Vox Continental
The Vox Continental is a transistorized electronic organ (combo organ) from the British manufacturer Vox , introduced in 1962. Typical of the "Connie" was its thin, bright sound. The organ was designed as a portable instrument to replace heavyweights like the Hammond organ . Although this goal was not achieved, many musicians played a continental in the 1960s and it was probably one of the most popular and well-known combo organs.
description
In addition to the one-manual Continental with 49 keys (four octaves), there is a type with two manuals called Vox Continental II or Vox Super Continental . Around 1970, other variants emerged, such as the more simply equipped Vox Jaguar .
The Continental is visually striking because of the red lid, the keyboard, which is inversely colored like a harpsichord, and the typical Z-shaped tubular steel supports (which are missing in the picture above).
Four drawbars are available as operating elements , which regulate the 16 ', 8' and 4 'registers as well as the mixture . Two further drawbars determine the intensity of the voices "Flute" (sine) and "Reed" (rectangle). A vibrato with a constant frequency is available as an effect .
functionality
The electronics are equipped with germanium transistors , mostly of the type OC71.
Twelve LC oscillators for the chromatic semitones are used to generate the sound , the frequency of which can be modulated via the vibrato signal. A transistor transforms the output signal of the oscillators into a square wave signal, which is divided down one octave each with six cascaded multivibrators . RC low-pass filters take away the sharpness of the sound from the square-wave signals. The resulting 84 frequencies (7 octaves) are routed per key as subharmonics (16 '), base frequency (8') and first harmonic (4 ') and reach the three busbars of these footings when the button is pressed. A fourth key contact is supplied with the mixture, a mixture of three, four, five and eightfold frequencies (footprints 2 2/3 ', 2', 1 3/5 'and 1'). In the top octave, the 1 3/5 'and 1' footsteps are a few tones above the 84 available frequencies; Instead, tones are used that are an octave lower ( Harmonic Foldback ). Four drawbars determine the intensity of the four busbars in eight amplitude levels each. Two further drawbars mix the unfiltered sum signal (reed) and the two-stage RC low-pass filtered sum signal (flute).
The Vox Continental sound
The device is commonly associated with classic rock of the 1960s. Famous songs with the "Continental sound" are House of the Rising Sun by The Animals , Light My Fire by The Doors , In A Gadda Da Vida by Iron Butterfly and I'm Down by The Beatles .
In the video for Summer in the City by The Lovin 'Spoonful , John Sebastian and bassist Steve Boone play two Vox Continental.
credentials
- ↑ http://www.reinout.nl/?page_id=80 Vox circuit diagrams (English)
Web links
- Vox Continental at www.voxshowroom.com (English)