Modartt user forum - Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (Jake Johnson) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:06:06 +0000

Hm...I'll try to find the EJ piece.

For the nice solo version of Adia, try: http://www.truveo.com/sarah-mclachlan-a...3389380867

This site seems to have the same video embedded and it seems to be in your part of the world. Let me know if it doesn't work...

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (skip) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:00:33 +0000

Jake,
I think Song For Guy is a good example of the original Elton piano sound. I can't find a good quality recording of it in YouTube, but it is in iTunes, albeit in a remastered form it seems (the iTunes preview doesn't include the best bits, in any case) Btw, now that I have some nice piano emulations (Pianoteq included), Song For Guy no longer has quite the same impact on me that it used to.

I get a "not available in your region" error when I attempt to watch the Adia clip.

Here's some more info on Elton's piano and his switch to Yamaha (a Pianoworld forum post): http://tinyurl.com/kslr2p

Greg.

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (Jake Johnson) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:11:52 +0000

Well, I just emulated it as best I could in Pianoteq, using the dynamics slider and the eq. The sound, for me, came out seeming more like an upright than a bright piano. I wonder if he meant to raise the 1400 freq instead of 14000. Raising 1400 seems to have a better effect. I can't say that it sounds like a bright rock piano, but I'm not sure what the intended sound is. (I remember hearing early EJ on cassettes--Take Me to the Pilot, for example--but I don't have the music any more...

Did you watch\listen to the video of Adia? I really like that sound, and I've spent too much time trying to emulate it this afternoon. I sometimes think I've gotten close, but then when I listen to the video again, I'm not there yet. I can get areas, though. May have to wait until the pro version before sitting down to emulate existing pianos...

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (skip) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:47:21 +0000

Thanks Jake - I had actually noticed that post in fact. Looks like his sound was rather heavily processed, which I guess is not unexpected.

I'd never thought of it as a "chorus" as in the chorus *effect* (which I think of as sounding a bit detuned/honky-tonk), but I have thought of it as "choral" - like a choir.

When you say you're "not getting a chorusing sound" - how did you actually set up the effects to duplicate his configuration? (and I assume you used Pianoteq, yes?)

Greg.

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (Jake Johnson) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:33:43 +0000

Skip-You mentioned liking an Elton John recording, and I ran across this information on another site, quoted from The Mixing Engineer's Handbook by Bobby Owsinski:

If you like the early Elton John piano sound, put the piano into two LA-2As or similar compressors and compress the signal at least 10dB. Then put the output into two Pultecs or similar equalizers. Push 14kHz all the way up and set 100Hz to about 5. The effect should be a shimmering sound. The chords hold and seem to chorus.

I'm not getting a chorusing sound exactly, but the sound is worth experimenting with. Here's the original post on the NSounds site:

http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/sho...hp?t=58563

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (Jake Johnson) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:07:12 +0000

Part of my problem is that I want the piano to sound as good as the vocals--much more clarity there, even though the soprano backup singer sounds as though she was cut a little in the mix.

I've tried to find versions of this song that have a prominent piano and were recorded to a cd. No luck. A real shame--she has the voice and the background singers have the voices, but whoever produced the cd's wanted to do pop, so the result is only almost good.

I've heard strong singers with a similar range sing over brighter pianos. Can't find the videos, though. Need some help here...

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (skip) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:37:06 +0000

Jake,
Listening to it again, it sounds like they might have added a bit of chorus or similar to the piano, which might be making it sound a bit muddy. Also, the audio fidelity is pretty lousy, possibly due to YouTube encoding - excessive compression really stuffs up piano attacks.

Greg.

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (Jake Johnson) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:46:13 +0000

Just watched\listened to the Crow video again, and what I notice now is how much the higher paritals are deadened right after the attack, too, as though a low pass filter comes in smoothly but fast to shut down the sound. Don't know if it's just the lid being down that does this or if there's external hardware at work. And is the piano seriously out of tune, or does the LPF, and maybe a limiter, too, just squash the sound at a bad time in the evolution of the partials so that the piano sounds out of tune as the notes decay?

Cutting the upper partials at high volumes was a logical choice, though? The need is to keep the melody above the forceful piano, so the treble in the piano has to be killed. Terrible result for the piano sound; good for the song? I wonder if they could have just kept the volume of the piano down a little and let in more of the upper partials, so the vocal had enough volume and presence over the piano to make it work. I know I've heard better, brighter recordings that let the vocal come out well while giving the piano its due, but I can't seem to find them right now. Anyone know where to look?

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (skip) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 02:00:16 +0000

Btw, the two iTunes links I posted were:
1. George Winston playing "You Send Me". (picked at random out of many of his songs in iTunes, most of which have a very expressive piano sound which I like a *lot*)
2. Elton John playing "The Retreat".

Greg.

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (skip) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 01:09:40 +0000

Yeah, I guess you must need iTunes installed. I find the fidelity in iTunes to be very good generally.

The fidelity in that Princeofpiano/Linus & Lucy Red Piano clip that I posted isn't the best, but IMHO the piano in that clip at least sounds like a piano, and I really enjoy that performance. In the earlier Elton clip, I'm still not even sure whether we're really hearing the piano, or a MIDI'd piano unit - it just sounds too unnatural to me.

Greg.

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (Jake Johnson) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:31:44 +0000

The link took me to the generic itunes page. Maybe if I had it installed, I would have reached the right page. (I try to stay away from mp3's' though...)

(I'm not so sure I meant sick in the good sense--I listened in a rush, but the piano sounded out of tune and a little too beat-up. Maybe it was just too late at night for me. I usually like pianos that have taken a lot of pounding.)

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (skip) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:21:36 +0000

FWIW, I really like the piano sound in this recording of Elton:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt...p;s=143460

Bright and sonorous, without being harsh. Just perfect.

Greg.

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (skip) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:07:01 +0000

Jake Johnson wrote:

That's one sick piano.

I assume you mean the good version of "sick".

Btw I too prefer the earlier piano sounds of Elton. I saw him live a year or so ago though, and his piano sound was pretty natural, and sounded great.

Greg.

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (Jake Johnson) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:01:37 +0000

That's one sick piano.

Re: Some videos of very different sounding "pop" or "rock" Yamaha pianos

null@example.com (skip) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:46:12 +0000

Here's the Red Piano actually sounding GOOD, IMHO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN5tpSjOyOo

Greg.