Alan Lenhoff

I appreciate the kind comments! I just read them to my wife, who, with a wry smile, said "That's wonderful! You still have to take out the garbage." And so I did... ;-) Alan

It definitely IS unbelievable! Just so you know, EMEAPP has been hit quite hard financially by the pandemic. If anyone is inclined to throw a donation their way, they can go to EMEAPP.org. (By the way, they don't use donations to buy more exotic gear. They use them to fund educational and research operations.) Alan

Glad you enjoyed it. Alan

Incredible, huh? If you're ever going to be in the Philly area, and you ask them nicely in advance, you can have your own tour, led by people who really love these instruments. Playing Emerson's modular Moog is like a religious experience. Alan

Here's a link to the recording of the session: It runs about 1 hr, 50 minutes. It starts with a wide-ranging tour of the EMEAPP collection, and ends with them showing (and playing) their collection of Keith Emerson gear: His modular Moog, split Minimoog, Tarkus C-3, the L100 that famously caught fire on stage (complete with Keith's daggers), and some other keys. They also show some of his stage clothes, and gear and memorabilia of other ELP members. The modular Moog sounds are just incredible! Enjoy, Alan

Glad you enjoyed it. It's an amazing collection, created and maintained by people who love vintage keyboard instruments! The combo organ forum that sponsored this, https://groups.io/g/combo-organ, has been doing these Happy Hours roughly monthly during the pandemic, on a wide variety of vintage keys topics -- ranging from presentations of uncommon instruments to tips on doing museum-quality restorations and electronic troubleshooting basics. If you join the group, you'll be notified when each of these sessions is happening. Alan

I'll post the Youtube link to the session when it's available soon. You might not have been able to get in anyway: We usually get 15 or so participants in these Happy Hour presentations. This one maxed out Zoom's ceiling of 100 participants. It really caught us by surprise. You'll definitely enjoy the video. Alan

I hope you'll join us! And thanks for the kind words about "Classic Keys." Alan

For you and anyone else who has interest, but can't join in: We record these sessions, and upload them to YouTube. I'll post a link on this site when the video is up. Alan

Thanks Tommy! I have visited EMEAPP, and it is truly 'Disneyland for Vintage Keys." It is an unbelievable collection. They have a lot of (justifiable) pride in what they've done, and I'm looking forward to watching a great presentation from them. Alan

You are cordially invited to join the Combo Organs Forum (https://groups.io/g/combo-organ ) this Thursday for its January Zoom Virtual Happy Hour, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (US). The session will feature a virtual tour of the Electronic Music Education and Preservation Project (EMEAPP), a private museum and educational facility located near Philadelphia that has perhaps the world"s most extensive collection of vintage rock keyboard instruments, as well as vintage amps, effects pedals, guitars, and studio gear. If you can name a famous rock keyboard, there"s probably at least one of them there, including rare prototypes and instruments owned by top artists. EMEAPP is generally open only by special arrangement. Our virtual tour will include an overview of the amazing collection, and a demonstration of their Keith Emerson instruments, including Emerson's modular Moog, split Minimoog, Tarkus Hammond C-3 and others. We"ll also get a demo of an extremely rare Yamaha GX-1 'Dream Machine,' a groundbreaking, three-manual, polyphonic synth used by Emerson, Stevie Wonder, John Paul Jones and others. And there'll be plenty of time for your questions. Don"t miss this opportunity! To participate, download the free Zoom app to your phone, tablet or computer. You'll need access to a mic and camera (or use the ones built-into your mobile device or laptop). Thursday, January 28, at 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (US). You can join the meeting by clicking on this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86855390788?pwd=SFFUN00yNXZyNklpRDg3UjdNczZkdz09 To learn more about EMEAPP, go to EMEAPP.org. Dress is 'pandemic casual.' (Pajamas and slippers welcomed.) ð Alan

Thank you so much! It was our labor of love! (And sorry for the slow response. Is there a way to be notified when a thread in which you've posted has additional posts?) Alan

A well deserved award Alan. Huge congrats! I continue to be impressed with the book as I periodically pick it up and read sections in between my day gig work. It's such a welcome distraction..... Thanks so much! Alan

