Native Instruments B4D Drawbar Controller

I'm using the latest version of the product.

The presets on the B4 run the gammut from the old faithful B3 settings to some newer hybrid patches. To me the patches sound good, but like with the real B3, it still needs a bit of tweaking and customization.

Since my basic needs for the software is more for recording and not live usage, I find editing the B4 as straight forward as any other well laid out softsynth. The results and experience I've had has been very satisfying in the recording environment.

I owned and used a real B3 back in the days of ELP. I had a band that consisted of a trio ( keys/bass/drums )and at that time live was the name of the game and the Hammond was much more then an organ, it was an orchestra. Back then, although most B3's had that sound; there were slight variences to each one. Some had more subtle harmonic variations then others. After a 3 month search, I found the B3 I was looking for.

Is the B4 realistic? To a certain degree...you bet. Although the real thing has more solidity to its sound, the B4 certainly is better then any synth or hardware B3 replication I've heard to date.

It works as well as any Hammond would work in any genre the sound would be part of...may I add, without backstrain.

It reacts well to performance, however I find myself straining and pushing it a bit more then I would of had to do on the real thing.

Totally dependable. And I've had all versions of this software.

Never had a need to deal with the company..but hey, NI makes great stuff.

If it were lost or stolen ( boy, that would mean my computer would also have met the same fate )I would replace it in a second. Considering what I paid for my original Hammond B3, its not just a bargain, its a steal.

I've been playing keys for quite awhile and I probably own every softsynth of any consequence and a ton of hardware synths and gear as well(although the softsynth revolution has pretty much retired most of my hardware).

What I love about the B4 is its replicative sound and other variations the original B3 wasn't capable of. Add a bit of processing, and in the recording environment, its a monster. There is nothing I hate about it, but for the live player applications; it can be improved for the versitility needed in performance.

Last thoughts.... If your used to digging in to a Hammond B3 ( and don't mind the doctor bills for back pain), the physicality of a B4 controlled using a synthesizer or such, is not going to cut it. But, if your just looking to get that B3 sound into your band, project or recording...no need to look elsewhere, it delivers in spades.

This could have been a '10'. However, I'm using this with Mac OS 9, which Native Instruments doesn't support. (This is my only complaint about this product. NI, support your product base!)

As it turns out, as long as the B4 software is set to MIDI channel 1 for the upper keyboard, everything works flawlessly. It took me a while to figure that out, but since then it's been smiles all the way.

The B4D has everything easily accessable and logically laid out. It's a better layout than the real thing. I didn't understand some of the criticism of the lack of pedal support to either turn the leslie on or use a swell pedal. Since you have to use this with a keyboard controller, use the pedals on your keyboard and assign them to work with the B4 software. The pedal inputs on the B4D are completely un-necessary. And as far as a footswitch to turn the leslie on and off, just use an extra sustain pedal, it works fine.

There are two ways to evaluate the sounds. One is how is this compared to a real B-3, two is how is it compared to the B4 software alone.

For recording, this is better than a B-3, for live a B-3 still has the advantage of that sweeping 3-d leslie sound.

And, if you're like me and have been using the B4 software alone live, the difference is STAGGERING. You can control the sounds in such a personal way that it's just a joy to use. I've only had this thing two weeks, but I've gotta say it's the most fun I've had playing since I was a kid.

Who knows, I've had it for two weeks.

Native Instruments has been very supportive with the B4 software, and I assume they're going to do the same with this.

Again, it's better if you look at this for what it is. It's an amazing idea brought into reality, and it lets you, for all practical purposes, bring the B-3 experience anywhere you can bring a keyboard. For me, this is a no-brainer bargain.

And, as much as I enjoyed the B4 software over the last two years, I have a renewed sense of gratitude for the sounds now that I can freely access them. Amazing stuff.

I'm using the B4D controller on a Mac laptop with Native Instrument's B4, software version 1.1.4. (The manual says you can use the B4D with other programs, but as you'll see, that won't be easy.)

The B4D itself is fairly easy to use, and, apart from some colossally bone-headed product design decisions, is fun to use. It gives you easy access to most of B4's real-time performance controls. Everything works as promised, with exceptions as listed below

Here are the problems:

The unit is sold without a swell pedal. No problem, you say: I've got a MIDI expression pedal. Well...

