Roland VK-8M Owner's Manual page 32

Playing the Organ
3
While playing the keyboard to produce sound, place your hand over the
D Beam controller.
fig.01-35
The timbre will change when you move you hand over the D Beam controller.
About the Effects
Throughout the history of rock organ, a wide range of performers have developed
unique effects and used them in their music. The VK-8M can not only simulate
several of these unique effects, but also lets you enjoy effects provided by no other
instrument.
Giving the sound a metallic character (Ring Modulator)
By changing the frequency of the ring modulator's internal oscillator, you can give
the organ voice an unpitched metallic character, like that of a bell.
In hard rock of the past, extreme effects such as ring modulation were sometimes
applied to the organ. It appears that organ players tried all sorts of things in an
attempt to hold their own against the radical performance techniques used by
electric guitarists.
By applying ring modulation, you can create a complex harmonic structure that
was not present in the original audio signal. This complex harmonic structure has
a certain bell-like character. The term "ring" comes from the fact that when a ring
modulation circuit is constructed as analog circuitry, the circuit is shaped like a
ring (circle).
Stopping the rotation of the tone wheels (Wheel Brake)
It is possible to stop the rotation of the tone wheels of the organ. This produces an
unexpected result, whereby the pitch of the organ voice gradually falls until the
sound ceases entirely.
The technique of stopping the tone wheel rotation was occasionally used by
performers on tone wheel organs. Since the amp of a tone wheel organ was an
analog circuit that used vacuum tubes, the sound was still audible for a time after
the power was turned off. However, when the power was turned off, the tone
wheels would begin slowing down, and you would hear the pitch continue to fall.
Innovative performers used this effect in their music.
Spring Reverb Shock
Organs of the past used spring reverb units to add a reverb effect to the sound.
When a physical shock is applied to a spring reverb unit, the springs collide with
each other, producing a crashing sound. Some performers even utilized this in
their organ sound.
The VK-8 lets you simulate this reverb impact sound.
32
The color of the D BEAM [ON]
button changes while the D
Beam controller is in use.
NOTE
When the "SPRING SHOCK"
function is assigned to the D
Beam controller, please be
aware that raising the reverb
level excessively will produce
a high-volume impact sound.
If you want to reduce the
volume of the impact sound,
use the REVERB [LEVEL] knob
to adjust the reverb level (p.
34).