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There was a fair amount of snow falling up in the Southern Cascades this weekend. In
between snow showers and jaunts outside to the sledding hill and x-country slopes with my wife, son and dog, I fired up the old Lowrey Carnival organ, which I purchased a year ago for $36 from Salvation Army in Red Bluff. What a steal!

While my Kimball Caravan is especially cool with 2 sustains (short, long), variable rhythm repeat, and Magic Fingers, the Lowrey's main tones just sound better. It also has 2 manuals, 18 rhythms and a really nice rhythm accompaniment section, including a very bizarre "guitar" tone that I like. Unfortunately, it weighs in about twice as much as the Kimball and that's why it stays in the cabin. Picture me in the image above, blasting the Carnival in an idyllic Mountain setting. Deer and rabbits scurry by, holding hooves...

As I play, I usually have the headphone out going via a direct box into my laptop to grab any magic moments. Here's the very rough beginnings of a track that started by capturing a couple of beats and accompaniments:

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Except for the theremin-like part in the middle, an extra rhythm loop here and there, and a little Wurli and Mtron strings at the end, this recording is Lowrey all the way. What more do you want?