Glossary of features
This page contains definitions for branded features found in Wurlitzer instruments. We will add to this page as we find more information about each feature.
We are listing organ models only where we have confirmed that they contain the feature. There are likely other models that also have the feature in question, and we will add them as we confirm the information.
Chord Magic
See models: 480 | 565A | 580A | 580TA | 630A | 630TA | 950A | 950TA | D-172Describing the features of a Wurlitzer 950, Lucien Nunes explains:
Then there is a gadget called ‘Chord Magic’, a kind of intelligent coupler from the lower manual to the upper which ‘thickens’ and enriches the voicing without interfering with any melody line. It works by scanning the lower manual to identify what chords (if any) you are playing; it simultaneously scans the upper manual to find what you are playing there and adds a suitable inversion of the identified lower-manual chord beneath the melody on the upper manual voices.
Dancing Chords
See models: 330 | 530 | 540 | 545 | 550 | 555 | 625 & 625TFrom the 625/625T Total Tone brochure:
A musical happening that’s fast and easy. Form a chord on the lower keyboard and Dancing Chords puts it into a pulsating rhythm. Hold the pedal and you pick up a rhythm bass.
In the Wurlitzer 625 and 625T, the Rhythm Bass control added “automatic rhythm accompaniment.” There were two choices available: “Walking Bass adds a sophisticated moving bass pattern. Swing bass alternates between the root and the fifth.”
Dancing Fingers
See models: D-30 | D-40 | D-42 | D-72In a 1981 trademark registration, Dancing Fingers is described as an “automatic arpeggio unit sold as a component and feature of electronic organs.” Its first use is recorded as October 1978.
Multi-Matic Percussion
See models: 530 | 540 | 545 | 550 | 555 | 805Multi-Matic Percussion was a bank of controls on certain organs produced in the 1960s and 1970s. Wurlitzer trademarked the term in 1964.
Multi-Matic Percussion added percussive elements that were intended to make organ notes (and beginner players) sound more dynamic. It was a broad marketing classification that included effects which manipulated the envelope of the note, effects that added occasional percussive emphasis, and Swingin’ Rhythm drum patterns.
The specific effects included in the Multi-Matic Percussion bank differed across organ models, and included Ssh-Boom, Sustain, Repeat, Attack, Toy Counter and Pizzicato. However, these percussion features were not always advertised as part of a Multi-Matic Percussion bank. Swingin’ Rhythm in particular was often described as a standalone feature in organs that did not otherwise have Multi-Matic Percussion effects.
Orbit synthesizer
See models: 545 | 555 | 580A | 580TA | 625 & 625T | 630A | 630TA | 805 | 950A | 950TA | D-40 | D-42 | D-72 | D-172The Orbit synthesizer was a 25-note monophonic synthesizer installed as a compact third manual in some Wurlitzer organ models. Budget models, such as the 445, included the Syntha-Solo, if they included a synthesizer at all.
According to the 625/625T Total Tone brochure:
The Orbit Synthesizer gives you far-out electronic effects at a touch. Or the Orbit will synthesize authentic instrumental sounds—dramatic, convincing reed, brass, string and percussive voices.
As built into the 625 and 625T, the Orbit included thirteen preset voices: Bass Reed 32’, Bass Clarinet 32’, Sax, Brass, String, String Celeste, Harpsichord, Electro Piano, Vibes, Saxophone, Glock, Chimes, and Wah Wah. It also included “seven different pitches of Sine Wave sounds”, available in stop tablets marked 32’, 16’, 8’, 4’ 2 2/3’, 2’ and 1/3’.
The Orbit also had effects: Delayed Vibrato, Orbit Modulator, Orbit Attack and Orbit Sustain. in the 625/625T brochure, Wurlitzer highlighted Orbit Portamento Legato, which “allows you to slide between notes when playing in a smooth technique,” and Orbit Portamento Staccato, “for a glissando effect when playing detached.” Additionally, a slider marked Porta-Rate “lets you predetermine the amount of time desired when sliding from one pitch to the next.”
On the 625/625T, an Orbit to Leslie pitch played the Orbit tones through the Leslie speaker. The Orbit to Upper Coupler switch coupled the Orbit to the upper keyboard, “making ‘bridging’ unnecessary,” as the brochure explained. It added: “‘Bridging’ is a technique employed by skilled organists to play on two keyboards at one time with one hand.”
Pedal Memory
See models: 625 & 625TPedal Memory was a feature designed to help beginners sound more confident when playing the bass pedals. “Fear of silence ends with unique Pedal Memory,” the 625/625T Total Tone brochure explained.
Play a pedal. Release it and it continues to sound until you’re ready to play the next. Pedals are no problem for a beginner. There will be no awkward silence as he goes from one pedal to the next.
