Valente Electric Piano

[Morizzle]

Nice.

 

Ive looked on his website and no mention of where these are made.

 

I assumed europe by most of what i saw and read on website but the weight is only mentioned in pounds so i am assuming America as i cant imagine thered be no mention of metric weight if made in Europe. Can anyone elaborate?

 

It's really weird that it's mentioned nowhere, not on his website, facebook, or official instagram. I found what looks like his personal instagram account and it seems he's based in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

 

Re: the keyboard... it looks fantastic! Personally, asthetically I'd give it 6/5 stars. The sound as presented in the videos doesn't make me half as excited.

[AUSSIEKEYS]

 

It's really weird that it's mentioned nowhere, not on his website, facebook, or official instagram. I found what looks like his personal instagram account and it seems he's based in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

 

Re: the keyboard... it looks fantastic! Personally, asthetically I'd give it 6/5 stars. The sound as presented in the videos doesn't make me half as excited.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

Agreed its certainly a pleasure to see someone building this. And seems good things coming out of Brazil. I have the Stay stand here in Australia which im sure is from Brazil. Ive been interested in products from Brazil since then. Keeping my eye on this fellow and his product. Keep it up Brazil. Perhaps the country to look for for interesting products.

[Bill H.]

So I've watched the video over the action several times and still can't figure this out. Are the reeds plucked like a Pianet or struck with hammers like a Wurli?

I'm going to guess they are struck.

 

Yeah I think you're right Scott. Looking at the video again this morning and pausing it between 1:27 and 1:28 there's a set of pads above the reeds that appear to strike them, and a set below that appear to be dampers.

 

The overall sound reminds me of a sticky-pad Pianet - mild mannered and sedate. I had a plucky Pianet which had a bit more bite, but still nothing like a Wurli with it's hammers. I totally appreciate this guy's commitment to bringing what's certainly a labor of love to the market, and it's a gorgeous instrument. I just wish I could get more behind it's sound.

[KuruPrionz]

None of the commenters on the tone know how the keyboard was recorded or the signal chain.

 

While this is true, I'm giving the manufacturer the benefit of the doubt that they knew what they were doing when they recorded their instrument, or at least hired people who did.

 

Having seen quite a few company generated modeling amp videos where they "preset surf" and then finding out on my own that the amp really doesn't sound that bad, my skepticism has been earned.

To add to that, I've uploaded music videos to YouTube that sounded clear and full at home but not quite so nice once the YT codex converted the files to their standards.

 

There is much that can go wrong and not all of it is under the control of the manufacturer.

[AnotherScott]

Vintage Vibe has their EP and Vibenet. They provide many video and audio clips of both. Every one of those clips has sound that inspires lust within my ears and fingers.

 

The Valente is attractive right up to the moment I hear it. Seriously, if this is what it really sounds like, I don't see how it is a thing.

besides what others have said, I think it's also a matter of what perspective you're coming at it from. Lots of people are focussed on specific classic sounds, so X sounds great if it sounds just like a Rhodes, Y sounds great if it sounds just like a clavinet... and this doesn't sound *exactly* like anything, it's its own thing (though you can hear elements of this or that). If the sound doesn't appeal in the abstract, that's always going to be subjective. But if it fails to sound like something you expected, that can be a matter of, well, expectations. And I'd guess that, to the extent that it comes (IMO) closest to a later model Pianet, there would be the variable of whether *that* is a sound you find appealing. It is not one of the most famous classics.

 

And seems good things coming out of Brazil. I have the Stay stand here in Australia which im sure is from Brazil. Ive been interested in products from Brazil since then..

The Tokia/Ventura organs were from Brazil, and while they didn't catch on here, they were not bad and had a lot to recommend them (despite an unfortunate eval from some players in a Keyboard mag video).

[cp-the-nerd]

Vintage Vibe has their EP and Vibenet. They provide many video and audio clips of both. Every one of those clips has sound that inspires lust within my ears and fingers.

 

The Valente is attractive right up to the moment I hear it. Seriously, if this is what it really sounds like, I don't see how it is a thing.

