User's Manual

4. ORGAN | 19
THE VOX MODEL
The original Vox™ organ is probably the most famous of all the tran-
sistor based combo organs that emerged in the early 60’s. Transistor
technology made it possible to manufacture compact and portable
organ instruments. Compared to the mighty sound of tonewheel based
organs, transistor organs generally sounded reedier and weaker, but this
one had a distinctive sound character which together with the porta-
bility and cool design (inverse colored keyboard and chrome “Z-frame”
stand) made the instrument massively popular at the time. The sound is
timeless and recreated faithfully by the Nord Stage 3.
VOX DRAWBARS
The labels used for the Vox drawbars are printed on the row directly
above the drawbar LEDs.
For basic drawbar operation, please refer to “Drawbars and buttons” on
page 17.
The seven drawbars to the left control the level of each partial. Each par-
tial has a fixed harmonic interval relating to the played note. The
illustration below shows the pitch interval of the drawbars when the key
of C3 is played. The intervals vary for the upper and lower manual on the
original instrument, but are identical on the Nord Stage 3.
The rightmost drawbar controls the mix between a filtered signal sound-
ing soft and dark, and an unfiltered signal sounding bright and intense.
VIBRATO
There are several types of vibrato and choruses available for the Vox
model, which is activated using the ON button in the Vibrato section.
The V3 setting is the one that is modeled after the original instrument.
The VX model’s Vibrato setting and On/Off state is shared by Panel A
and Panel B..
THE FARF MODEL
The typical “buzzy” sound of this vintage instrument is one of the most
distinct and easily recognizable organ sounds ever created; yet it is ac-
tually possible to get quite a wide range of sounds out of the instrument.
Note that the voices aren’t supposed to replicate the instruments they
are named after, but rather to describe the basic tonal characteristic of
the voice: Flute = soft, Oboe = reedy, Trumpet = brassy etc.
FARF REGISTERS
The labels used for the FARF drawbars/registers are printed on the upper
row, above the drawbar LEDs or drawbars.
The drawbars act as on/off switches, or “register selectors” when the
Farf model is selected. Instead of drawbars, the original instrument used
rocker switches for selecting instrument voices (in reality different filter
settings) in various footage (octave) ranges. Drawbar LEDs 5-8 are lit up
for an activated voice, and drawbar LEDs 1-4 are lit up for a deactivated
voice. On the Nord Stage 3 Compact model, pulling the drawbars more
than half way out will activate the register.
As usual, the Program section display will show current drawbar settings
for the Organ section. The table below shows the original register name.
Drawbar Voice Panel Name
1 Bass 16 BASS16
2 Strings 16 STR16
3 Flute 8 FLUTE8
4 Oboe 8 OBOE8
5 Trumpet 8 TRMP8
6 Strings 8 STR8
7 Flute 4 FLUTE4
8 Strings 4 STR4
9 A bright voice, an octave
and a fifth above the
fundamental
2 2/3
The illustration below shows the pitch interval between each voice when
the key of C3 is played. Though some voices have the same pitch, they
differ in tonal character.
Vox Continental Upper
Vox Continental Lower
C3
C3