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- Out of a total of more than 50 innovations and features, we here list the some of the most outstanding...
- Four full sets of Harmonic Drawbars plus pedal drawbars.
- 12 additional virtual tone wheels are devoted to pedal tones.
- Custom tone wheel profiles available via download.
- Our best-ever Digital Leslie effect.
- Continuously variable Digital Leslie speed if desired.
- Dedicated octave shift / transpose buttons.
- Improved DSP-based overdrive complemented by vacuum tube preamp.
- Improved vibrato-chorus.
- Dedicated on/off and amount knobs for reverb, overdrive & assignable multi-FX.
- Lower B drawbars can alternately control 9 MIDI CC messages for external gear.
- Left and right ¼" outs can be used at the same time as Leslie output.
- More key-triggering modes for pedal-to-lower coupler (Manual Bass function).
- Firmware updatable via USB flash drive or directly from computer.
- Crisp new OLED display is more readable under different lighting conditions.
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Hammond XK-5
The Hammond XK-5 : a modular instrument that can grow from a single keyboard to full organ like the B-3...
Hybrid Multiple Key Contact System
On classic Hammonds (and in our current, full-sized New B-3 mk2 family), pressing a key closes nine mechanical contacts: one for each drawbar. Your ears usually hear the multiple harmonics as one note. Depress a key slowly, however, and you can hear the harmonics come in at slightly different times. Normal playing created a subtle "slop" between otherwise crisp attacks, and the more drawbars you pull out, the more of an almost subliminal but chewy and soulful character it impacts to the sound. One perhaps feels this more than hears it, but seasoned players certainly notice its absence.
You can't accomplish this with a single MIDI note-on, which is what most of today's organ and synth key actions use. In the XK-5, we use three mechanical contacts at different points in the keys' travel. Each of these in turn triggers three virtual contacts, giving you separate "note-on" connections for every drawbar frequency in the same manner as the original nine-contact electro-mechanical Hammond-organs. The result is a fingers-to-music connection that perfectly duplicates sitting at a vintage B while saving on weight and cost. Plus, the time-spread between these "note-on's" is programmable, as is the order in which you hear the harmonics speak. And since the contacts all receive and transmit MIDI note data, you can capture every harmonic nuance of your performance in your DAW program of choice -to which you can directly connect the XK-5 via USB.
Completely Redesigned Key-bed
The XK-5's keyboard action is built in-house, not sourced from a third-party manufacturer. We designed it to duplicate the heft, bounce, and key dip of a "new old stock" and well-maintained B-3: No springy synth keys allowed! Master Hammond players who tested early prototypes confirmed that nothing comes closer to the feel and response they expect. Of course it has the "waterfall" key fronts critical to Hammond playing techniques such as palm slides. Play the XK-5 alongside any other modern organ and we're convinced you'll find the difference stunning.
All-New Sound Engine
The XK-5 employs new proprietary technology to recreate Hammond's storied tone wheel generator with unprecedented accuracy and flexibility. Tone wheels were spinning discs on shafts, each with its own pickup pointing at the edge. The pattern of "teeth" cut into the edge of the wheel and its rotational speed determined the pitch. Modeling and sampling are combined in an exclusive process to capture the frequencies of all 91 tone wheels found in the original organs, not to mention other important sonic details such as key click, harmonic percussion, vibrato-chorus, and more.
Tone wheel generators have become like rare violins or classic cars: Even though Hammond originally calibrated all instruments that left the factory to sound identical, no two are exactly alike after decades of use. So we've extended the programmability of both the overall generator characteristics (such as leakage and cross-talk between pickups) and individual tone wheel behavior (such as the purity of the sine wave) to almost ludicrous depths. In addition to letting you perfectly duplicate different conditions of Hammonds -from showroom-new to road-abused if that's what you're going for- there's the ability to recreate individual organs right down to the model, year, and serial number! Presets will capture the exact tonal qualities of famous artists' instruments, from jazz great Dr. Lonnie Smith to Chuck Leavell (The Rolling Stones) to Gregg Rolie (Santana, Journey) and more.
