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What are Mike Ratledge and Alice Coltrane playing?

m_dejeanm_dejean Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut. 2,946 Posts
edited May 2007 in Strut Central
I'm not talking about regular e-piano and organ. I mean that screechy lead sound that Ratledge uses in abundance for solos on the '70-'72 era Soft Machine albums. And Alice Coltrane uses something that sounds similar on some of her recordings, i.e. "Los Caballos" from "Eternity". Nothing but "organ, piano" is ever listed on the covers, but it doesn't sound like a regular Hammond thing. They're bending the notes a lot, so I'm guessing it's some kind of a synth-y organ wannabe thing.Any vintage gear heads know the deal?

  Comments

  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    I'm pretty sure Ratledge just used guitar pedals. Dunno about Alice Coltrane though.
  • johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
    http://img211.imageshack.us/my.php?image=softoslo1971us7.jpg

    As I'm listening to what I have (I'm listening to "Out-Bloody-Rageous" from Live At The Proms[/b]), I definitely hear a Mellotron, and a Fender Rhodes which may be lined to an effects pedal (wah-wah?), which may help stretch those notes a bit, not unlike what Miles Davis was doing during the Bitches Brew[/b] era.

    I don't have that Alice Coltrane album anymore, so I can't help you there.

    EDIT: I found this description, from NewMusicBox.com


    Another signature guitar effect is the "wah-wah" pedal, a sweeping active bandpass filter developed by Brad Plunkett of Thomas Organ in 1966, introduced as the "Clyde McCoy Wah-Wah pedal" then renamed Vox CryBaby around 1968. A host of clones and variants of the wah-wah were produced by many manufacturers thereafter. Although these devices were mainly used to embellish guitar performances, the fuzzbox and wah pedals produced entirely new sounds with other instruments. Mike Ratledge's fuzzed and wah'ed organ in the late-60's Soft Machine recordings essentially defined the legendary "Canterbury" sound.[/b]
  • leisurebanditleisurebandit 1,006 Posts
    Alice's sound is from a Wurlitzer organ (at least i think, looking forward to being corrected if I'm wrong)
    (although I'm not sure if I have the specific song you mention, i just know that's her organ of choice)
  • m_dejeanm_dejean Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut. 2,946 Posts
    I'm listening to "Out-Bloody-Rageous"

    Yes, the solo sound on "Out-Bloody-Rageous" is exactly the one I'm talking about.

    OK, I did some googling (yeah yeah I know google is your friend), and I'm pretty sure the instrument I was talking about is a Lowrey Organ. From answers.com:


    Ratledge's first organ in Soft Machine was a Vox Continental, which he soon replaced with a Lowrey Holiday Deluxe, relatively inexpensive compared with the Hammond he would have preferred. The Lowrey had a number of features that Ratledge put to good use (e.g., note bending), but suffered from a "weedy" quality (Ratledge's word) that the keyboardist remedied by using a fuzz box.


    But looking at your picture link, JohnB, it looks more like the T1 than the Holiday Deluxe:

    http://www.combo-organ.com/Gibson/T1a.jpg

    I'm going to keep a lookout for one of these things. I love that sound. Thanks for the responses.
  • slushslush 691 Posts
    I know what you mean with Ratledge, and its probably a distortion pedal that is grinding that organ. The sound is so distinctive that I knew from the get go that he was playing on Syd Barrett's "no good trying"-- even though there was no credit. Later I found out soft machine did a session with Barrett, which made a lot of sense.

    I still owe you that Soft Machine vid, I will post it tonight. totally gapped on that...
  • m_dejeanm_dejean Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut. 2,946 Posts
    I still owe you that Soft Machine vid, I will post it tonight. totally gapped on that...

    No worries. There was two: one from UK TV where Wyatt was doing his drum/vocal combo thing and another from what looked like The Beat Club on German NDR where Ratledge was getting loose. I'll hook another Et Cetera jawn up for you, too.

    Didn't know that he played with Barrett.
  • johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
    Yes, the solo sound on "Out-Bloody-Rageous" is exactly the one I'm talking about.

    OK, I did some googling (yeah yeah I know google is your friend), and I'm pretty sure the instrument I was talking about is a Lowrey Organ. From answers.com:


    Ratledge's first organ in Soft Machine was a Vox Continental, which he soon replaced with a Lowrey Holiday Deluxe, relatively inexpensive compared with the Hammond he would have preferred. The Lowrey had a number of features that Ratledge put to good use (e.g., note bending), but suffered from a "weedy" quality (Ratledge's word) that the keyboardist remedied by using a fuzz box.


    I figured you were looking for a specific model of keyboard so, that might be it.
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