Yamaha Electric Grand's best songs.

[Threadslayer]

Kawai had an electric grand too, let's not forget.

 

 

I played one of those at NAMM back in the early '80s or whenever it was introduced, and fell in love with it. It just cost so much at the time that it went directly onto my fantasy GAS list along with the Synclavier, Fairlight, etc.

They had it set up in a plexiglass booth off by itself with no one minding the store, so I just sat down and played for about half an hour. It felt more like a piano to me than the CP70.

[CEB]

Kawai did it better.

[Losendoskeys]

No matter how good these songs are .... they would sound even better on real piano. ð

 

Yepper. This is my feeling as well. Never owned a CP, but played 'em many times over the years, and ALWAYS hated the sound. I think though the reason for me is that I always thought it to be a crappy sounding replacement for a real piano, instead of embracing it it as it's own unique instrument.....

 

I respect your opinion but I think the CP was (is) a unique keyboard voice worthy of the hits they're heard in. At the time, IMO, it made the song sound modern.

 

ie. If you replaced Hold the line chords with a regular acoustic piano it might sound like a 50's doo-wop sound and certainly Toto could of used acoustic piano but they didn't.

 

On the other hand... Weather Report 8:30 or Herbie's 1977 VSOP, might of sounded better if they toured with a real acoustic, but again I like that they choose the CP as giving those albums a uniqueness to their catalogs.

 

And I don"t like Melotrons either. Those were terribly out of date Lo-Fi samplers. An original Ensoniq EPS smokes them. ðð

 

You may not like the CP70 and Mellotrons but millions of discerning Prog lovers do

[Losendoskeys]

I would say that music often sounds best when played on the instrument that it was written on. There are lots of good CP70-driven songs around, many of which have been mentioned here. My personal favourites are those by Genesis, Gabriel, Collins, Vangelis ... honourable mention goes to Keane.

Great to see you on here again Joachim - still loving the ARPProS Rack+ :cool:

[Losendoskeys]

Not a lover of live albums but this version of One for the Vine is beautiful with CP70...........[video:youtube]

[analogika]

This piece was part of my life from about age four or five, and it"s the reason I always wanted a CP70. It would never work on an acoustic (the tight release and weird harmonics are essential to the piece):

 

[video:youtube]

 

The CP is my favourite piano action and my favourite practise piano (it helps that I can play it at two a.m. without disturbing the neighbours).

[16251]

I never heard MoonFlower. Thanks, will enjoy checking out whole album.

 

I bought a used CP-70 in the early 90's to use at home to practice on. At that time hybrids were not available and I didn't have enough space for a grand piano. For many years it served me well. I ended up selling it for a profit as I had an itch for a Steinway upright.

[eric]

Great thread! We've done a few of these over the years. I don't have the energy to svengle them. I'm a longstanding HUGE fan of the Yamaha CP-70/80 sound and feel and believe it stands completely alone as an instrument in its own right, even if it was intended to be an electrified, semi-portable, trade-off replacement for a real piano.

 

Many of my favorites have been covered, though sharing the main ones here:

 

- In Your Eyes, Red Rain, others - Peter Gabriel

- New Years Day, October, I Fall Down, others - U2

- Alive and Kicking, others - Simple Minds

- No One is to Blame - Howard Jones

- Start of the Breakdown, others - Tears for Fears

- Children's Crusade and the entire Bring on the Night/Dream of the Blue Turtles era - Sting with Kenny Kirkland

- Everything is Changing, others - Keane

- Winter Kills - Yazoo

- All the live clips from the era - Doobie Brothers

 

Probably some I'm forgetting. That's off the top of my head.

[Marzzz]

Pretty much all over the last several albums by Roxy Music...just love that sound!

 

[video:youtube]

[erik_nie]

Nice!!!

[BRW]

Always loved that Ritenour clip The audacity to play "St. Elsewhere" as concert piece is fantastic (I know Grusin wrote it).

 

On the V.S.O.P. double album, Herbie plays the CP70/80. Here's "Toys". The theme is with a Rhodes, but the solo is with the Yamaha. I think he also toured with them.

 

[video:youtube]

 

Here's Raul De Souza's tune "Daisy Mae" composed by George Duke, who also plays the Electric Grand on it.

 

[video:youtube]

[dongna]

Something tells me only the great Richard Tee could have pulled off a CP on this tune.

 

[video:youtube]

[Markyboard]

Something tells me only the great Richard Tee could have pulled off a CP on this tune.

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

Damn, that did it. I miss my CP-80. :cry:

[Threadslayer]

Gotta say, that sounded pretty good. I wonder what sort of amplification he was playing it through?

[mate stubb]

FWIW, I never loved the action on the CP. It had this beautifully made grand piano action, but every time I laid hands on it, the action felt really shallow and bottomed before my fingers were ready.

 

My Baldwin ElectroPro had a downright poor action - super simplified spinet action.

 

The Kawai electric grand had the best action of the portables.

[AnotherScott]

My Baldwin ElectroPro had a downright poor action - super simplified spinet action.

Funny, I loved playing mine!