Virtual Matching Transformer
An often overlooked subtlety of the Hammond sound was that the tone wheels generated tiny voltages that needed to be stepped up, and you could be "drawing on" some of the same wheels at the same time by playing similar notes with similar drawbar settings on both manuals. All signals from the upper, lower, and pedal manuals passed through a matching transformer that was intended to even things out before the signal moved on to the preamp and vibrato-chorus scanner. The transformer -a piece of iron with a coil wrapped around it- could "remember" some of its saturation based on how hard it had been working previously, thus affecting new notes played. Physicists call this hysteresis. Musically speaking, it affects how much "volume robbing" you hear and adds to what Hammond aficionados think of as the "breathing" quality of the organ. (The phenomenon is similar to why some recording engineers like transformer-equipped microphones and/or preamps for certain sounds.) In the XK-5, the matching transformer and its place in the signal chain is modeled precisely, and the saturation and hysteresis amounts are adjustable from barely-there to over-the-top. Like we said, we're closing the final few millimeters of the realism gap.
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| Specifications | |
| SOUND GENERATOR | MTW I(Modelled Tone Wheel I) 61 polyphony (for manual) 3 polyphony (for pedal) |
| KEYBOARDS | 73 (61 + 12 Preset Keys) Water Fall type Virtual Multi Contact |
| HARMONIC DRAWBARS | Drawbars - Upper: 2 x 9 Pitches - Lower: 2 x 9 Pitches - Pedal: 2 Pitches Voicing - Manuals: 4 choices (A-100, B-3, C-3, Mellow) - Pedal: 4 choices (Normal, Muted, Synth1, Synth2) - Virtual Multi Contact |
| TOUCH RESPONSE PERCUSSION | Buttons - Percussion On, Th ird Harmonic, Fast Decay, Volume Soft Adjustable - Touch, Velocity, Decay (Fast, Slow), Level (Normal, Soft) |
| EFFECTS | Vibrato and Chorus - Digital Scanner Tube Pre-Amp - Device: 12AX7, 12AU7 - Adjustable: Routing, Level Overdrive - Control: On, Depth Multi Effects - 8 programs Equalizer - Bass, Mid, Treble, Tone Internal Leslie - Advanced Digital, 2 Rotors - Buttons: Bypass, Stop, Fast Reverb - Digital, 11 programs - Control: On, Depth - Leslie On Reverb Master Equalizer - Bass, Mid, Treble |
| KEYMAP | Buttons - Pedal To Lower, Split, Transpose, Octave Down, Octave Up, Lower Adjustable - Coupler Highest note, Split Point |
| PATCHES | Capacity - 100 User Patches, 100 Factory Patches, Adjust Preset A#/B Favorites - 10 Keys Patch Load Options - Drawbar Registration, Drawbar Parameters, Internal Zone, External - Zone, Eff ects, Reverb |
| CONTROLLERS | Volume - Master Volume Switch - Power On/Off |
| STORAGE | USB Flash Drive |
| DISPLAY | 20 - Characters, 2 - Lines 7 Control Buttons and Value knob |
| MIDI | Templates - 5 Templates Zones - 3 External Zones (Upper) - 2 External Zones (Lower) - 1 External Zone (Pedal) - and Keyboard Channels: Upper, Lower, Pedal |
| CONNECTIONS | MIDI - In (Pedal), In (Lower/Other), Out USB - To Host H-Bus - To Keyboard/Pedal (0.3A max) Audio - Line Out L/Mono, R, Headphones (Rear, Bottom) Leslie - 11 - pin, 1 and 3 channels available Others - Leslie Switch, Foot Controller 1, 2, Exp. Pedal, AC Inlet |
| DIMENSIONS | 119(W), 40(D), 12(H) cm |
| WEIGHT | 15.7 kg |
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| XK-5 ... in comparison | ||
| XK-3c | XK-5 | |
| SOUND GENERATOR | Vase III sound generator | MTW I(Modelled Tone Wheel I) |
| KEYBOARD | 73 (61+12 Preset Keys) Water-fall Keys with Velocity | 73 (61+12 Preset Keys) Water-fall Keys with multi-contact system |
| DRAWBARS | 9-Upper, 9-Lower, 2-Pedal | 2x 9-Upper, 2x 9-Lower, 2-Pedal |
| WEIGHT | 18,5 kg | 15,7 kg |
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 You can download the images/files below by clicking on the image/icon... | |||||
| Watch the artistic movie of Mauri Sanchis on the XK-5 |
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| View the explanations in German of the XK-5 (no subtitles, German only) |
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| View and hear some rock-sounds on the XK-5 |