 

-Z-

 

I was quoted a few times in this thread by others scoffing that I compared it to a non-mechanical keyboard (the Crumar Seven), but the point I was making is that it doesn't sound good enough. Yes, I would rather have an excellent vintage-themed digital keyboard over a flat sounding mechanical reed ep.

 

I wouldn't put the Seven or other digitals in the same thought as this Valente or the VV Electric Piano.

 

You brought up the vintage vibe, not me. The VV sounds amazing, key difference. If you realize I'm talking about the valente specifically, the rest of your response to me isn't really necessary.

[ElmerJFudd]

Vintage Vibe has their EP and Vibenet. They provide many video and audio clips of both. Every one of those clips has sound that inspires lust within my ears and fingers.

 

The Valente is attractive right up to the moment I hear it. Seriously, if this is what it really sounds like, I don't see how it is a thing.

 

-Z-

 

I was quoted a few times in this thread by others scoffing that I compared it to a non-mechanical keyboard (the Crumar Seven), but the point I was making is that it doesn't sound good enough. Yes, I would rather have an excellent vintage-themed digital keyboard over a flat sounding mechanical reed ep.

 

I wouldn't put the Seven or other digitals in the same thought as this Valente or the VV Electric Piano.

 

You brought up the vintage vibe, not me. The VV sounds amazing, key difference. If you realize I'm talking about the valente specifically, the rest of your response to me isn't really necessary.

 

Sorry for the confusion. Not addressing you specifically in that post when I say "you". I mean you as in our entire community of players and the various reasons why we choose this or that instrument, make comparisons, etc. The point I was making is I am not sure I would buy a digital facsimile of an acoustic or electro mechanical instrument if it purposefully limited itself to doing that one thing.

[Zalman Stern]

My impression is that it has a deep, rich, organic tone that feels very satisfying. I"ve been wrong before...

 

Where are you getting this impression from? Jordan Rudess has some stuff on his Patreon I haven't listened to. The piece he posted to Instagram seemed to be via phone mic through unknown speaker(s) and has a ton of action noise.

 

We're not talking subtleties here. We're not talking really difficult stuff to capture in recording. Especially when the company clearly put some resources into very good video production.

 

It's a bit difficult to get info on the company, and it really doesn't matter much, but they seem to be affiliated with keymagicinc.com which redirects to viniciuselectrik.com, that has Eurorack modular synth stuff. I'm guessing part of the team might be based in Brazil, but could be wrong. (And lest anyone read anything into this, it's trivia, not an indicator of anything about the instrument. Good people do good work in every corner of this world.)

 

-Z-

[KuruPrionz]

My impression is that it has a deep, rich, organic tone that feels very satisfying. I"ve been wrong before...

 

Where are you getting this impression from? Jordan Rudess has some stuff on his Patreon I haven't listened to. The piece he posted to Instagram seemed to be via phone mic through unknown speaker(s) and has a ton of action noise.

 

We're not talking subtleties here. We're not talking really difficult stuff to capture in recording. Especially when the company clearly put some resources into very good video production.

 

It's a bit difficult to get info on the company, and it really doesn't matter much, but they seem to be affiliated with keymagicinc.com which redirects to viniciuselectrik.com, that has Eurorack modular synth stuff. I'm guessing part of the team might be based in Brazil, but could be wrong. (And lest anyone read anything into this, it's trivia, not an indicator of anything about the instrument. Good people do good work in every corner of this world.)

 

-Z-

 

My impression comes from the many times I've experienced the sound of various vibrating metal reeds. Yes, they are not all the same. If a recording has a ton of action noise the mic is obviously poorly placed. You want to record the sound of the amplification, not of the mechanism. Hmmm.. mic the speaker?

 

I mentioned in an earlier post above that the choice of amplification for the company video may be a poor one as well. The current aesthetic for clear, clean full fidelity sound is driven by the tones in modern keyboards. They can program in distortion as needed or modeled. I've got the IK Clav Tube soundset for Sampletank and they did a great job of capturing the sound I remember hearing from clavinet, including the time I heard Herbie Hancock on the Headhunter tour. Lots of tube "grit". It's great played through my Fishman Triple Play, I can track clavs and not feel like something is missing.

