Jump to content


Please note: You can easily log in to MPN using your Facebook account!

Not OT: I just got a Valente. Ask me anything.


Recommended Posts



One more. Getting my Richard Tee on...

 

A little OT, but wanted to circle back and let you know that posting this demo back in December got me deep into a Paul Simon kick I have to thank you for. It's also going to be very, very handy for learning to play this tune.

 

I did want to mention, though, since you and Mr. Fortner have both referenced the inimitable Richard Tee regarding this song (a phasey Rhodes being something of a signature for him), that while Richard played this tune in Paul Simon's live band, the electric piano part on the album is actually played by Barry Beckett of Muscle Shoals fame. He plays on "My Little Town" as well. There's your trivia for the day!

  • Like 2

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update: just used the Valente on a band gig for the first time today I dug it, though there's one key that started acting weird, the F# above middle C. It suddenly got extra "chimey" today. I'll have to open it up and have a look.

Great if the Valente is working out but a bummer having to open up and "fix" it a couple times already. :cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great videos and playing! What was used for amplification?

 

That's the best part: nothing. The Valente was going into a Line 6 M9 stomp box modeler, then direct to the house. I used the M9 for tremolo and reverb the whole time, and then also kicked on a bit of overdrive for the solo at the end of "Do You No Good."

 

Here's one more clip where I used it for phaser instead of tremolo...

 

 

Speaking of which...

 

A little OT, but wanted to circle back and let you know that posting this demo back in December got me deep into a Paul Simon kick I have to thank you for. It's also going to be very, very handy for learning to play this tune.

 

Excellent, glad to hear.

 

I did want to mention, though, since you and Mr. Fortner have both referenced the inimitable Richard Tee regarding this song (a phasey Rhodes being something of a signature for him), that while Richard played this tune in Paul Simon's live band, the electric piano part on the album is actually played by Barry Beckett of Muscle Shoals fame.

 

Funny, I somehow had it in my mind that it was Larry Knechtel on the original. My confusion might have been because Larry played on the original "Bridge Over Troubled Water," which Richard also completely took over and made his own. I first learned of the song, and of Richard Tee, from Paul Simon's televised concert from Central Park in 1991, and that's the version I originally learned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Found this one on YouTube.

 

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, so it turns out there are a bunch of videos on that channel. This thing sounds pretty good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I'm glad I came across this thread. I got my Valente over a month ago and I'm really digging it. Here's a video of me playing around on my mine (into a few MXR pedals and into my Fender Pro Junior) over at Key Magic (Valente US HQ). I plan on doing a lot with this instrument.

 

I hope you enjoy the video.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Fantastic work mate! I’ve been looking for Valente videos in a live band situation for months. I’m in Australia and am seriously considering buying one but the shipping cost is astronomical and I have no way of trying before buying.

 

May I ask the following questions:

 

1. are you happy with it?

2. How do you like the action? 
3. does it feel like it will last??

 

thanks so much.

 

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like te video demo,- but really,- when something needs so many stomp boxes to sound great,- the basic source s questionable.

I played a lot of vintage gear and waded through exactly this amount of stomp boxes already in the 70s/early 80s,- and because of this experience I really think, going back to "vintage" is overrated,- at least for the money the manufacturers of these "re-issues" ask for.

This instrument sounds more or less liek a Pianet

Another good example is the new Rhodes mk 8.

It sounds like it did in the 70s when in good condition (which I really like),- but for the price they ask for, it´s just only embarrassing.

 

A.C.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds gorgeous. I’d love for there to be another few notes of range on the low end. You know, so I can play the bass line to “I Wish.” If the 61-key model does well maybe they’ll make a 73 or 76.

  • Like 2

Stephen Fortner

Principal, Fortner Media

Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine

Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine

 

Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/19/2022 at 4:24 PM, Al Coda said:

when something needs so many stomp boxes to sound great,- the basic source s questionable.

 

I mean, I've seen people play vintage Les Pauls through massive pedalboards too, so enjoying effects on the source doesn't mean it needs them. Obviously there's a tradeoff if you're willing to bail on the convenience of digital, but these things come back into fashion (or never quite leave) for a reason.

  • Like 1

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The finger-ear connection is obviously superior on any EM keyboard to any DP. But the demos of this board, even at the capable and infuriatingly 10th-reaching hands of our own @Josh Paxton, leave me a little cold. Ironically, it sounds too pure and non-organic to me (at least based on the demos) and I have a hard time hearing the humanity in the sound. Plus I think the energy loss at high and low pitches pulls some fire from it. Funny enough, a decent OD pedal outboard would probably address both of concerns...which I suppose is me wordily agreeing with the sentiment that if you need pedals to make it sound right, it doesn't sound right.

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not sure the input jack placement is the best idea.  🤔

 

Not just because I think it looks...ummm...I guess untidy is the best word, but because I'm frequently a bit of a bull in a china shop and could see my self knocking against a standard jack.  😬

 

Kinda surprised I don't see an angled jack plugged in to the ones in the video demos.

 

dB

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Hi everyone! I just received a Valente i bought from Rogue Music in NY. 

It sounds really cool but i find the keybed really harsh and extremely noisy (i've had a Rhodes, and Wurlitzer before, i know how an electro mechanical piano work). I know that the Valente is a special instrument, but in my case it is practically unplayable, did someone experienced that also? Thanks !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

I am a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, 62, in Croydon, UK. I ordered a Valente in March 2023, and it arrived less than a week later. Total cost was £3660 including import duty and VAT (local tax) - I had a $300 discount voucher which cancelled the international shipping charge.

 

My intention was always to keep it at home for jamming and recording - I gig with a Nord Electro. The Valente is a great instrument. It isn't a Wurly or a Rhodes, but it somehow captures elements of both.

 

I have written a review, which I will post later. Meanwhile, here is a recording. All noises by me.

 

Listen to In The Swim by Simon Beck 3 on #SoundCloud

https://on.soundcloud.com/VzeP3

  • Like 1
"Communication is everything"
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...