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

Skip,

I agree about the Crow video. There's something wrong with the attack or right after the attack. Is it cut off too fast or is the peak reached too fast and then cut off? Each time I listen to it, I hear it differently.

Just occurs to me--I almost went back and deleted the original post--that I should make clear that I only listed these three videos as a way to note how different a Yamaha can sound from pop recording to pop recording, not as a critique of the new rock preset, which I strongly like. I'm already working on a closed lid fxp, while still having fun with the presets.

But I'm not sure which video I like the most. At times the 2nd sounds good to me under the voice, but if I imagine it played solo, I think the sound would be squashed a little. And all three doubtless have a limiter, too, or have their amplitude reduced at the mixing board, so the singer can pound out without overplaying her voice.

Are there just too many variables involved (the video sound quality, the compression and limiters and eq, the micing) to think that we can hear much of the original piano's sound at all on recordings like these?

Hey, what about you try to find the adjust that turn this C3 Yamaha very close to the red Yamaha used by Elton John ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m16b4D0avm4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAN7oQLBcAY

Hm...Another closed-lid Yamaha. Maybe this needs to be a group project. I know I can do the red part.

I haven't heard them for a long time, but I always liked the sound of the piano on his early albums--for things like Take Me to the Pilot.

That's one sick piano.

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.

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.

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?

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...

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.

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.