The input connector for the swell pedal looks for all the world like a MIDI connection, but I'm bettin' it's not. The manual says, "Please use exclusively original accessories as foot sweller, otherwiese (sic) the device could be damaged." Mangled German-to-English translation aside, wouldn't you think at this point that tehy're trying to sell you a swell pedal? Well...

The manual says that accessories such as the LINK cable (more on that later) et al are available from Bohm International AG. Their website is German; despite my very Teutonic name, I couldn't find any reference to anything like a foot sweller. (Google suggested the Dr. Scholl's site.) Bohm has a US division - again with no reference to any kind of swell pedal. To be fair, they haven't really had time to respond to my emails.

The LINK cable, which allows you to connect multiple B4Ds for real-time control of up to two manuals and pedals, looks like a 9-pin serial connector, but am I gonna try it? Nope. Again, I couldn't find any way to get it from Bohm.

Here's the other big problem:

There are two footswitch inputs, which appear to be hardwired to control percussion on/off and vibrato/chorus on/off. Both useful, but the thing you want foot control over is (say it with me) rotator fast/slow. What you want to do is kick in that (all right, I'll say it) Leslie while you're holding great big testosterone-filled chords with both hands. Joey DeFrancesco has a footswitch mounted on the side of the volume pedal. Slide the foot an inch to the right - sonic orgasm.

As I said, perc and vib on/off are useful, but those things are usually switched between phrases, when at least one hand is off the keys.

I don't know whose artist input was considered in the design of this device. I can't imagine a professional organist playing without access to a swell pedal.

The rating for this category refers to sound quality. B4 is my favorite organ program, and I stop strangers on the street and tell them about how good it is.

I've played with the B4D and the Peavey PC1600x. I can make it sound better with the Peavey.

This thing is wonderfully built. The drawbars, if not Hammond Suzuki OEM, are a faithful duplication - you can feel the little clicks are you move 'em in and out.

The case is a great match for an old cherry B3, and just happens to match the finish of the double manual controller I built.

The contrast of the primary labels is great. It's easy to read on a darkened stage. The secondary function are a darker blue that doesn't show up so well.

All inputs and outputs are solid, with no wiggle.

I haven't heard anything back from Bohm or Native Instruments, but it's still early yet...

My wife happens to be the director of customer support for a $30 million music company (they make microphones - you'd know their name), and, in her opinion, owner's manuals are the the first stage of customer support.

I think the Native Insturments guys should have gotten a second opinion on the quality of this manual. I'm not a dumb guy, and I don't have a very good idea of what the B4D can and can't do. I thought everybody in the industry had learned their lessons from the Roland fiasco.

One of the suggested topics to consider in the review is "Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?"

The B4D is great device, marred by only a few things. I consider the abovementioned design flaws a serious impediment in the music-making process. I only hope they can be corrected - if not in this version, then in the ever-popular 1.1

Being a B4 player and having invested significant design time into a micro-controller based real-time controller for the B4 I think that Native Instruments really missed the boat on this one. Having reviewed the marketing hype and looking at the control panel there appears to be a real disconnect between the functions of the B4 and the UI on the B4D.

The only reason I bring this up is because the dedicated controller I designed for the B4 (and which in its prototype stage actually does control functions of the B4 in realtime as tested), utilizes two sets of real Hammond drawbars, toggle switches for the on-off functions of the B4 such as vibrato, percussion, overdrive, uses a real Half-Moon switch paralleled with an optional footswitch for controlling the rotary effect, a rotary chorus/vibrato setting switch, and two 8 position rotary switches for selection of bank and preset as well as a toggle to select between stored presets, or real-time control of the B4 functions from my control surface.

Any B4 player would look at my design and see that all of the most controllable functions from the Console View of the B4 have a direct correlation to switches on my controller which I nicknamed the B4RTC (real-time-controller).

There are many B4 enthusiast/musicians out there who have designed their own "clone-rigs" which use the B4 software. I am one of those and while mine will probably never make production (or who knows, just maybe...), it is much more intuitive as a real-time control surface for the B4.

Don't get me wrong. I swear by the B4 and my rig (850MHz PIII, 384Mb, B4 into a home built hot-rod Leslie 145, see http://www.vintagemusicprojects.com/HomebrewLeslieConstr.html) is as close to the real thing without the weight. In fact in a shootout, I challenge even an experienced ear to choose correctly in a blindfolded test.

It's just that they could have done a better job in the control surface department with the money they spent on R&D.