I love the Canterbury scene organ sounds but there are no VSTs I’ve found that replicate them. Therefore, I probably have to create them myself by routing organ VSTs through some type of fuzz box VST.
There are two organ variants:
Mike Ratledge (Soft Machine) playing a Lowrey Holiday Deluxe Organ
Dave Stewart (Hatfield & The North, National Health) and Dave Sinclair (Caravan) playing a Hammond B3 or L100
Dave Stewart says he used a Rose-Morris Duo Fuzz unit because Sinclair and Ratledge had also bought that model.
Has anyone created their own Canterbury organ rackspace(s) through FX chaining? What VSTs do you use?
Could you maybe post an example of how it should Sound? (YouTube Link for example)
I think I’m not the only one here who isn’t familiar with the Canterbury Scene.
Example of Dave Stewart solo, listen at 3:30 to 4:32
L100 or B3 through the fuzz box
Example of Mike Ratledge solo, listen at 0:45.
Lowrey Organ through the fuzz box
Some members of the Canterbury scene were later part of Camel (Richard Sinclair, Dave Sinclair) so Camel is on the periphery and not really part of the Canterbury scene. Peter Bardens, keyboardist with Camel, did not use the trademark Canterbury organ sound.
Hugh Hopper, bassist with Soft Machine and others, also used the fuzz box and it became part of his signature sound.
Here’s an excellent Fuzz plugin emulating 5 different types of fuzz
and Lost in 70’s do a couple of unusual organs. Magnus Model 300 Harmonium / organ; Farfisa® Matador (as well as a B3). No idea if they are the right voice for your needs but they’re inexpensive.
I was able to get a good representation today using the VB3-II organ and Native Instruments Guitar Rig 5 Pro using their Fuzz and Wah components. This covers the Dave Stewart / Dave Sinclair sound. I’ll experiment later constructing a Mike Ratledge sound.
