24 HX3 MIDI Expander
Using HX3 with Voce MIDI Drawbars
Using your HX3 board with Voce MIDI Drawbars is straightforward, as the Voce module supports
only one MIDI channel (i.e. upper manual). Please note that Voce MIDI Drawbars does not send
drawbar data unless you press the
“Drawbar/Save” button, so it’s LED lits up.
Using HX3 with Doepfer d3c or other NI B4 drawbar controller
The Doepfer d3c drawbar controller is a very nice and rugged piece of gear, so we recommend it
for use with our HX3 board. It has support for foot controllers and foot switches. The
Keyswerk/Böhm db4 is also compatible with NI B4 CC set.
Upper, lower and bass drawbars work as usual. It is a good idea to set all to zero before switching
on as this is a
“known state” for HX3. Also the Percussion and Vibrato buttons work as described
in d3c manual.
There is a small drawback, anyway: Default HX3 Vibrato setting is V1 (but upper/lower vibrato
OFF), while the V1 LED will not light when powering up the d3c (there is no
“V0” on a real
Hammond!). So pressing the V1 button will not change the sound
– just it’s LED turns on.
The
“Brightness” knob controls AO28 “tone” parameter in HX3. There is no key click emulation in
HX3 (it is just there!), so you may not adjust key click (a real Hammond does not have key click
adjustment, either). The
“Key Click” knob controls the bass sustain instead. Do not use the
“Harmonic content” knob as it sends the “Percussion” button’s controller number like a continuous
controller. Why that? No idea. This is definitely of no use.
Preset buttons may be used, but in a restricted way. First, HX3 yields 15 presets per manual, not
127 like NI B4. When selecting
“Bank 1”, all 12 available preset buttons work on upper manual.
When selecting
“Bank 2”, all 12 preset buttons work on lower manual. Doepfer d3c resends the
program change message when changing the bank, which may be annoying. Choose bank 2,
lower preset first, then bank 1, upper preset. BTW: Bank buttons do not send bank select
messages, they just add an offset to the preset buttons. Blame Doepfer for that.
Doepfer d3c preset 1 is the HX3
“Live” (preset 0) position. It will be saved temporarily (until HX3
switched off) when switching to a preset sound (2 to 12). If you return to preset 1
“Live”, your last
drawbar/button setting will be recalled.
Using HX3 with Hammond XK/SK series
HX3 supports most of Hammond XK MIDI controller functions. For convenience, some controllers
have been relocated to other HX3 functions:
XK Overdrive knob controls HX3 Rotary tube
Amp Volume
XK Reverb button controls HX3 lower manual
Vibrato On
XK Tube On button controls HX3 Reverb