 

Supertramp records have tons of Wurli pianos in them, a signature sound for them. They sound like they are being run through distorted tube amps, probably guitar or small bass amps. That is a real game changer in terms of tone. I hung out with keyboardists back in the late 70s and well into the 80's. They were playing Hohner and Wurlitzer keyboards and often plugged them into Fender tube amps. One friend had a 2 way cab with an EVM 15" woofer and a horn. He used a Fender Bassman blackface as a head on a smaller stage and that combination had a wonderful, gritty honk to it - even for synths - which were mostly Moog for working bands in Fresno during that time.

 

Lots of Rhodes and chopped B3's back then too. I was alway glad how small and light guitar gear was!!!!

[Adan]

Living in Seattle 96-02, I often saw Skerik, who is mainly a sax player, bring a keyboard rig that consisted of a Pianet run through several effect pedals. The sound was so processed, he could have used anything as a sound source and it would have come out more or less the same. So why a Pianet? Maybe because he's Skerik and more than a little bit crazy. Maybe it's the hipster stage vibe factor. But maybe it was also the inspiration of having a "real" instrument under your fingers, even if it's just the humble pianet.

 

So I wouldn't underestimate what some artists might be able to do with the Valente. But someone like Skerik is clearly just doing his own thing, not trying to sound at all like anyone else. Many of my projects have been in that vein (though much less successful). How many working musicians can afford to have a niche instrument like the Valente that costs far more than a vintage Wurly but actually covering less sonic ground?

 

Advertising is often humor with a straight face. The Valente add shows a guy rolling his into a club as if he's doing a solo gig. Can you see playing a solo gig with the Valente? Hard to imagine. It just doesn't seem to have the sonic gravitas for that. On the other hand, it could be really cool as part of a vintage setup like what Medeski rolls with.

[stoken6]

Like many others, I give the looks 10/10, the sound 4/10. But maybe it needs a genius to unlock its true voice - think about what the clavinet and the TR808 were intended for at launch, and then listen to what they can achieve in the hands of, say, Stevie and Afrika Bambaata respectively.

 

I'd give a DI'd electric guitar the same 4/10 - I think the right FX and amp may be the key.

 

Cheers, Mike

[Morrissey]

Like many others, I give the looks 10/10, the sound 4/10. But maybe it needs a genius to unlock its true voice - think about what the clavinet and the TR808 were intended for at launch, and then listen to what they can achieve in the hands of, say, Stevie and Afrika Bambaata respectively.

 

I'd give a DI'd electric guitar the same 4/10 - I think the right FX and amp may be the key.

 

Cheers, Mike

 

+1. Been following this thread closely but struggling to crystallize my opinion into words. Mike did it for me.

[Mighty Motif Max]

You know, this is interesting. I absolutely hated the sound of the Valente the first time I went through this thread earlier in the week. Listening again, I actually like it. It's kind of odd...like they took the bell tone and release noise/tone from a Rhodes and added it to the main sound of a Wurlitzer. I happen to love the bell-tine type of sound, and I do kind of like Wurlitzers. I bet this would sound really interesting with a good amp and some effect pedals. Just stereo-ize that signal even and it would sound better.

 

Depending on the music type I was playing, I actually *could* see myself playing a solo gig with just this. Thinking jazz-fusion/easy listening background type of stuff. Or gospel music. I wonder what the action's like.

[Adan]

I'd play a solo gig with anything, even my Reface CP, just because the challenge itself is enticing. But if I was picking the best instrument for solo, I'd want something with more of a sustaining tone. The Valente is on the more plucky end of the spectrum.

 

But I think we all understand the psychological implications of hearing a new instrument, or seeing a new style of painting, or . . . you name it. The first reaction is often disappointment at not encountering the familiar thing that has inspired stimulation in the past. It can take time for the mind to adapt and find stimulation in something new.

[Threadslayer]

I'd think the lack of a sustaining tone would be a hard thing to adapt to and find stimulation in.

