Hammond organs were originally conceived as a means of replacing pipe organs; the drawbars---which are sometimes called "tonebars"---are meant to represent the pipes of a pipe organ, and the drawbar numbers found on some models indicate the supposed length of the pipe. How you set the drawbars defines your sound as much as your style of playing the organ.

Location

Just next to the keyboards, notice two long rows of drawbars, each containing nine bars. The top row corresponds to the top keyboard, while the bottom one works the bottom keyboard. There are also two bars, which control the sound of the pedals, above the top keyboard.

How They Work

You can achieve an estimated 250 million different sounds simply by moving the drawbars. The loudness setting of each bar can be adjusted to a level between "1" and "8," and the combined adjustments set the overall equalization of each keyboard and the pedals. Within each set of nine bars, the two farthest left control the "sub" levels, the deep pitches; the middle four control the "foundation" levels, the mid-range pitches; and the three farthest to the right control the "brilliance" levels, the high pitches.

Setting the Drawbars

Once the organ is on, push all drawbars in and turn on the "Cancel Touch" feature by pressing its button. Hold down the middle "C" key on the upper keyboard and pull the leftmost white drawbar in the top row all the way out to "8." Pull the leftmost brown drawbar in the top row down. "C" will now be added into the sound one octave lower. If you continue to pull drawbars out, you will hear different pitches in different octaves being added to the sound, adding layers of richness. Once you have a sound you like, try finding a different sound for the lower keyboard by repeating the process with the lower drawbars.

Further Refining Your Sound

While trial and error will likely yield exciting results, there are four different tone families---Diapason, Flute, Reed and String---that can be precisely located if you know how to find them. Consult a manual for a complete guide to drawbar sound settings.

Source:

Hammond-Organ.com: An Introduction to Drawbars

Free Gospel Resource: How to Use Hammond Organ Drawbar Settings

More Information:

Hammond Rx: Hammond Drawbars Voice Library