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| XK-5 Setup-file This setup-file will tweak the XK-5 so it mimicks the sound of an original 1958 B-3 Hammond B-3, 1958, Serial Number: 72525, Instrument-owner & Signature-Set Creator: Pascal Lanslots. (Set-file xk5-setup01.zip 39Kb) First format a USB-stick on the XK-5 (not on your computer) which will set up several directories among which a 'setup'-directory. After downloading and unzipping the zip-file by clicking on the link-icon to the right on this website, you have access to a '.set'-file. Drag or copy this '.set'-file to the USB-stick mentioned above (formatted on the XK-5) into the 'setup'-subdirectory. Insert the USB-stick into the XK-5, from the menu's select Menu 'E', select 'Load', select 'USB Flash', select the file you want to load and press 'Enter'. Success and enjoy... |
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| XK-5 Setup-file This setup-file will tweak the XK-5 so it mimicks the sound of an original 1959 B-3 Hammond B-3, 1959, Serial Number: Unknown, Instrument-owner & Signature-Set Creator: Bob Fridzema. (Set-file xk5-setup02.zip 25Kb) First format a USB-stick on the XK-5 (not on your computer) which will set up several directories among which a 'setup'-directory. After downloading and unzipping the zip-file by clicking on the link-icon to the right on this website, you have access to a '.set'-file. Drag or copy this '.set'-file to the USB-stick mentioned above (formatted on the XK-5) into the 'setup'-subdirectory. Insert the USB-stick into the XK-5, from the menu's select Menu 'E', select 'Load', select 'USB Flash', select the file you want to load and press 'Enter'. Success and enjoy... |
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| XK-5 Setup-file This setup-file will tweak the XK-5 so it mimicks the Killer Rock-Sound of an original 1968 C-3 Hammond C-3, 1968, Serial Number: 100397, Instrument-owner:Markus Ruffing Signature-Set Creator: Markus Gaukel. (Set-file xk5-setup03.zip 23Kb) First format a USB-stick on the XK-5 (not on your computer) which will set up several directories among which a 'setup'-directory. After downloading and unzipping the zip-file by clicking on the link-icon to the right on this website, you have access to a '.set'-file. Drag or copy this '.set'-file to the USB-stick mentioned above (formatted on the XK-5) into the 'setup'-subdirectory. Insert the USB-stick into the XK-5, from the menu's select Menu 'E', select 'Load', select 'USB Flash', select the file you want to load and press 'Enter'. Success and enjoy... |
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Brochure(s) | |||||
| Full brochure of XK-5 (PDF-file 803KB) |
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Owners manual(s) | |||||
| Owners manual XK-5 English (PDF-file 4910KB) |
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| Owners manual XK-5 French (PDF-file 6826KB) |
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| Owners manual XK-5 Dutch (PDF-file 6897KB) |
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| Owners manual XK-5 German (PDF-file 7247KB) |
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System-upgrade | |||||
| XK-5 Software update Version Release 3.5 This release is the most recent and includes all previous versions, updates and upgrades as well as 2 pdf-files which explain the update-procedure (in English and Japanese), 1 pdf-file with an addendum to the owners-manual and 2 txt-files which detail all the changes (in English and Japanese). You need to download this update to a computer. Please note: This update will erase any saved preset data in your instrument and restore it to factory presets. If you've already spent much time in making your own presets, it is a good idea to save your preset first on another XK-5 formatted USB-Stick. Follow the instructions in the owners-manual if you do not know yet how this is done. You do not have to do this if you have no presets to keep. (Zip-file containing 10 files including instructions xk5release35.zip-file 25302Kb) How to update system software XK-5 Step A: Format a USB-Stick, even it has been formatted before Prepare your USB-Stick by formatting it on your XK-5. (Insert the USB-Stick in the USB-slot at the back of the XK-5. Format the USB-Stick by selecting 'FORMAT' in the menu. You have to make a choice