(full disclosure: Former Pianet owner here)

[KuruPrionz]

Has anybody actually played one yet?

 

I hated most of the sound samples in the reviews of the Boss Katana 100 Combo amp (guitar mostly).

I had a chance to pick up a used one at a price that made it difficult to lose if I decided to move it along.

 

It took me a few days to learn and understand the amp. It's a great amp, I'm keeping it.

Yes, it can be adjusted to sound like crap. You could record it any number of ways to make it sound bad even if it did sound good. Shove an SM57 in the center of the cone and enjoy the harsh splatting transients.

Crank up the gain and join Guitar Center Heavy Metal Rodent Children. It's all there for anyone who wants it to sound bad.

 

Bad reviews, great amp. One of many.

 

This one maybe? Any "Boots on the ground" opinions?

[AnotherScott]

like they took the bell tone and release noise/tone from a Rhodes and added it to the main sound of a Wurlitzer.

That kind-of-Rhodes but kind-of-Wurli is consistent with my Pianet T analogy. The Pianet N of the 60s sounded very much like a Wurli (so much so that people often don't know whether some hit from the 60s used one or the other), the later Pianet T sounded closer to a Rhodes, but still didn't sound quite like a Rhodes either.

[uhoh7]

Here is another sample:

[video:youtube]

 

Opinions on the sound with so little info seem a bit pre-mature.

 

Looking at the build and considering the production numbers, 3K is a steal.

 

It's a one-trick pony. Like Hammonds. Who would not want to live in a big house with a B3?

 

I'm always amazed at the negative reactions attracted by anything new.

[Zalman Stern]

Here is another sample:

[video:youtube]

 

Opinions on the sound with so little info seem a bit pre-mature.

 

Looking at the build and considering the production numbers, 3K is a steal.

 

It's a one-trick pony. Like Hammonds. Who would not want to live in a big house with a B3?

 

I'm always amazed at the negative reactions attracted by anything new.

 

That recording is much better. First one I've heard that is decent. More like this with an action that is a delight and I might be interested.

 

Calling a Hammond B3 a "one trick pony," especially as a comparison in this context, has got to be on the top ten list of wrongest things ever written in these forums... The B3 sound is iconic across Gospel, Jazz, Rock, Metal, Pop... It is revered for expressiveness and ability to manipulate the sound using multiple mechanisms intimately connected to or associated with the instrument. An organ is considered one of the most useful pad sounds ever. I could go on... I will be stunned if the Valente gets anywhere near that kind of versatility.

 

-Z-

[ElmerJFudd]

It"s a cool sound in this situation. Cool for lead, and probably mid to up tempo numbers comping.

Sustain is short though, does it have a pedal mechanism? Not a ballad instrument?

[AnotherScott]

Yes, it has sustain pedal, you can see/hear it in the first video at least.

[Bill H.]

And along with sustain, that recent KMI video shows a nice dynamic range from ppp to fff - something Pianets don't have at all.

 

There will probably be players who will appreciate it's clean tone. Just gotta listen to the examples and see what you think I guess.

[uhoh7]

Calling a Hammond B3 a "one trick pony," especially as a comparison in this context, has got to be on the top ten list of wrongest things ever written in these forums... The B3 sound is iconic across Gospel, Jazz, Rock, Metal, Pop... It is revered for expressiveness and ability to manipulate the sound using multiple mechanisms intimately connected to or associated with the instrument. An organ is considered one of the most useful pad sounds ever. I could go on... I will be stunned if the Valente gets anywhere near that kind of versatility.

 

-Z-

 

"The B3 sound" You make my point. Compared to the keyboards which replaced it, the B3's make "one sound", which is instantly recognisable, albeit with a wide variation in articulation and drawbar/leslie positions and use. By comparison the Dx7 makes a very wide variety of noises, as does a Juno 106, etc etc. Listening to modern music it's near impossible to tell what instrument made what keyboard sound. That's what I mean by "one trick pony", which both the Hammond and this Valente are compared to any Nord.