Thanks Chief! It's great to hear both you and your son-in-law have enjoyed it. Alan

David Robertson and I are quite pleased that 'Classic Keys: Keyboard sounds that launched rock music' was just awarded a certificate of merit in the 2020 Awards for Excellence of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections. The book was recognized in the category of 'Best research in recorded rock and popular music.' The ARSC, founded in 1966, is dedicated to the preservation and study of sound recordings. Its members include historians, archivists, museum curators, musicians, record collectors, music producers, reviewers and broadcasters. https://www.classickeysbook.com/ Alan

Before Classic Keys was published in December, the publisher's marketing director warned me about Amazon's weird and wonderful pricing algorithm, and predicted that the book's price would fluctuate wildly for no apparent reason. That indeed has happened. A few minutes ago, I noticed that Amazon was selling the book at a 47% discount from its list price, with free shipping. If you've been looking for a gift for Uncle Fred's birthday, this might be a good opportunity. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1574417762/ It really wouldn't surprise me if they raise the price $10-$20 by tomorrow. That's just the way it seems to go with Amazon. Alan

The Chroma is mentioned in the text, but unfortunately is not among the 560 photos in the book. Still, I don't think you'll be disappointed by the breadth and depth of the book. There's a lot to love! Alan

Arrived! I'm a bit bummed that one of the corners took a pretty bad hit, but that's happened to just about every book I ever purchased from Amazon so I had to expect it, cannot complain. Wow, after reading this topic I expected a good product, but still I'm impressed way beyond expectations. Just quickly flipping through the pages and seeing the quality of the paper, print and photographs, it's clear that the authors put so much work and research and dedication into this. This will provide endless hours of learning and enjoyment. Thanks so much Alan! Sorry it arrived damaged. It's a big, heavy book and the usual packaging that the retailers use isn't always up to the job. If yours is badly damaged, I'd think Amazon would quickly replace it. I really appreciate the kind words. David and I put our hearts and souls into this project. As Chuck Leavell (Allman Bros., Rolling Stones musical director) said on his back cover endorsement, it was meant to be a "dream book for us keyboard players." Best, Alan

Huge congrats on this Alan. So well deserved!! Thanks! Alan

So NOW I finally work out why you wished me happy birthday My birthday isn't until July but that's the excuse I used to order the book Dave: My Australian co-author and photographer extraordinaire, David Robertson (from Adelaide), gets especially excited when copies of the book make their way Down Under. Thanks for making his day! Alan

I'm pleased that "Classic Keys: Keyboard Sounds That Launched Rock Music," was selected as one of the "Best Classic Rock Music Books of All Time" by the BookAuthority: https://bookauthority.org/boâ¦/best-classic-rock-music-books⦠BookAuthority collects and ranks the best books in the world. It's nice to get this kind of recognition. Thank you for all your support! ClassicKeysBook.com Alan

You beat me to the response! In general, while each chapter is named for its "feature instrument," most of the chapters also have considerable info and photos of instruments that competed with it and instruments that made the feature instrument "obsolete." (At least in the minds of musicians of the day.) For example, the Mellotron chapter also includes the Chamberlin, Optigan, Orchestron, Birotron and the later "string machines" that offered many similar sounds. The Rhodes chapter talks about the Yamaha DX-7 and the Kurzweil K250, which helped seal the fate of the Rhodes, etc. Alan

I hope you'll enjoy it. (And if you do, please tell your friends! A niche book like this lives or dies on its word-of-mouth reputation.) Alan

Actually the only instrument of mine that made the book was a photo of my mint Wurli 140B that accompanied my first-person account of how I found it. (It's in the final chapter of the book that's about collecting vintage keyboards.) Almost all the big, beautiful "glamour shots" in the book were shot by my co-author (and photographer) David Robertson at his studio in Adelaide, South Australia. David has a very impressive collection, which was supplemented in some cases by me purchasing instruments in the US and shipping them to him to photograph. (Uh, yeah, that was incredibly expensive!) Alan

Joe: Really glad it's meeting your expectations! Alan