So, if youвЂ™re playing a rather jazzy lowerвЂ“manual D9b5 with your left hand, and playing the note F with your right hand on the upper manual, you obtain from that single note, well, something rather odd. AOC is a kind of вЂwonderchordingвЂ™ - a single note played on the upper manual, for example, fires whatever chord youвЂ™re playing with your left hand on the lower manual. But this is an instrument from the early 1960s, right? So letвЂ™s not get too carried away with words like вЂautomaticвЂ™ and вЂorchestralвЂ™ or indeed вЂcontrolвЂ™. What I was listening to was a harmonising trick brought about by what Lowrey deemed AOC, or, in longвЂ“hand, Automatic Orchestral Control. The sound that hit me in that dimly lit Neasden living room seemed like a tight knot of tones and harmonics compressed, nay fracked, into a single note. The same sound IвЂ™d heard on the John Barry soundtrack. I pressed chunky tabs, pulled things and generally prodded, but I didnвЂ™t really know what I was doing - I was too used to drawbars and Hammond registrations. Upon first encounter I was immediately reassured by its offвЂ“white waterfall keys and solidвЂ“looking build (in other words, it was really heavy). I made arrangements to go and investigate. It was a bit of a surprise when I chanced upon a Lowrey Heritage advertised in Loot some years after first hearing its raw tones on record. As the organ oscillations weaved in and around orchestral moods, I was struck by the satisfying deep electronic raspiness of its tone, and I couldnвЂ™t work out how it sounded so strangely dissonant. This was my first encounter with the Lowrey Heritage and its curious sonorities. Then, one midвЂ“1990s day at the height of the lounge scene, a DJ friend played me The Knack, a lilting stringвЂ“laden вЂ™60s film soundtrack by composer John Barry. Like many Hammond owners, I listened to the greats: Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, Trudy Pitts and all that funky crowd. I bought it in the midвЂ“вЂ™80s when everyone else was buying a DX7. The author at his Lowrey Heritage Deluxe - with matching bench! Photo: My first organ was a Hammond C3. So if youвЂ™re lucky enough to find one hidden behind suburban bayвЂ“window curtains, read on and learn of its secret majesty and why it has a significant place in electric organ history. However, the Lowrey Heritage is a seriously endangered species, and the exact number still in existence in the UK is not known. ItвЂ™s also about having a great bit of gear for the modern recording studio. So, owning and gigging one is not only about upholding a great British tradition of hardвЂ“swinging organ jazz and groovy rhythm & blues.

Plunder it some more and it starts to sound like a precursor to a polyphonic synth. Tonally, it offers everything from classic soul jazz registrations to deep electronic fizzy buzzes, from nasal StylophoneвЂ“like reeds to endвЂ“ofвЂ“theвЂ“pier theatre organ. But in this age of clones, modules and laptops, the Lowrey Heritage Deluxe, with its ratвЂ™s nest of circuits, proper switches, and superвЂ“visceral sound, is a refreshing if somewhat dusty breath of sonic fresh air. Some smoke Benson & Hedges, others Lambert & Butler. People often ask me вЂњWhy the Lowrey? Why not a Hammond?вЂќ Well, some people play a Gibson rather than a Fender. It might have lacked drawbars and tonewheels, but, sonically, the littleвЂ“known Lowrey Heritage Deluxe was a match for any Hammond organ.

Lowrey organ settings for songs