This is a really fun organ I found at Gregg's Music Center in Newcastle, California. It has cool features, awesome lights, and the best bench in the music industry! I hope you enjoy.
It does look like the cockpit of some alien vessel. I wonder if that was what they were thinking of when they made the control panel for the alien ship in Alien Prometheus.
Lowrey has been around for many years. My mother owned one which she just loved many, many years ago. To say the least, Lowrey has come a long way since. These organs are so feature-filled, it will take you years to enjoy all of their tricks. If you are just a hobbyist organist, these should receive your serious consideration. I remember as a little one, playing my mother's and just enjoying the sounds and like. These console type organs are not portable but if you want to entertain yourself and your family, you can never go wrong with one of these.
Got my first Lowrey organ three months ago because of this video. It was a Rhapsody. Just picked up a Lowrey Palladium today for $600. My wife and I are over the moon. James is Right used instruments I like adopting unwanted pets you can get them for almost nothing and you can have an incredible amount of Joy from them
I remember when larger shopping malls all had an organ store with a salesperson playing their top model to attract buyers. I NEVER heard of anyone every buying one.
Looks like a spaceship.. I always loved the lowrey organ kind of look when I was a kid and I wanted to buy a keyboard. I imagine this kind of look is a magnet for kids and adults as well :)
I've always wanted a Lowrey like this, but never had the room or the money. What really sold me are the Lowrey "Just For You" pre-programmed arrangements. All the fun of karaoke, but you're playing as much of it as you care to yourself.
My late father kept his jacket on at many occasions. Funny you reminded me of him. An organ that expensive having the names written with every key made me wonder who it was targeted at. I heard someone in the field say it was retired people taking up a hobby. It looks very impressive with all the lights. One is waiting to hit the jackpot. 😚
tpmm1 I think that’s a fair assessment. Lowry organs were known for their ‘Easy Play’ features for getting an impressive result without much playing technique, as James demonstrates at the end. They weren’t very popular in recent times, and in the last year or so ceased production.
That organ has an array of preset combinations of registrations for both manuals(keyboards) and the pedals to enable the performer to change the sounds rapidly while playing a piece. There are 10 general presets + the default when the power comes on, called preset #0. Then, there are 6 different styles to use on the presets to deliver a whole new set of preset registrations for the "general" presets. Styles include, Big Band, Country, Theater, etc, The rhythm accompaniments are a great deal more variable than your waltz example showd, and there are over 24 different style of rhythms. I own a Lowrey Majesty and an Imperial myself, and enjed seeing what you were able to discover all by yourself.
Call me stoopid, but because of this video I now know the difference between portamento and glissando. Thank you piano dude, it's always been a bit fuzzy.
my lowrey organ is the legend it is very simular to this one. also i am still waiting to get back to our music class lessons.the corona virus. caused usto not be able to return yet.
I've replaced the touch-sensitive membranes on dozens (might be hundreds by now, I've lost count) of touchscreens. No clue what the end users are doing to them, but it doesn't take long for them to get all scratched up, cut up, holes worn in them, glass broken, etc...
Up until you opened the cover and there in front of you are LED lighting and touch screen I would have sworn this was a 1930s art deco looking instrument. The sound is incredible, you could spend hours exploring it , but I'm not sure about the letters denoting the keys, i would expect to find this on a botempi or Fisher price keyboard for beginners, whereas this would be aimed at the upper market musician.......there again, what do I know?
The organ at the start looks like what I imagine the control panel in Santa's slay would look like, even the chair it reminds me of Santa Clause the movie the one with Dudley Moore in as an elf, all the elves beds had a pull over cover made of wood like the cover of that organ.
I actually learned to play on an older Lowrey Holiday. I loved the sweet, mellow tone of the Lowreys of that era. Like many other organ builders, Lowrey succumbed to the "easy play", single-finger-chord style. People weren't interested in learning the classical way of playing: they wanted it easy, they wanted it NOW! So Lowrey, along the other builders, began to build the "auto-chord" organs, and other "trick" doo-dads than made it seem like organists were really hot. Lowrey began to cater to the geriatric set with classes and "assembly-line" teaching. Along the way, the sound quality began to suffer. To compensate for this, Lowrey added lots of beautiful lights and switches that lit up like a carnival. Players like me that had learned under the old teachers and candle light supperclub performers were put off by all the lights and bells. Heck, ya couldn't even FIND how to get the sound you wanted from these for all the lights and switches hidden away! I now own two Hammonds, one tone wheel, one electronic. Fortunately Lowrey has found its way again with the introduction of other, exciting offerings such as the compact Fanfare. Unfortunately, while a beautiful instrument, the Palladium is not one I would choose for my own. Just my own opinion.
