitarist was obviously James, and I thought the other one was Angela. The other keyboardist seemed to have studied classical music.”

As expected, his ears were as accurate as a ghost.

“You guessed it exactly. I collaborated with those two people over there.”

I called Angela and Siyoon and introduced them to John.

“I knew Angela’s skills well from watching her performances, but I was truly impressed by Christine Yang’s performance.”

“John, this girl was at that Christmas parade… … .”

Richie’s keen eye recognized Siyoon.

“Oh, that’s right! I couldn’t recognize you because your clothes and hairstyle were different back then. You really do look younger when you look at it up close.”

Perhaps in John Lord’s eyes, Shiyoon, with her hair tied back neatly and wearing a T-shirt and jeans, looked like an elementary school student.

“This is a treasure that our CW has unearthed, haha.”

“This is truly a treasure. It is really hard to find such great keyboardists. But how on earth does that slim keyboard produce the sound of dozens of strings playing? It’s really amazing.”

Brad repeated to John Lord what he had explained to the officials.

“Wow, this is amazing. This is truly revolutionary. This Initium-X product will probably be the best of the best at Nam Show this year. This is not just my personal feeling, I am 100% sure of it!”

“I’m sure that the booster pedal LA Metal will be the best too, haha.”

The two products we entered into the Nam Show received rave reviews from Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore.

“If you don’t mind, can I try it?”

“Of course. Of course.”

He stood in front of the synthesizer with an excited heart.

As Angela showed him how to change the basic settings of the instrument, he expertly pressed various buttons.

He let out a gasp at every change in sound.

“Wow, it’s a bit different from the actual Hammond organ sound, but it’s shocking that such a sound can come from such a thin and light keyboard.”

John Lord played fast pentatonic phrases, then naturally connected them into a classical tempo.

The first half was an improvisation, but the second half was clearly Highway Star’s keyboard solo. It seemed like he was still working on the song with Ritchie Blackmore.

Then Angela followed, building up the chords above the major third of the solo that Lord John was playing. The two of them moved their fingers quickly, descending from the top down.

Jon Lord was excited about his collaboration with Angela, and played a medium-tempo solo that was different from his previous ones. This was clearly the keyboard solo of the famous song Burn that would later be released. I liked that solo so much that I remember arranging it for guitar as well.

“Rich, you can play with John.”

“It’s an exhibition hall, is that okay?”

“It’s okay. It’ll be lunchtime soon.”

I gave him a Fender guitar.

“Then let’s play together like we did with James before? What John is playing right now is a new song that we’re writing.”

“Even though I only heard the keyboard solo, it smells like a great song, haha.”

Burn is a song I really like. But I much preferred the version that David Coverdale did with Deep Purple and Whitesnake in their 2004 show. I also liked Doug Aldrich’s guitar solo.

Of course, because the original song was so good, it was possible for later juniors to perform it in an upgraded way.

John and Richie played a powerful riff on Burn, which was still incomplete. They played it in a jam format without vocals. Richie started the guitar solo first, and I took over. When I showed him the hot fire picking of Doug Aldrich’s version, Richie’s face flinched.

Jon Lord’s keyboard solo, which I personally consider the highlight of Burn, began. This time, Angela did not add harmony, but added a different melody within the same chords, making the song richer and more fantastical.

Siyoon joined in and lightly added another high-pitched melody. It sounded like a whistle or a flute. A collaboration that was even more deadly and beautiful than the original song I had heard was born.

‘John Lord, please add these two people’s ideas to make Burn’s keyboard solo more beautiful.’