to format either the USB-Stick or the internal memory. Choose 'USB Flash' and push 'ENTER'. Switch OFF the instrument and remove the USB-Stick. Your USB-Stick is now ready for use with the XK-5) Step B: Download to your computer, Unzip and Copy to the formatted USB-Stick Insert the USB-Stick on your PC, and after unzipping the downloaded zip-file, copy the unzipped files that end with '.sys' into the 'system' folder (Hammond > xk5 > system) of the USB-Stick. Step C: Loading the files in your XK-5 Switch on the power of your XK-5 and insert the USB-Stick in the USB-slot of the XK-5 again. Select the 'UPDATE' menu ('UPDATE' flashes), Push the 'ENTER' button, Select 'USB Flash', not the internal memory, Push the 'ENTER' button again and when the files are loaded switch OFF the XK-5 and remove the USB-Stick. Step D: Reset your XK-5 The easiest way to do this is hold the 'RECORD' button while you switch ON the XK-5 (for the single manual version), or hold the 'BANK' button while you switch ON the instrument (for the double manual). You may now reload your presets, if you stored these before. You can check the version of the software loaded in the instrument in the SYSTEM menu. NOTE: If you try to update an XK-5 that is already up to date, you will see 'No Update File' on the screen. |
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| XLK-5 | Lower Keyboard for XK-5 | |
| EXP-100F | Expression-pedal for XK-3, XK-3c, XK-5 with switch | |
| STXLK-5B | Metal stand for XK-system | |
| STXLK-5W | Wooden stand for XK-system | |
| BCH-250B | Wide black metal bench for XK-5 System | |
| BCH-250W | Wide wooden bench for XK-5 System/Classic | |
| XPK-130G | 13-note Midi-pedalboard with tone-generator for XK & SK models | |
| XPK-200G | 20-note Midi-pedalboard with tone-generator for XK & SK models | |
| XPK-200GL | 20-note Midi-pedalboard with tone-generator and long pedals for XK & SK-models | |
| XPK-250B | 25-note black radial Midi-pedalboard for XK-System | |
| XPK-250W | 25-note wooden radial Midi-pedalboard for XK-System/Classic | |
| MR-5W | Wide Music-rest for XK-5 System | |
| MR-5W Classic | Wide Music-rest for XK-5 Classic | |
| LC11-7M | Leslie Cable 11-pin 7m | |
| CU-1 | Leslie Control-switch fast/slow/off | |
| DCH-XK5 Set | Dust-cover with Hammond-logo for XK-5 & XLK-5 | |
| Softbag XK-5 | Softbag for XK-5 | |
| Softbag X(L)K5 | Softbag for XK-5 & XLK-5 | |
| Softbag STXLK5W | Softbag for STXLK-5W | |
| Softbag BCH250W | Softbag for BCH-250W | |
| CABXLK-5W | Classic cabinet for XK-5 sold in combination with XLK-5 |
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| Support | ||
| Type | Description | Action |
| Reset | Reset the instrument to the factory-defaults | Power off the instrument (with the POWER switch). While pressing the [RECORD] button, turn the POWER switch on again. (Note that in this case, all parameters will return to their factory-preset status.) |
| Auto Power Off | The power automatically turns off if the keyboard is not operated for a certain period of time. (The default setting is 30 minutes.) It is called AUTO POWER OFF. Sometimes (for use on stage for instance) this can be a problem | In the System-menu toggle AUTO POWER OFF from '30min' to 'NO', which disables AUTO POWER OFF |
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Bennie Veldman
The Dutch Bluesman Bennie Veldman is a well-liked Blues Musician in the Dutch Blues-scene.He started his musical carieer when he was 12 years old and after studying Classical Organ for 4 years he quickly became addicted to the Blues. First as a guitar player but later as a Hammond-player.
He has been playing these past 14 year together with his brother in the successful "Dutch Blues & Roots Band The Veldman Brothers". Winner of the Dutch Blues awards 2012.
In 2012 Bennie recieved also personal 2 awards for "Best Dutch Blues Keyboardplayer 2012" and "Best Dutch Blues Harmonicaplayer 2012".
Just two of many accomplishments in an impressive list of Awards & Nominations.
"The first time I played the Hammond XK-5 I fell in love with it! It felt as if I was playing an old Hammond Tonewheel. With it's 4 physical drawbars set and it's extremely realistic B-3 sound and feel the XK-5 is the ultimate Hammond for 'On The Road'!"