 

The Hammonds in the context of modern boards are "one trick ponies", and eschewed in synth circles as "home organs" for exactly that reason.

 

[video:youtube]

 

Ponies or pianos, it all comes down to the "trick". It turns out that a tonewheel and a pickup is quite a trick, and more scalable than say, a capriole or courbet

 

My own:

1960 RT3 with Leslie 22H by unoh7, on Flickr

 

How many Blonde RT3s have you seen? It did not get into my living room without apreciation

 

It's preaching to the choir here to extoll hammonds. But nobody is making new tonewheels. It seems like this Valente wurli is trying to do the equivelent, IE a new mechano-electric piano. I have not seen many. Cudos to any who try.

 

What I'd really like to see is a portable acoustic keyboard, IE a modern clavichord with Osmose style vibrato (which many clavichords had). The iron frame AP is fine, I play mine more than my organ at the moment. But variation is the spice of life. That we have come down to a single acoustic keyboard configuration (outside the action and some custom jobs), is a bit meh. OK there are mechanical organs in incredible variety. They are wonderful, but not suited to home use (usually), and if you think this E piano is expensive, price a pipe organ.

 

A case can be credibly made that the hammond/leslie combo makes the most vesatile single palette of sound ever created. For one thing, you can make any instrument sound better with a hammnond in support. They go with everything, except pipe organs. One thing I especially love is how quietly they can play. Far softer than any AP. I can practice at 3am and no neighbor will hear me. You kind of forget that playing clonewheels--or course they also can go soft, but so does any synth sound, behind a real hammond, that softness is impressive in contrast to the walls of sound it's most famous for; mounted on so much horsepower it comes out as one very rich whisper.

 

Yet like a violin, the hammond is highly constrained. The number of instruments it can't emulate is infinite. That's what I meant by "one trick pony". You take that as insult, which was not intended. Limitations are good for creativity. This Valente is certainly limited, by design, which does not preclude high performance, but hopefully enables it, like the lowly tonewheel.

[Adan]

In my opinion we still haven't seen a really useful video of the Valente until now. This is the best yet, courtesy of Jack Conte. This thing's got a character all its own, that's for sure.

 

[Doerfler]

In my opinion we still haven't seen a really useful video of the Valente until now. This is the best yet, courtesy of Jack Conte. This thing's got a character all its own, that's for sure.

 

[ElmerJFudd]

In my opinion we still haven't seen a really useful video of the Valente until now. This is the best yet, courtesy of Jack Conte. This thing's got a character all its own, that's for sure.

 

 

Helpful. Someone has to spend some time with it and run it through some various amps and amp settings, play with a singer, trio or something.

[Adan]

Someone has to spend some time with it and run it through some various amps and amp settings, play with a singer, trio or something.

 

I suspect the Valente will soon start appearing in Conte's Scary Pockets vids. That would be super helpful because you're right, we need to hear how this blends in.

 

Did Conte get a free unit in exchange for posting a gushy box opening video? Is he part of some secret society of people who's name ends in "nte"? OK, the second theory is stupid. The first, maybe not.

 

Like any real instrument, so much depends on how it makes you feel when you dig into it. No digital can replace the feel of real electromechanical. Towards the end of the video, when Conte is jamming away after sitting at it for the first time, I got the impression that his joy and inspiration was genuine. And this guy is a vintage keyboard nut.

[Josh Paxton]

Did Conte get a free unit in exchange for posting a gushy box opening video? Is he part of some secret society of people who's name ends in "nte"?

 

I don't know, Adante, is he??

[232006]

But does it fold up?

 

[Morrissey]

 

I suspect the Valente will soon start appearing in Conte's Scary Pockets vids. That would be super helpful because you're right, we need to hear how this blends in.

 

The Valente already appears in one Scary Pocket vid but it is so low in the mix it is hard to tell much about it.

 

Some earlier discussion of the Valente in this thread: https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3062549/spot-your-favorite-vintage-keyboard-scary-pockets

 

Jack Conte (Scary Pockets) can be seen playing a Valente in the video in the first post of the thread.