Hammond B-3X 1.1 update available (& Catalina compatible)

[Peter_IK]

After a great launch of the Hammond B-3X organ virtual instrument, we have created an update to add some new, exciting features. The Hammond B-3X plug-in delivers a full sonic impact that this legendary organ has made on generations of musicians and modern music as we know it. The Hammond B-3X 1.1 Update brings various performance enhancements along with added features to make your playing experience even better than it was before!

New features for Hammond B-3X 1.1:

• New Latch Mode for MIDI Controllers (this lets you use a momentary switch like a sustain pedal to change the Leslie speed, etc.)
• Sustain Pedal implementation
• New Hammond Profile for the XK-3 / XK-3c
• Added assignable MIDI Controller for Percussion 2nd/3rd Harmonic switch
• Fixed an issue with audio pops when changing amp models or mic positions
• Various performance enhancements

Also note that this update is fully macOS 10.15 Catalina compatible.

Log into your IK account and head to your User Area now to download the latest update to Hammond B-3X.

[dlgebert]

Thanks Peter!

The update installed flawlessly on macOS Catalina 10.15.1. Works as expected in Studio One 4.5.

Dave

[Peter_IK]

No problem. I'd also like to clear up some confusion on how sustain in Hammond B-3 X works. As most know sustain (well, a sustain pedal - you can still hold keys down obviously) on a real Hammond B-3 does not exist and for this reason, traditional sustain that supports repeated instances of the same note during sustain is not available because it does not work with certain aspects of Hammond B-3X that make up the very realistic sound. To elaborate:

When sustaining a note in Hammond B-3X, you cannot trigger that same note again. This is correct by design, because of the tonewheels:

It is the nature of the instrument. The note on in a Hammond B-3 organ basically just opens a gate. So once this gate is open, it cannot open again.

Also, the key click is generated by a non-zero crossing when the gate opens. So once the gate is open, there is no more non-zero crossing, so no repeated key click either. This concept is similar with the percussion.

If this is what you are experience, it is by design. You do have the ability to sustain but we must retain the realism of Hammond B-3X as approved by Hammond and to give you the best virtual Hammond B3 organ available.

[t.weindl]

I understand that retrigger does not work.
But my use case was a little bit different.
I pressed a note
Pressed sustain
Release the note
Pressed the same not again and did not release the note!
Released the sustain pedal.
Now I would expect that the previous note stays playing because I did not release the note.
But with release of the sustain the note is stopped while I hold the key !?

[Peter_IK]

I believe that is still related to the design of sustain and how B-3X and a B3 work.

[t.weindl]

While sustain is pressed and the note is not retriggered is OK.
But I think you just ignore the second note on and therefore the sound is stopped when sustain is released. You should do this: Do not retrigger the note but remember the 2nd Note on Message.

[Peter_IK]

Retriggering a sound shouldn't cut off the note. The sustain pedal is stopping your MIDI Note OFF from being sent from what I can tell. You're welcome to see if IK Support finds something odd in this behavior but I did put this behavior in front of support and it seems to them that this is exactly the behavior expected from the way sustain is set up in B-3X.

If the last part of your reply is requesting a change/feature please add it to the official Wishlist thread for Hammond B-3X.

[bpeterson1123]

The version 1.1 update does not address the serious performance issue with the Windows VST plugin. My beefy Windows 10 i7 16GB laptop sits at 30-35% CPU utilization when using either the B-3X stand-alone app or the plugin in Gig Performer. Most other plugins use around 5-10%. There is something very wrong with the Windows VST, as I understand the Mac folks don't have this issue.

[DarkStar]

Hello bpeterson1123 and welcome to the forum.

I am sorry to hear about the problems you are running into.

As this is primarily a user to user forum, someone-else may chime in. Meanwhile, the best thing to do is raise a Support Ticket, here with all the details for some one to one help (US (East Coast) Business hours, generally). Response time is usually within 2 working days.

[Peter_IK]

The version 1.1 update does not address the serious performance issue with the Windows VST plugin. My beefy Windows 10 i7 16GB laptop sits at 30-35% CPU utilization when using either the B-3X stand-alone app or the plugin in Gig Performer. Most other plugins use around 5-10%. There is something very wrong with the Windows VST, as I understand the Mac folks don't have this issue.

I'm not seeing this on Windows 10 (admittedly a very beefy machine), so it would be best to do as DarkStar suggests and report the issue you are experiencing to the support team who can diagnose and assist. Thank you.

[bpeterson1123]

Thank you. I entered a support ticket.

[Drawbar]

Can you program sustain so that it functions only for a chosen B3x manual (for instance uppper no/lower yes/ bass no ?
If notes of each manual are triggered by a dedicated midi channel (for example upper 1, lower 2, bass 3), that would mean that in my example CC64 would cause sustain only on channel 2.

[Drawbar]

Can you program sustain so that it functions only for a chosen B3x manual (for instance uppper no/lower yes/ bass no ?
If notes of each manual are triggered by a dedicated midi channel (for example upper 1, lower 2, bass 3), that would mean that in my example CC64 would cause sustain only on channel 2.

Added to the wish list.

[Ryan_IK]

Can you program sustain so that it functions only for a chosen B3x manual (for instance uppper no/lower yes/ bass no ?
If notes of each manual are triggered by a dedicated midi channel (for example upper 1, lower 2, bass 3), that would mean that in my example CC64 would cause sustain only on channel 2.

The Sustain Pedal will react to the MIDI channel you are sending MIDI CC64 on. This allows you to naturally use this on each manual independently without any conflicts between them.

Example: If you have a keyboard set to MIDI Channel 1 sending to Manual 1 with a sustain pedal, this will only sustain for Manual 1. If you have a second keyboard set to MIDI Channel 2, sending to Manual 2, this will not be affected by your other keyboard's sustain pedal.

[Drawbar]

Can you program sustain so that it functions only for a chosen B3x manual (for instance uppper no/lower yes/ bass no ?
If notes of each manual are triggered by a dedicated midi channel (for example upper 1, lower 2, bass 3), that would mean that in my example CC64 would cause sustain only on channel 2.

The Sustain Pedal will react to the MIDI channel you are sending MIDI CC64 on. This allows you to naturally use this on each manual independently without any conflicts between them.

Example: If you have a keyboard set to MIDI Channel 1 sending to Manual 1 with a sustain pedal, this will only sustain for Manual 1. If you have a second keyboard set to MIDI Channel 2, sending to Manual 2, this will not be affected by your other keyboard's sustain pedal.

You are right. Tested. Excellent!