Pedal Memory integrated with Dancing Chords. Per the brochure: “When used with a Dancing Chord accompaniment, Pedal Memory provides a smooth, connected bass line.”
Programmable Registration
See models: D-5 | D-15 | D-16 | D-172Programmable Registration appears to be a feature that allows the user to save some combination of stops, voices and effects for later use. However, we have not yet found any documentation that describes its function.
One 1981 advertisement in The Catholic Commentator mentions the feature without explaining anything about it:
Change your sound…change your mood at the touch of a button with Wurlitzer Programmable Registration.
Wurlitzer patent 4,078,465, Programmable Memory System for Electronic Musical Instrument, may describe the technology.
Programmed Rhythm Orchestra
See models: 480 | 565A | 580A | 580TA | 625 & 625T | 630A | 630TA | 950A | 950TA | D-30 | D-40 | D-42 | D-72 | D-172According to the 625/625T Total Tone brochure, Programmed Rhythm Orchestra was an umbrella term for the Dancing Chords, Touch Tone Memory Chords, Rhythm Bass and Bass Riff features. Bass Riff was a button in the Swingin’ Rhythm section of the organ.
Rhythm Bass
See models: 625 & 625TAccording to the 625/625T Total Tone brochure, the Rhythm Bass control added “automatic rhythm accompaniment.” When Dancing Chords was engaged, Rhythm Bass patterns played when the pedal was depressed. There were two choices available. Per the brochure: “Walking Bass adds a sophisticated moving bass pattern. Swing Bass alternates between the root and the fifth.”
Spectra-Tone
See models: 540 | 4100BP | 4100BD | 4150BD | 4102BDSpectra-Tone was a rotary speaker system developed by Wurlitzer. Two contemporary patents cover Wurlitzer’s proprietary technology: 3,069,958 (Vibrato apparatus) and 3,095,467 (Sound generating means).
Spectra-Tone units had two speeds, according to a 1969 theatre organ advertisement.
A 1962 advertisement answered the question, “What is Spectra-Tone Vibrato?”
It is a new dimension in vibrant organ tone projection with a full range of vibrato effects—from the most subtle, delicate waver to brilliant pulsating Theatrical Vibrato—produced by additional revolving speakers which literally flood a room with music.
Around the 1970s, Wurlitzer began producing organs that integrated with Leslie speakers instead of releasing more tone cabinets with proprietary Spectra-Tone technology. For instance, the 805 has Leslie connectivity.
Swingin’ Rhythm
See models: 330 | 445 | 480 | 530 | 540 | 545 | 550 | 555 | 565A | 580A | 580TA | 625 & 625T | 630A | 630TA | 805 | 950A | 950TA | D-5 | D-10 | D-15 | D-16 | D-30 | D-40 | D-42 | D-72 | D-172The Swingin’ Rhythm was available as a standalone drum machine, but it was also built into certain Wurlitzer organ models, such as the 625 and 625T. As described in the 625/625T Total Tone brochure:
Wurlitzer 625/625T has a rhythm section that adds to your playing enjoyment…and excitement. […] Swingin’ Rhythm adds the sound of professional rhythm accompaniment to your music. And it’s automatic…with the cleanest and most precise percussion sounds available on any electric organ.
On the 625 and 625T, the Swingin’ Rhythm was comprised of fourteen switches. Their functions included:
Ten preset drum patterns (Waltz, Latin, Caribe, Bossa Nova, Swing, Ballad, Rock, Shuffle, March, and Polka)
Snare and Cymbal Cancel switches, which removed snare or cymbal from the pattern
Down Beat, a control that triggered an automatic rhythm pattern when either the lower keyboard or pedals were played
Toy Counter, which added bass drum and cymbal to the pedals and brush to the lower keyboard
At the left of the preset switches, slider potentiometers controlled Tempo and Volume. At the right, there was a Clear button and a Bass Riff button. The brochure explains:
Need a bass solo? You have it quickly and automatically with Bass Riff…a great addition for your music.
Syntha-Solo
See models: 445 | 480 Syntha-Solo functionality added 25 notes of preset instrument sounds to the upper manual of certain two-manual organ models, such as the 445. When one of the Syntha-Solo stop tablets were engaged, 25 upper manual keys would play the preset sounds. Like the Orbit synthesizer, this feature appears to be monophonic. A 445 dealer brochure noted, “Solo voice always sounds the top note played.”
Syntha-Solo presets had fourteen sounds: Tuba, Trombone, Clarinet, Guitar, Violin, Accordion, Harmonica, Banjo, Electro Piano, Vibes, Glock, and—as the brochure announced—“[t]wo all-new solo sounds—MOD I and MOD II.” For users unsure how to integrate Syntha-Solo into their music, the booklet “Syntha-Solo Fun” was available. It contained a “sparkling collection of fifteen tunes exploring the exciting sounds of SYNTHA-SOLO.”