@@JerryNSretired I'd add that western organ manufacturers failed to follow Yamaha's steps to keep alive the electronic organ market. Yamaha supports music schools in every country, and Electone organ buyers not only get an instrument with amazing sound quality; they also receive a very well organized music education, knowledgeable tech support, and the allure to see the best organ players in their annual music festival. As a result, kids who learned their craft in a Yamaha organ end up buying the higher-end models once they can afford it, and even casual Electone players have amazing dexterity with or without the automatic accompaniment.
It's like something out of Buck Rogers. I love Lowrey Organs. I used to lurk around the Lowrey store in my local mall. The sound of these has always been so unique! Thanks for the demo.
Nice find James. There was a dealership back home that had Lowrey Organs all down once side of the store and Baldwin and Kimball Pianos down the other side. . With a center aisle diving the two sections. The lowreys always looked so complete. Some of them were quite large too. and some with external speaker cabinets . Nice find though. They do have a big warm sound
Quite interesting. From somebody who _needs_ the letters pasted on the keys.... When I first decided I wanted an electronic organ, they were upwards of $10,000. Somehow Casio got the price down to about $400. That's when I bought one. All plastic, and seriously crap, but better than nothing. The guy at the store _really_ knew how to play it better than I could, too.... Anyway, about 30 years ago, give or take, a buddy of mine went to the Mall looking for a cassette recorder that worked with his organ. He ended up buying a new organ with a cassette recorder built-in. His wife was impressed. IAC, she let him live.... Downside was that it was mostly TTL logic inside, and the dumb things would pop with some regularity. Naturally, the manufacturer was not putting the manufacturer's numbers on the parts. He was able to sort that out, and keep it running for a very long time. Good quality, real wood, etc. Can't recall the brand name, and he's long since deceased.
These kinds of organs were not intended to be sold to serious musicians, but rather to people who wanted to make music, but be more involved than just playing a phonograph and then sitting on the couch listening. In a way you get a bit of the thrill of conducting, without having to either understand music theory nor have great skill playing an instrument.
It would be nice if they had some kind of snap-on veneer or something that would cover the note letters. It's a cool feature but it makes the organ look even more busy with them there.
I'l never see the real organ in real life. But in Latvia we have some churches there you can listen some beautifull sounds of the Organ. And we also already have some churches with the Organ. But that musical instrument it's so large and big. With the tubes.
I am glad you enjoyed the video. I hope to do a series on classical church music, maybe even some contemporary music if is well received. Let me know if you think that might be something you would enjoy.
Yamaha Electone organs also have a better sound, at least in my opinion. They have a brighter sound, which is also more alive, while Lowrey organs sound a bit stale.
Looks very similar to my Lowrey Royal, the. Virtuoso is actually an arpeggiator, play a chord on the lower keyboard and slide your finger across the Virtuoso and it will arpeggiate the upper notes. You should had used the intro and ending it sounds great.
This model should probably be sold to Adam “Owl City” Young. “Fireflies”, baby! I might be mistaken, but the genius and rhythm plus features harken back to the late 70s and early 80s, when the Lowrey R&D folks were incorporating those features into their older designs. They’re referred to in one of my books about electronic musical instruments. What would be extra excellent is if the lights could be activated by the music you play. Not just on and off but triggered by the music itself. Love the features, not fond of the traditional-style cabinetry. As much as I have grown to appreciate the theater organ over the last 20 years, the bulkiness was never that appealing.
hi james the lowrey pladium. and others . the touch bar works on both sides. also you can use the volume pedal .by moveing your foot to the right. for fill in. and to the left to get a different sound. like a steel guitar. or country sound.
Unbelievable it's a good thing the damn thing doesn't have wings to fly away looks like the inside of an airplane , absolutely beautiful fantastic sound unbelievable sell them for a living pal you can make a ton of money how much is it quarter of a million dollars??? Good job good upload
My second organ, back in the '60s, was a Lowrey, but I never liked it and traded for a Yamaha Electone E3. Lowreys always look gaudy, like a Las Vegas slot machine, and their sounds are weak, thin, over-filtered. They don't even sound like an organ. Flashy crap for people hoodwinked by "pretty" lights.