[David Emm]

I think its an appealing sound with multiple uses, but as with any niche/semi-niche instrument, to one person, its God's Fave and to the next, its bagpipes played by someone with a piece of lemon rind tucked in one cheek.

 

I like the fact that some judicious flanging & EQ can get you very close with a good sample, but its somewhat like Hammond emulations that miss that last 5% of vital greez. You can't always dial that in casually, if at all.

 

From what I recall, keeping CPs in tune on tour was like doing it for CS80s: it put your kids through school.

[Reezekeys]

I guess this pandemic has gotten me a little cranky so let me maybe stir the pot a little -

 

As always, a good song, good production, and good musicianship makes it easy to ignore the shortcomings of an instrument or recording. The CP70s and CP80s were of their time: pianos with severe compromises that nevertheless did well for a while because they addressed the two biggest characteristics that made having your own piano on a gig next to impossible: portability, and the ability to amplify the sound in a loud setting without microphones and the problems inherent in using them (feedback and tone quality). Yes, their prominent use led to a self-fulfilling aesthetic wherein the "CP sound" became a part of the musical vernacular, somewhat like the DX7 e-pianos. Truth be told, I miss that sound less than the DXs! As I remember, the CP's treble register had two strings per note instead of three - so the unisons sounded much thinner than a regular piano. Of course the biggest difference was the extremely short string lengths that made this piano exhibit more inharmonicity than the smallest spinet piano. These short strings "plunked" a lot more than they "sang." In short - a poor substitute for a real acoustic grand piano, but hey it was the 80s! If you were a gigging piano player shlepping your own gear, your choices were basically a Rhodes or Wurly. Back in the day the CP was a godsend and I was a happy owner! I moved & set mine up all the time, while I lived in New York City in a loft building with a human elevator operator that went home at 5PM weekdays and was gone all weekend â I suppose I should consider myself lucky to only have to lift each section up one flight of stairs!

 

So, no, I don't miss this beast much (can you tell?!). I mean, if it's so great, why are all the examples posted here decades old? Surely there are some still around (and there must be a plugin or a Keyscape patch with one?). So where are all the new hip tunes and productions using the CP70 sound?

 

Of course it's nice to reminisce about the "good old days" and in that sense I can dig looking back with rose-colored, er, speakers (headphones?). I just don't feel like the "CP sound" gave any of these tracks a special vibe that would cause them to be preferred over a real acoustic grand. I could imagine any decent grand piano doing exactly what I heard these CPs doing, and to me they would have sounded better. Of course that's just one guy's opinion and we all know what those are like! Not to mention that guys like Herbie and Richard Tee could be playing toy pianos and I'd be listening!

[mate stubb]

My Baldwin ElectroPro had a downright poor action - super simplified spinet action.

Funny, I loved playing mine!

 

I was very grateful to get a semi real piano sound that in no way resembled the RMI I had before. The Baldwin really cut well on stage too.

 

But my damper pedal rarely worked, and no back checks on the hammers or repetition lever meant that the action was flabby.

[Bill H.]

Another Electro-Pro alumni here. I fell in love with it when I saw a guy use it onstage, then bought it from him when his band folded. But I really felt like I'd arrived when I got my CP80, which was a huge step up.

 

I liked my CP80 best doing solo work in piano bars run through my all cone Bose 800s. It never sounded as good running through the peaky horn PA cabs of the day in a band, but I think the examples above do a pretty good job demonstrating how it could sound by itself. A CP80 was more than a 70 with extra notes. The harp was bigger and the strings were longer, so it had a more consistent tone on the edges with less tuning issues. I used mine throughout the 1980s.

[Threadslayer]

My Baldwin ElectroPro had a downright poor action - super simplified spinet action.

Funny, I loved playing mine!

 

I was very grateful to get a semi real piano sound that in no way resembled the RMI I had before. The Baldwin really cut well on stage too.

That's exactly how I felt when I got my Baldwin. I was so damned glad not having to fake in piano parts on a Rhodes, that I didn't care how flabby the action was. ("flabby" is the perfect description of it BTW). I was playing in a band with four vocalists, and at least one song per set was solo vocal backed up with piano - Elton John's "Blue Eyes" for example - which always sounded cheesy to my ears on the Rhodes, but rose to a new level with a strung piano.

[stillearning]

My Baldwin ElectroPro had a downright poor action - super simplified spinet action.

Funny, I loved playing mine!

Loved mine too, but I suspect part of it was it was the only real piano you could build into a flight case and load on a truck at the time. I had the 'triple stringer" that was a bitch to tune because the tuning pins were on the back. I reinforced it with plywood and braces for the road. Held up well, actually.

[AnotherScott]

Mine was the triple stringer too. It was surprisingly tuning stable.

[stillearning]

Mine was the triple stringer too. It was surprisingly tuning stable.

It"s not that mine didn"t reasonably hold tune, but it got moved a lot in all kinds of weather. Like you, I was surprised it held as well as it did. I touched it up myself on the road, but occasionally had a tuner. Some tuners wouldn"t touch it, or wanted to charge more because the location of the pins made it take longer.

