About the project

Briefly, the concept is: A Hammond organ, connected to 4 leslie cabinets, arranged around the organ in the room. The sound from the organ goes via an effect module with separate outputs to each cabinet. It enables the use of effects such as delay, reverb, loops and more. You can make the sound bounce around the room, separate the function of the different cabinets, or just change the timbre.

The control of the speed of the rotating element of the cabinet can be controlled individually and programmed for different types of behavior when the control lever is pulled.

The idea is to create a room where the audience can be in the middle of something and experience and not stand in front or to the side and just watch. The sound from the 4 leslie cabinets means that the room itself becomes an instrument as the sound image changes depending on where you stand. The concept itself allows for a variety of acoustic effects that are cool enough on their own, but the intention is that everything should also have a musical context.

About Andreas Hellkvist

Andreas Hellkvist is a versatile musician, artist and composer who dedicated his life to the Hammond organ. Stylistically broad and always curious to explore new paths and arenas, both musically and personally.

He has developed an almost unique style with his organ playing that arouses astonishment and admiration, both in Sweden and around the world. Partly with the purely technical mastery of the instrument, where the hands handle manuals and controls while the left foot almost dances forward over the pedals. Partly with the joy of playing, the spontaneity and the devotion to the music that makes the performance also a visual experience.

In addition to doing solo concerts of various kinds, he is also active in a number of different constellations, with different styles and orientations. Jazz with the trio Trinity, gospel with Kiralina Salandy, blues with Thomas Arnesen, Elvis and Bowie tributes and ongoing collaborations with Monica Dominique, Claes Janson and many others.

This site is specifically for the Quadrophonic Leslie Experience project. If you want to know more about Andreas and what he does in general, visit andreashellkvist.com

About the music

The music in the project has evolved as I sat and explored the cornucopia of possibilities that exist. It’s an absolutely incredible stream of creativity that has flowed and it feels like I’ve only been able to use a fraction of all the ideas I’ve received so far.

Each set of parameters creates a kind of musical and acoustic space to be in and work with. I tend to associate a lot of imagery with the music that comes out which is often reflected in the song titles. Musically, I have taken elements from many of the styles I play otherwise, but in terms of inspiration, I feel a strong connection to the computer game music that I grew up with. It has been a liberating feeling to not be bound or bound to a certain genre or style. As it is new and unexplored ground, there are no conclusions and everything just has to be as it is. Another basic requirement that I have had so far is also that everything must be able to be performed live.

Below I cover some of the main concepts that I worked with

Delay
The effect that has become the most used and that best conveys the quadrophonic effect is delay. The cabinets are numbered from 1 to 4 and the signal from the organ first to leslie no. 1, and then to the others in turn with a certain delay between each. Each note played will then be heard 4 times in the room, but from different places. Long runs of notes will form parts with each other and elements of the music can be made to jump around the room. Used in the right way, it can create incredible both fine and rather fuzzy effects. If you don’t watch out, it can get mushy.

Reverb
Just putting on a big reverb also creates nice rooms. It can lift the roof up to the sky, or open up a large cavern down into the earth. It also makes the organ sound, which is nice to have sometimes.

Loops
I’ve also been able to work with loops which is incredibly cool. I can then direct different loops to different cabinets, or let them wander around the room in other ways.

History

For the past 25 years, the Hammond organ has been my great love in life and I have the joy of having been able to play it in a variety of contexts, both in terms of style and constellations. Regardless of the situation, there is almost always a place for the organ in the soundscape, but you have to find it. With an instrument that can sound both like an entire orchestra and like a small flute, the possibilities of expression are almost endless, and if you don’t watch out, it’s easy to compete with other instruments. I have always loved exploring the world of sound that a Hammond can create. In addition, it is fun when several areas of knowledge meet and work together. In the Quadrophonic Leslie Experience project, I have used almost all of my accumulated knowledge regarding music, electronics, programming and aesthetics and it feels absolutely fantastic. A kind of climax on the path of life.

During the pandemic, as you know, it was not possible to play outside in the same way as before. I had just acquired my first premises of my own, which I gradually built up. Today it is the base for my business, and has therefore been named Hellkvist HQ. Where I can practice, scratch, stream, record, mix, make and also work with images, film and do most administrative tasks.

Like many others, I started doing streamed concerts and focused mostly on playing solo organ. It’s something I’ve done ever since I started playing, but now it’s a slightly new direction and approach. Every Saturday at 6 p.m. the broadcast started and the goal was to have a new repertoire each time. Over time, a repertoire with great breadth and variety developed. I was also constantly trying to challenge myself to make songs that didn’t feel obvious to the format.

It made me develop my game a lot. I often had to find or invent solutions and techniques for how to play certain songs so that it would work. Parallel to that, the technical know-how also developed, both in terms of the streaming and the organ. The quality, both in terms of sound and image, was constantly improved. With the workshop part in my premises, I was also able to tinker with the organs in a new way.

A Hammond organ is often seen with a (1) Leslie cabinet. However, it is possible to connect several, which creates acoustic effects that often add depth to the sound image. I had often used two Leslie’s at gigs, which creates a kind of stereo effect that feels more than twice as cool as with a cabinet. When I started streaming I used one cabinet, but eventually switched to two. However, I own more, and at one point I had set up a cabinet in each corner of the room, with the organ in the middle.

It felt a bit solemn, almost spiritual. Partly purely aesthetic – the organ, which in itself is a fine wooden piece of furniture, surrounded by 4 other equally fine wooden pieces of furniture. Partly symbolic – a cabinet, a sound source in every ear, in every direction, in every direction. So if you sit there by the organ in the middle, you are like in the center of this whirlwind of sound.

The thought immediately came to mind – what would it sound like if you connected all this? There were some technical challenges to overcome, but step by step it was solved and on Uppsala’s culture night, September 10, 2022, the first edition of the Quadrophonic Leslie Experience premiered. During the day there was an open house for those who wanted to see and hear and in the evening a streamed concert was held.

After that, you could say that Pandora’s box had been opened and I immediately started thinking about how to take the project further and use the format and the setup even more.

During the spring of 2023, I continued to work and the next edition began to take shape. Then the rig had been expanded to use an effect module for the sound, with 4 separate outputs for each leslie. Now the quadrophony began to take shape in earnest. The sound from the organ could be made to jump, wander and pulse between the cabinets, and with different types of effects you could create acoustic rooms of different kinds. In addition, I was able to build my own control mechanism for the speed of the Leslie cabinet’s moving parts. The traditional control was still there but managed via a small computer so I could control the leslie with different programs. I even built an app that I could run in my laptop to be able to control them via the touch screen.

On May 27, 2023, it was time for a concert again. Then in a real concert venue, Katalin’s great hall, and with completely new technical and musical conditions. The concert was also a way to test whether the format and concept hold up for a larger venue and audience. And it did so with notice! It was at least as awesome as I had hoped and judging by the audience’s reactions, they got the experience I wanted them to get.

After that concert, I realized even more the potential of the project but also understood that it would take a lot of time and energy to get things in place. So I applied for and was granted a grant from the Artists’ Council for a composition project this coming spring. And the spring of 2024 has been largely devoted to fine-tuning technical details of the project, as well as finalizing musical ideas from the previous year and writing new music in order to release an album.

And finally here we are – the Quadraphonic Leslie Experience version 3, but a 10-song recording that will be released both digitally and physically.