Exactly what I think about it , these leds are ugly and makes it look cheap with those clear flip switches. But the most important is the sound and it has quite cheap sounds in my opinion. Rolands / yamahas are way better and no slot machine 😆 I still have a old roland e86 in my studio at home wich I use for midi input. Somehow when he open up the lowrey it reminded me of christmas 🤣 must be the fancy lighting I guess.
This organ is too much for me haha I need a traditional theater organ console, one that doesn't have so many sections and features. My favorite electric theater organ is the Conn 651, I haven't played one yet, but I've been offered the one that stood in place of the Wurlitzer at the State Theatre in Oroville. I can't pass this up.
Definitely has a Star Trek look about it - I love the idea of a snack drawer in the seat as well. Maybe there should be a cup holder on each side of the keyboard as well, and an ashtray?
when this organ was new they had it in my class room. at evola music here in Michigan. I have played it many times. now I am trying to findit or any newe one. to purchase. since they sold all of the organs.
Richard, The Lowrey Organ Company is not totally dead. Dave Brown and Lisa Perez of Critchetts Lowrey Organ centers purchased the remaining Lowrey organs back from the Parent Company and along with Bil Curry and Dennis Awe have basically given Lowrey organs a new lease on life, They have developed new organs combining all the new technology. The newest one is named the Lowrey Symphony Showcase. In fact, Chuck Wright is going to be here on Friday to do a concert and workshop on some of the new Organs being designed.. Dave and Lisa also purchased the rights to the Lowrey Magic Music Program. Critchett's Lowrey Organ Centers is in the process of opening a new location in St. Paul. PS: I just purchased a brand new in the box EZ-10 plus a few months ago. This is My fourth Lowrey organ. Good Luck
I've always had to remove my left shoe to play the bass pedals, it's a habit of mine since childhood. If I can't feel the individual pedals with my toes, I get extremely clumsy.
Always a happy moment when I get to watch one of your videos - thank you for them :) I have 2 questions. 1. I am not much of a player but the lights fascinate me (I know, very immature lol). Will this organ play like a player piano from a SD card or a CD? 2. Question 2 is off topic but I don't know where else to ask it. There is a very popular Christian song on KLOVE (a Christian radio station) called "No Matter What" by Ryan Stevenson. I am almost sure that sound thru the song is an organ sound? That sound is almost a hook all by itself. Every time I hear that song I think of you because it would be the type of thing you would do to spice up a song lol. And if I get a bonus question - who is your camera person? Needs a better camera like an M50 on a Gimbal. That is my niche on my RU-vid channel, so if you need or want to baseball camera selections and lens choices I would be glad to help.
As for your question about the organ, I know of no better person to contact about that than the owner of the shop, and the info for that is in the description. He has been in the organ business for as long as I can remember, and is very knowledgeable about those things. As for the camera with a gimbal, they have advantages and disadvantages. I like them a lot, and maybe someday I will get one. But at the moment, any new camera/video equipment would come out of my studio funds, which I prioritize. The camera I have is admittedly not the best camera (Canon Rebel T5i), but it works well enough for my style of videos. The thing I dislike about gimbals is that sometimes movements can be unnatural, like when you command it to look up or down. Gimbals are great for smooth cinematic shots, but not quite what I'm looking for in my videos at the moment. My videos are never scripted, they are done in one take, and are quite spontaneous. I often discover things about the instruments in the middle of the videos! Soon, the account will be monetized, so I can continue with purchasing studio equipment.
Beautiful instrument, sans the touchscreen, I don't like touchscreens, no tactile feedback. But other than it's beautiful, and looks like it's made in U.S.A. I think instrument like this is used in Chicago baseball stadium.
Nice looking organ. Is this strictly digital? I can tell the sound effects are digital samples as you can't really synthesize those. As I recall, the Who's Baba O'Reilly arpeggio that sounds exactly like a synthesizer patch, used a feature called Marimba Repeat, which was on a Lowry. My Yamaha Motif has auto patterns, but obviously not like this does; it's focused on a different sort of user.
Call me old fashioned, but i like older organs better, especially Hammond models. Seems like back in the day they put less flair and more of a rich, full sound on organs. First one i ever played was an electric Wurlitzer from the 70's. Wish i had it here. Thanks for the video sir, very informative.
