Building a modern Leslie speaker from an original drum
A Leslie speaker is one of the most recognizable sounds in music, known for a tremolo and vibrato that come from physical rotation. Hackaday covered a project by Levi Graves who built a modern recreation, since original Leslies can cost thousands of dollars.
The original worked with two speakers. The treble speaker fed a pair of horns on a rotating platform, with only one horn producing sound and the other serving as counterweight. The bottom speaker faced a rotating drum. The musician chose the speed of both, which created the characteristic movement in the sound.
Levi uses an original Leslie drum, but the sound comes from a 100-watt mystery speaker, and everything is packaged neatly in a speaker enclosure. He uses a single-speed Leslie motor, plus a custom-built foot switch that gives finer control over the rotation speed of the drum.
The article reminds us that today's musicians can model such sounds in a computer, while in the 1930s you had to go to great lengths to get new sounds. Even so, the physical manipulation of sound waves gives a feeling that is hard to copy another way, which is part of why Leslie speakers stayed popular alongside Hammond organs.
Personally I find it appealing that a project like this combines salvaged parts with a custom cabinet and electronics. It is a good example of DIY audio where the mechanics matter as much as the amplifier. Note that the article is from July 2025.
Source: Hackaday
The original worked with two speakers. The treble speaker fed a pair of horns on a rotating platform, with only one horn producing sound and the other serving as counterweight. The bottom speaker faced a rotating drum. The musician chose the speed of both, which created the characteristic movement in the sound.
Levi uses an original Leslie drum, but the sound comes from a 100-watt mystery speaker, and everything is packaged neatly in a speaker enclosure. He uses a single-speed Leslie motor, plus a custom-built foot switch that gives finer control over the rotation speed of the drum.
The article reminds us that today's musicians can model such sounds in a computer, while in the 1930s you had to go to great lengths to get new sounds. Even so, the physical manipulation of sound waves gives a feeling that is hard to copy another way, which is part of why Leslie speakers stayed popular alongside Hammond organs.
Personally I find it appealing that a project like this combines salvaged parts with a custom cabinet and electronics. It is a good example of DIY audio where the mechanics matter as much as the amplifier. Note that the article is from July 2025.
Source: Hackaday
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