Anders Haahr
Anders Haahr first sat down in front of a piano at the age of 3, and at the age of 11 he started playing with some older kids, aspiring to be rock stars. During those years he was exposed to all the classic rock albums. One musician, however, shined the in the rock 'n roll sky, Jon Lord of Deep Purple. Anders instantly fell in love with the Hammond organ.Today Anders is a touring musician, composer and songwriter based in Copenhagen. He has a master's degree in piano and composition from The Danish National Academy of Music and a Bachelor's degree in Musicology from the University of Copenhagen, where he also studied Sociology and Modern Culture.
Anders has for the last ten years been 'Hammond equilibrist-par-excellence' in Freddy and The Phantoms, with whom he has toured Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Finland and the US. He was featured for his Hammond work in the American music magazine Goldmine Mag, after the release of Freddy and the Phantoms fifth studio album.
Anders has in various acts supported international artists like: Rival Sons, Twisted Sister, Vinnie 'Mad Dog' Lopez (E-Street band, R'R Hall of Fame inductee), Blackberry Smoke, Backyard Babies, Rick Springfield, Billy Cross (Bob Dylan, Meatloaf) and a bunch of Danish acts. He is also 'hired-gun' in numerous acts both as a live and studio musician. Anders recently started the two Hammond act 'Hammond Orgasm' where he proudly shares the stage with his organ buddy Jesper Bo Hansen (Glen Hughes, Inglorious). They got the band together out of sheer passion to Hammond organs. 'Hammond Orgasm' consists of bass, drums and loads of Hammond love.
"I have been madly in love with the Hammond organ, since I, as a young kid, was introduced to Hammond artists like Jon Lord, Keith Emmerson, Booker T. Jones and Billy Preston. It's hard to define exactly what it is, but a Hammond organ is not only an instrument. It's a sensation, it's an emotional interface that in moments can convey you from an inner-peace-hymn-like state of mind, to the roaring empowering sensation of a steam train."
Dirk Van der LindenDirk plays on the XK-5
as well as on the SK-PRO
(read more about him on his SK-PRO artist-profile)
Yuri Barilaro
Born in Rome, Yuri Barilaro spent his studies of composition at the State Conservatory of Music "Santa Cecilia". His career started when he was playing live with the Italian singer-songwriter Federica Carta for whom he produced some singles of her "top-five albums" (released by Universal Music Group Italy).At the same time, Yuri worked for the Italian television with Tiziano Ferro (Virgin Music) and for radio events with Jasmine Thompson (Atlantic Records).
In 2019 Yuri joined the band of two times "Latin Grammy Award Winner" Laura Pausini playing live keyboards in the tour "Laura-Biagio Stadium 2019".
Between 2023 and 2024 he will play live all around the world for the next Laura Pausini's World Tour
"In the past two years I have worked as a composer for some Italian-movies productions and after my success as a musician, I am completely dedicated to film music compositions and live tours. My XK-5 is a great instrument for this"
Matt Daniel
Matt Daniel (1994) started playing jazz and classical piano at an early age. He played at the Dutch Concertgebouw at only 17 years old and graduated from the conservatory of Amsterdam in 2017. After years of playing local pubs and hotel bars he bought the instrument that he always dreamt of: a Hammond organ. Matt plays a XK-5 with footpedals paired with a vintage Leslie 145.Matt is well-known for playing a wide range of musical genres: from jazzfunk, blues, and gospel to heavy progressive rock. You can't put musicians, who learn and evolve all the time, in a box. "Change is what life is all about. So is making music. That's why I love improvising so much. You have to respond to something new, all the time".
- In 2021-2023 he played in the Dutch theatre tour: Symphonic Rock Night. A covershow with a 9-piece rockband that is being presented by Matt himself.
- In 2022, he joined the band with Blues/Poprock singer AJ Plug.
- In 2022 he joined the XL band with adventurer and theatre performer Tjerk Ridder.
- Besides above, Matt does lots of studio and session work as well.
In 2022, Matt started his own hammond group: Soulsmash. The powertrio (guitar, drums, hammond+moogbass+vintage keys) plays energetic groove-based compositions that cross the boundaries of funk, rock and dancemusic. "Instrumental music speaks directly to the soul, there is no lyrics that explain you anything. There's just a bucket of audiophonic waves being smashed in your face. How exciting is that?!" The group made its debut to the Dutch popstages and jazzfestivals and is planning on recording new material soon.