Because Syntha-Solo added extra functionality to a conventional two-manual home organ, the dealer brochure emphasized its “Sell value", claiming that Syntha-Solo made the 445 “a 3-manual organ in 2.” As the brochure announced: “Nowhere at this price point can the buyer find as much value for the money.”
Regardless of technique, your customer becomes an instant solo star with the super-realistic preset sounds of SYNTHA-SOLO. Model 445 is the ultimate dream machine for the first-time organ buyer. It legs anyone create authentic instrument solos that give the feeling of actually playing accordion, harmonica, guitar—a whole spectrum of solo instruments!
Total Tone
See models: 445 | 565A | 580A | 580TA | 625 & 625T | 630A | 630TA | 950A | 950TA“Total Tone” wasn’t a specific feature. Instead, it was a term that Wurlitzer used to describe the quality of voices and effects in its organs. Many Wurlitzer organs were marketed towards beginners, and had both traditional organ voices (such as Tibia and Diapason) and more offbeat synthesized sounds (like Banjo and Guitar). The Total Tone label was meant to emphasize the authenticity of all sounds available in the organ. Whatever genre or style users intended to play, Total Tone guaranteed that they would sound good doing it.
Total Tone also expressed the quality of the organ’s electronics. When the 625/625T debuted, Wurlitzer was replacing discrete transistor tone generators with integrated circuits. These instruments were still analog, but ICs required much less space than the older transistor topologies. Using integrated circuits, Wurlitzer could include more features in its organs while reducing weight and bulk.
As the 625/625T brochure described it:
Space-age technology makes it possible. Large Scale Integrated Circuitry and Microprocessor Technology replace thousands of vacuum tubes and transistors to give you not only reliability but a variety of musical features which could have not been possible for an instrument of this size and price point.
Through photography, chemistry and physics a road map of electronic circuitry is imprinted on the surface of tiny silicone chips barely a fifth of an inch in diameter and ten-thousands of an inch thick.
The same technology that lets nations explore space lets you explore music!
Today, IC circuits have a mixed reputation that makes the above marketing language seem a little too starry-eyed. But ICs are still analog devices, and they can sound equivalent to transistor circuits. The perceived quality differences between IC and discrete transistor designs are due to the fact that miniaturizing the circuit gave Wurlitzer the ability to simplify other aspects of the design. This is why the IC era produced organs with no bass pedals and organs with irrelevant presets like Guitar.
Total Tone was also applied to earlier, discrete transistor models, such as a theater-style organ advertised in the December 1969 issue of Theatre Organ Bombarde. It is not clear which model is pictured, but it names “silicon transistors for minimum maintenance” among its features. The advertisement reads:
Command performance! Wurlitzer combines the classic Horseshoe Design of the immortal Mighty Wurlitzer with the exclusive Total Tone electronic circuitry of today.
Total Tone Modulation
See models: 565A | 580A | 580TA | 625 & 625T | 630A | 630TA | 950A | 950TA In 625 and 625T organs, one bank of effects was labeled Total Tone Modulation. Per the 625/625T Total Tone brochure, this included:
Orchestral Presence, in which “[v]oices are projected in individual phases close to each other and through multiple amplifiers and speaker systems.”
Vibrato, “a pleasing theatrical effect” that “enhances the sound of all solo and ensemble voices.”
Two-Speed Tibia Leslie Tremolo, which channeled the Tibia voices through the Leslie rotating speaker. The Fast speed provided “vibrant theatrical-type pulsation,” while Slow offered “unique chorale-type sound suitable for liturgical and classical music.”
Touch Tone Memory Chords
See models: 445 | 625 & 625TFrom the 625/625T Total Tone brochure:
Get a continuous combo accompaniment from built-in guitar, piano and string bass voices with no effort. It’s done with Touch Tone Memory Chords…they’re automatic and played from designated keys on the keyboard.
Toy Counter
See models: 530 | 540 | 550 | 555 | 805 | 950A | 950TAToy Counter is an effect dating back to 1920s theater organs. When a theater organ was played as accompaniment to a silent film, the organist would sound miscellaneous effects like boat whistles and sirens whenever required by the film’s plot. The organ’s collection of sound effects was known as the toy counter.
Although Wurlitzer seems to have adopted the terminology, its Toy Counter consists of more conventional percussion sounds like brushes and wood blocks. An 805 promotional tape explains (without further elaboration) that “the Wurlitzer Toy Counter consists of a group of six special percussion sounds which follow you.” It appears that the toy counter is triggered by the notes being played, but without further documentation it is unclear exactly how it works.
Vari Voice
See models: D-30 | D-40 | D-42 | D-72 | D-172Vari Voice is a feature found on digital organs, but we haven’t yet found any documentation that explains its function.
Wurlitzer registered the trademark in 1981, citing a first use on October 17, 1979.