[mate stubb]

Mine had triple strings also and kept tune well although I carried a Conn strobe tuner and piano hammer and wedges to touch up. Tuning was helped by the giant coffin road case I built using sessions hardware.

[AnotherScott]

although I carried a Conn strobe tuner and piano hammer and wedges to touch up.

Ditto. And yeah, a big-ass custom road case. Also a coupld of cinder blocks that were placed under the legs to raise the whole thing up to an appropriate height for playing while standing.

[analogika]

. I mean, if it's so great, why are all the examples posted here decades old? Surely there are some still around (and there must be a plugin or a Keyscape patch with one?). So where are all the new hip tunes and productions using the CP70 sound?

Some great stuff here.

[video:youtube]

[Reezekeys]

I had a feeling someone was gonna find a CP being used now. Ya got me! Well, fans of this band are gonna hate what I have to say, I think. In that concert there is nothing I heard being played on it that IMO wouldn't have sounded a lot better on a real grand. Of course getting a real grand piano to sound good on a stage with a loud funk band playing in Madison Square Garden would be quite a challenge. So why not go with something like a slab DP in a grand piano shell? IMO again, it wouldn't serve the obvious theatrical nature of their show. A CP80 gives it that retro look. Yea I said it - I think it's there for the looks!

[Mykhailo]

I"m not quite following why this point about using an acoustic vs an electro acoustic piano is being so scrutinized? It"s a real piano. It has a real grand action, hammers, strings.

 

To me, it"s no different than a producer talking with the band about 'do you want a use the studio grand, or the old upright?' Or a classical session weighing the pros and cons of going with a vintage D, vs a new Fazioli.

 

Sorry, just not following the train of thought here, but I invite the opportunity to be enlightened!

 

p.s. the only reason younger bands are not using them as much as they were used in the 70s/80s is because they"re not being made anymore! Most of the originals are now pretty beat up. Plus, they weigh a ton, and they need to be to tuned every so often, so add that to your touring budget.

 

That said, if going with a real piano is a non-negotiable, than a vintage CP80 in working condition is still the only viable option for an independent touring artist or band on a limited budget.

[Reezekeys]

I"m not quite following why this point about using an acoustic vs an electro acoustic piano is being so scrutinized? It"s a real piano. It has a real grand action, hammers, strings.

 

It's an inferior piano in many respects but back in the 1980s was a viable option for live performances since digital pianos like we see today did not exist.

 

To me, it"s no different than a producer talking with the band about 'do you want a use the studio grand, or the old upright?' Or a classical session weighing the pros and cons of going with a vintage D, vs a new Fazioli.

 

IMO the difference between a Fazioli and Steinway D is much subtler than the difference between a CP70/80 and any acoustic grand piano. I would bet that near 100% of the participants in this forum could identify a CP70/80 after hearing three seconds of a track with one. It has a very specific sound. As I've stated many times here - if you as an artist or producer think that the CP sound adds a "vibe" or in some other way is a desirable element of the song or production, great - go for it! I'm only talking about using a CP as a substitute for a real acoustic grand solely due to logistical reasons â which, back in the 1980s, was the reason these pianos were used!

 

p.s. the only reason younger bands are not using them as much as they were used in the 70s/80s is because, they"re not being made anymore! Plus, they weigh a ton, and they need to be to tuned, so add that to your touring budget.

 

That's the only reason? How about the fact that younger, older (and middle-aged!) bands now have access to keyboards and software VIs that recreate the sound of a real acoustic grand many times better than what was available back in the 1980s? Oh yea, as you point out there's also those slight details about weighing a ton and needing to be tuned!

 

That said, if going with a real piano is a non-negotiable, than a vintage CP80 is still the only option, i.e. if you are a younger, indy band on a limited budget.

 

I'm not sure I get this. As far as I've heard, no band other than stadium-filling mega-stars tour with a real piano. There's the option to rent one at each gig â but I would guess that most younger bands don't have that in their budget. So use a DP! Put it in a shell if you want the "look." Or use a nice 88-key weighted controller connected to a laptop or nice DP module. Hide the laptop if you don't like that "modern" look (I did this at a few gigs). There are many options available for any band today. Am I misunderstanding what you meant?

 

I'll admit this thread is triggering because I owned and moved one of these beasts for years and can't understand the love for it â except to reinforce my theory that us older folks just like that nostalgic hit. It brings us back to when we were young, and that feels good. I see it in every gig I do with the band I work with (or used to work with before all this mess!). I look out at the audience and see people mostly my age, and they're there to hear "the hits" and to be brought back to their childhoods for that 90 or 110 minutes. I get it. I see that same sentiment in threads like this. Nothing wrong with it â I very much enjoy being able to provide that 90to 110 minutes of "escape." But please - I lived through the CP70 era, I owned one, and I pine for it like I pine for my old cassette deck or polyester jackets. The songs featured in this thread are good songs performed by talented musicians and the fact that a CP70/80 was the piano of choice had nothing to do with them being good songs worthy of listening to again. In my admittedly not-very-humble opinion of course!