Native Instruments B4 Tonewheel Set (Macintosh and Windows)

Native Instruments has created a revolutionary add-on for the prize-winning B4 organ emulation with a set of new virtual tonewheels. Now the B4 can have the personalities of four classic organs including several age-emulated B3 sounds. The Tonewheel Set Vintage Collection gives the B4 the classic tones of a Vox Continental, Farfisa Compact, Indian Harmonium, and also includes several aged and rejuvenated B3 emulations. Additionally, the B4 can now be tuned to six different frequencies. The original sound of the B3 is created by its ninety-one hardware tonewheels. Changing the tonewheels in a real B3 is an enormous investement. With the Tonewheel Set Vintage Collection, however, Native Instruments has developed a way to change the virtual tonewheels of the B4 with just a few clicks of the mouse. Now the B4 can emulate three additional cult classics. Three versions of the Vox Continental are provided (Soft, Hard, and Mix), two of the Farfisa Compact (with Tone-Booster and without), and one of the Harmonium. Twenty-four new drawbar-presets showcase the tone possibilities of the new tonewheels. The photorealistic user interface and original functions of the B4 remain the same even with the new tonewheels. That means that the Harmonium can, for instance, go through the Rotary Speaker, while the Farfisa or Vox can be processed with the B4 Tube-Amp. The original B4 drawbar-presets can be used with the new tonewheels for some unexpected combinations. In addition to the pure emulation… read more of classic organs, it's possible to create many new sounds.

In addition to being absolutely weightless, the Native Instruments B4 has several advantages over the 400 pound B3. For instance, if you want to change the tone of your B3, you would need to hire a specialist to replace the filter capacitors in the tonewheel generator and recalibrate the tone filter circuits. It is a bit easier with the B4 - since every characteristic of the B3 has been painstakingly modelled in software, replacing a whole set of 91 tonewheels is as easy as double-clicking. With this Collection, you can make your B4 ORGAN sound like a B3 that is sparkling fresh from the factory, or like one that is more than 100 years old. You can even replace the B3-modelled tonewheels with those of a classic Vox Continental, the very famous Farfisa Compact, or of an Indian Harmonium.

Content
Vox Continental: 3 tonewheel sets

Farfisa: 2 tonewheel sets

Indian Harmoniums: 1 tonewheel set

Features
B4 Aging: Define your B4's condition:

B3 Pure: Well matured
B3 Clean: Good condition
B3 Classic: Better than on day one
B3 Dirty: Excessive ageing
B3 Filthy: Very crunchy
B3 Trash: Far beyond repair

B4 MASTER TUNE: Change the tuning to 436 Hz, 444 Hz, 448 Hz, or 452 Hz

Vox Continental
With the B4 Tonewheel Set Vintage Collection, you can make a B4 sound like a B3 that is sparkling-fresh from the factory, or like it was more than 100 years old. You can even replace the B3-modelled tonewheels with those of a Vox Continental, a Farfisa Compact, or a Harmonium to give your B4 a totally new character.

Farfisa
The highly-collectable Farfisa Compact was played by Pink Floyd, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Blondie. Included on this CD are 2 Tonewheel Sets, one with the Farfisa's Tone Booster switch activated and one with it off.

Harmonium
For something a bit unusual we have also taken an Indian Harmonium and converted its reed sound into a B4 Tonewheel Set.. With just one or two drawbars pulled out and lots of pumping on the expression pedal, the B4 sounds quite close to a real Harmonium. With more drawbars, vibrato-chorus, and the rotator turned on, it's something else!

Master Tune
Classic tonewheel organs were limited to a fixed tuning, since the tonewheels run at a fixed synchronous speed that cannot be changed. The only way to change the master tuning is to change the transmission ratios in the tonewheel generator. That's completely impractical in hardware but easily achieved with the B4's replaceable tonewheel generator. We are now offering the B3 Classic Tonewheel Set in versions tuned to 436Hz, 444Hz, 448Hz, and 452Hz to complement the standard 440Hz tuning.

Altering
The filter capacitor in Hammond tonewheel generators deteriorate with age, which over time leads to an increase in leakage and rattle in the basic tone sound. At Native Instruments, we have found a way to artificially age the tonewheel sound. We can also run the process backwards to rejuvenate the tonewheels. To simulate B3 organs with different degrees of aging we offer Tonewheel Sets with varying amounts of purity or dirt:

New Tonewheels with one click
After the installation of the new Tonewheel-Set you'll find all new Tonewheels in the preset menue of the B4. Simply select the one you like - and start playing. Naturally we deliver the Tonewheel Set with new drawbar presets: Included are 24 new drawbar settings which highlight the sound potential of the Vox and Farfisa. read less