Vintage B3 Percussion effect in MainStage
Vintage B3 emulates the (Key) Percussion features of the original B3. The Percussion function is available only for the upper manual. The effect adds the second or third harmonics to the attack envelope of a note. These harmonics quickly fade out, leaving the chosen draw bar tones.
The Percussion effect is polyphonic, but is only (re)triggered after all keys have been released. If you release all keys, new notes or chords sound with percussion. If you play legato, or sustain other notes on the upper manual, no percussion is heard.
Important: Percussion controls are spread across two windows. Click Main in the control bar, then click the Control button at the lower right to view the Percussion, Harmonic, Time, and Volume switches in the Main window. Click the Options button in the control bar to use the advanced percussion controls in the Options window.
Percussion effect parameters (Main window)
Percussion switch: Activate percussion for the upper manual.
Harmonic switch: Determine which harmonic is heard (the button toggles between the 2nd and 3rd harmonic).
Time switch: Switch between a slow or fast decay. The time is set with the Time knobs in the Options window.
Volume switch: Switch between a low or high decay level. The level is set with the Volume knobs in the Options window.
Percussion effect parameters (Options window)
Mode switch: Mono triggers the percussion effect with each key press. Poly engages a polyphonic percussion effect that only (re)triggers after all keys are released. If you release all keys, new notes or chords sound with percussion. If you play legato or sustain other notes on the upper manual, no percussion is heard.
Perc on Preset switch: Set to B0 to simulate the B preset key restriction. Choose All if you want percussion to always be available.
Time knobs and fields: Set independent percussion decay times for the slow and fast Time switch settings. No percussion decay occurs when Slow is set to maximum.
Volume knobs and fields: Set independent low and high decay levels for the low and high Volume switch settings. This is an improvement from the B3, where Time and Vol could only be turned on or off.
Upper Level knob and field: Set the balance between the upper (percussive) manual and the lower manual/pedals. On the B3, percussion is available only if the B preset key is selected. See Use Vintage B3 preset keys.
Velocity knob and field: Set the percussion velocity sensitivity (unlike the original B3, which is not velocity sensitive). Engaging percussion on a B3 slightly reduces the volume of the normal, nonpercussive registers.