"It's that dynamic quality that a Hammond organ has that excites me the most. It can bring out the sweetest emotions or scream at you like a beast in the dark."
Roman Wasserfuhr
Already as a teenager, Julian Wasserfuhr was thought to be the greatest, most exceptionally talented German trumpeter since Till Brönner. Together with his brother Roman on the piano, they have made an inseparable pair. Their (soul) kinship has been a benefit to their performance together. The degree of trust between the brothers has lent their music a relaxed and unforced character. Whether he's playing the trumpet or the flugelhorn, Julian is not a representative of the higher-faster-further faction. With his warm sound, he creates truly atmospheric soundscapes. His brother Roman, with his brilliantly accentuated piano playing, isn't any less a part of the fresh, but still matured and lofty sound of the band. After their highly regarded debut "Remember Chet", which they recorded as teenagers, they set out across the German jazz landscape. The German national newspaper, Die Zeit, found the brothers to be "astonishingly unusual" and the South German, Süddeutsche Zeitung, ascribed a "magical sound" to Julian Wasserfuhr, but most importantly, the brothers from the sleepy little town of Hückeswagen were received by the general public with open arms.Soon they were playing together with greats like Nils Landgren, Lars Danielsson or Wolfgang Haffner and at the same time they were finding their way to their own, characteristic, melodic and atmospheric "Wasserfuhr sound".
After four successful albums, they are now among the most well-known jazz musicians in Germany.
With their fifth album, "Landed in Brooklyn" Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr have now set off on a trip to the homeland of jazz and they landed in an international jazz hotspot: New York. There they met with the American jazz stars Donny McCaslin, Tim Lefebvre and Nate Wood and with "Landed in Brooklyn" they have opened a new chapter in their impressive careers.
Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr have received some prizes and distinctions. Among others, they have been distinguished with the Golden German Jazz Award from "Bundesverband der Musikindustrie".
"The first time I played on a Hammond organ, I was instantly in love with that sound. At that time I did not think that there would ever be a digital version that would be similar in feel and sound.
But it is: I love the XK5! Thank you Hammond for such a wonderful instrument."
Nico Brandsen
During the nineties Brandsen put the Hammond organ back on the map in Holland with contributions to succesful albums and tours of for instance Van Dik Hout (platinum record), Anouk, Jan Akkerman, Ilse DeLange (two platinum records), Angela Groothuizen, Marco Borsato and Kane (one platinum and two golden records). Nico created a signature sound on his Hammond X5 with Leslie Combo pre-amp II and vintage Leslie 760 and played stages such as De Kuip, The Amsterdam Arena, Pinkpop, Lowlands, Ahoy, Carré and toured in the UK and Germany.Next to his session work he always played with his own bands The Feel (Pop), In de steen (Dutch Soul), Ro & Paradise Funk, Fishpot (Hammond Soul), OLaBOLA (Breakbeat Soul) and since recently Vintage Future.
In 2002 Nico Brandsen founded his company Drawbar Music.
In 2004 he was chosen Best keyboard player of The Netherlands by his collegues.
In 2005 he joined The Conservatorty of Amsterdam where he is now staff teacher.
In 2009 he received an Edison as organist/co-producer for best single ‘No surrender' with Kane.
In 2012 together with Angela Groothuizen he received the Annie M.G. Schmidt prize for Best Theatre song and performance with the Hammond song ‘Vinkeveen'.
In 2016 he founded Vintage Future Records.
Vintage Future & Mell have released their new single Central Station on 15-02-2018.
A full album is expected in 2018 and tourdates are under construction.
"A few years ago I started Vintage Future together with drummer/writer/producer Ton Dijkman. The idea was to explore collaborations with youngsters in a hybrid concept of vintage instuments, sounds and techniques with a modern day 'do it yourself' workflow and attitude. After releasing three well received singles with singer Mell, early 2017 was the time to take the idea to the stage. Ton and I decided to perform as a duo behind Mell so I faced an interesting challenge: how do I play Hammond, footbass, wurlitzer, rhodes, pianet and piano on one set?
