For years, I’ve used a patchwork of separate keyboards, a pedalboard, and sound sources to create a practice pipe organ rig at the house. It kind of worked, but has always been in need of improvements.
The keyboards were of different sizes and keyboard feels. My bottom board was an Alesis QS-8, an 88 key reliable board with weighted action. Above it, my DX7IIFD, providing five octaves to serve as my swell manual. Placed on top of a homemade riser, the DX7IIFD was ergonomically not in the best position. Playing for extending periods of time placed some stresses on my arms. A 32 note pedalboard from Classic Midiworks provided the bottom end of this practice rig.
For sound sources, I had the Hauptwerk program. However, with my Windows computer and present DAC (a Teac UD-501), the latency was completely unplayable. Sometimes I would use the native sounds of my keyboards, which didn’t provide the same experience of being to call up pipe organ stops. As of late, I had a connection through my iPad to a pipe organ emulation program that worked probably better than anything else I had used to date. Still, it felt as if I was long overdue for an upgrade.
Enter the Hammond XK5. I wrote about this instrument on a recent blog post. The viewing and playing of this Hammond model at NAMM 2020 left a great impression. I placed my order through Sweetwater and shortly thereafter, a couple of large boxes arrived.
First out of the box was the bottom keyboard.
Next, we take the top manual with the drawbars out of the box. It will be nice to have two keyboards with the same touch and feel. Also helpful, will be a much better ergonomic versus the height difference between the bottom and top keyboards of my prior Frankenstein organ.
The top keyboard ships with side panels in place. This provides a finished look for musicians using just the single keyboard. However, when attaching to the XLK-5 bottom keyboard, the original panels must be detached. This then allows the top keyboard to slide into place of the entire bottom keyboard configuration. It also provides a nice finished and complete instrument appearance from the sides.
And after a fairly straightforward assembly process, we have our Hammond XK5 complete keyboard package setup and ready to play.
I have my Hammond XK5 sitting on top of a larger desk just as I had my Frankenstein organ. Why? Well, this relates to my decisions for the pedalboard. I opted to not go with the Hammond pedalboard, at least at this time. Given that the majority of my paid organ work comes from a church position, having a 32-note pedalboard is important. So for now, I’m still holding on to my 32-note AGO pedalboard. It’s dimensions are larger than what would fit under a Hammond stand, hence the need for a slightly larger footprint.
The Hammond XK5 provides hands down best digital Hammond organ experience available. Period, no question, end of story. Also wonderful for me, is the inclusion of a set of pipe organ patches available at a swivel of the drawbar selection knob. The best of both worlds – wonderful Hammond organ for my rock band. Easy access to pipe organ stops for my classical organ practice.