I started off with a Hammond XPK-100 footbass and a vintage wurlitzer piano with a Hammond XK-3c on top of it. As we decided not work with a bass player we needed my footbass to go into a bass amp and at the time the only way to do that was to sample my Hammond's 16' and 8' into Sampler and play that through Ableton. It worked for a while but of course I really missed the two manuals to play real organ.
Then came a phone-call from Hammond Suzuki Europe: "Come over Nico, you should check out our new Hammond XK-5..." The moment I layed my hands on it everything fell into it's place. This definitely was a real Hammond organ. Man, they did it!
Other than that, this was also a superb midi controller that offered me the opportunity to play everything I needed on one system. At the very time I needed it the most!
Already having the time of my life on the XK-5 with Vintage Future & Mell on stage the story recently got even better. I was asked by Hammond to give their new Footbass XPK-130G a try. A bass pedal with a build in sound generator (next to the midi configuration). Are you kidding me? This is synchronicity taken to a whole new level...
Needless to say that playing the hybrid Hammond XK-5/XPK-130G system is a dream come true."
"No other instrument teases and pleases like a Hammond organ, the most expressive and explosive instrument ever. Brutal. Tender. Magic. The combination of footbass, left hand, right hand, drawbars, Leslie (and an occasional rhythm box) hit me at the age of twelve and it has been a deep source of inspiration ever since. It is an animal, it's alive and I will love it till the end of time."
Tero Pennanen
Tero Pennanen is an artist, composer, arranger and producer, living in the Helsinki area. He began studying piano and organ at the age of seven. When he was two, he saw a huge array of instruments, like the B-3, the L100 and the C-3, along with Leslie speakers in the living room. He was entranced by all this, and most of all, when he listened to his father creating these organ sounds. The little boy was influenced by the musical careers of his father and grandfather. In other words, music has been all around him, starting from 1977.Tero started on a full-scale tour at the age of 16. From then on, music has taken him around the globe, with about 200 gigs per year, one show to another. The music genres have varied, and music has matured him as a person, teaching him to cope with unpredictable situations.
"The Hammond B-3 has always been an instrument I can trust. I know what it is capable of and what to do with it. When I heard about XK-5 I was impressed. This led to the immediate conclusion that the B-3 could stay at home. Not because there is something wrong with it, but for me, it represents a distinguished instrument and I do not want to "destroy" it with gigs."
Jesper Bo Hansen
The lightning stroke when I was around 14 years-old and I listened the recordings of Santana, The Band and Joe Cocker from the Woodstock festival, John Paul Jones' organ with Led Zeppelin and Billy Preston in concert for Bangladesh. I felt a strong connection and I knew immediately that I one day had to play a Hammond Organ.I found my parents old Crosby, Stills & Nash albums, Stephen Stills first solo album with the legendary organ on ‘Love the one you're with', Jimmy Smith's ‘Hoochie Coochie man' and I couldn't stop listening! They were all such a huge inspiration.
Later on I discovered funk and soul music, reggae, beat music, Bill Payne (Little Feat), Steve Winwood, Booker T (& the MG's), Ray Manzarek (The Doors), Al Kooper, the Boogaloo of Dr. Lonnie Smith and obviously Jon Lord of Deep Purple – suddenly I heard Hammond organs everywhere.
After having had the B-200, the P-100 and the M-100 I now have all I could ever dream of in the XK-5 system.
Since 2003 Jay Boe has been touring in Denmark with the finest Danish songwriters including Anne Linnet, Jens Lysdal, Anne Dorte Michelsen, HUSH, Rasmus Nøhr and Simon Jul.
Jay Boe is currently touring with bass player etc Glenn Hughes and U.K. rockers Inglorious with the amazing Nathan James on lead vocal…
"I love the random organic factors of the Hammond. One foot on the expression pedal, the other on the Leslie switch, one hand playing the keyboard and the other on the drawbars – the perfect loss of control, you can never be 100% in control. You have to put all of your body, mind and soul into it, in order for it to shine."
Let's face it: Moving and maintaining an antique Hammond will only become more difficult as time goes by.
Of course we have tons of respect for anyone who does...
... But to get all of the sound with none of the hassle, let's learn why the XK-5 is destined to become The New Original™