Valente Electric Piano

[AnotherScott]

To me the sound is pretty underwhelming and "meh".

It has its own unique sound, and sounds are always somewhat subjective. Personally, I think this sounds a whole lot better than the DX7 FM electric piano, yet that sound helped launch countless hits. So I'm not going to judge what is and isn't a good sound. ;-)

 

There is simply something about actual vibrating elements that is compelling.

Yes. I prefer playing the weighted action boards that have speakers in them, because you get similar vibrations in your fingers to what you get from playing an acoustic piano. It's just a more "real" experience, when the keys don't feel as isolated/detached from the sound.

[MathOfInsects]

Right, that's my curiosity. If your board vibrated as haptic feedback to pressing the keys, the way it does electromechanically, would that satisfy the same sense of "realness"--or at least get close? Or would knowing it was not hammers hitting tines undermine that?

 

By the way, I'm old too. I'm just curious about the evocation of "real" in a gig context--as in, what makes one plugged in machine "real" and another less so? (Not to challenge, but to try to unpack the critical factor that decides subjective "realness" for folks.)

[MathOfInsects]

Also, as cheesy as it is, I still have a soft-spot for that DX7 tines. I'm not at all nostalgic for the music of the 80s, but something about that artificial keystrike sound and shallow washiness makes me happy. There, I said it.

[ProfD]

Again, I think it's awesome a craftsman has brought an electromechanical instrument to market in the Valente Electric Piano. I wish him well in that regard.

 

However, reading MOI's posit and the subsequent responses does conjure up my own thoughts on the subject of KB technology.

 

Electromechanical KBs were invented as an alternative to their less portable counterparts. I doubt that Harold Rhodes, Laurens Hammond or Benjamin Miessner knew their instruments would become revered, iconic and the holy grail of modern KB sounds and technology.

 

The Yamaha DX7 was not invented to replace the orchestra or Rhodes. It was just a portable electronic KB (synthesizer) that came along at the right time. There are musicians who loved the KB action of the DX7. Kenny Kirkland got more miles out that thing playing with Sting than the number of presets it could hold at one time.

 

Modern musicians have every right to wax nostalgic over the gear of yesteryear. But, talk to the musicians who had to gig with an organ, Rhodes, Wurli or DX7 because it was the only game in town. I'm sure there will be a 50/50 love-hate feeling for those same instruments musicians hold in high regard today.

 

I know older musicians who never met a Rhodes or Wurli they could fall in love with and settle down. In their own worlds, the clavinet was garbage. They also encountered their share of crappy acoustic pianos too. Those same cats consider the modern KBs at our disposal to be a god send in comparison to electromechanical KBs. Some of the old-timers are happily still playing an old azz Kurzweil PC88 instead of searching high and low for an electromechanical that feels good.

 

Surely, playing the *right* electromechanical KB might feel better underneath our fingertips because there is a connection between the wood, hammers and strings. IMO, it is still more psychological than physiological. Again, play a crappy electromechanical KB and the Yamaha Motif sitting next to it.

 

The main reason electromechanical KBs are iconic is because they were featured on countless recordings. For those of us grew up with it, that sound is stamped in our brains. Back in those days, musicians didn't have as many KB choices.

[Josh Paxton]

Another distinction between "digital" and "real" instruments in my own mind is the natural variance of sound that you get from one key strike to the next. Digital instruments can mimic this more closely the more layers they have, or the more nuanced their modeling algorithms. And now having said that, I'll completely contradict it by saying the most "real"-seeming digital instrument I own is my SV2 â specifically, the same EP patches that were in the SV1 eleven years ago. Those are pretty severely lacking in sample layers by modern standards, and yet they feel more real to me than any modeled or mega-sampled alternative. So it could very well turn out to be that the distinction is ultimately meaningless. If so, I will happily chalk that up to the imperfections of the human brain.

 

As for the Valente's potential usefulness on a gig...

 

This goes to the point that I told myself I wasn't going to raise, but how exactly do you envision using this keyboard on a gig? As the primary or only instrument?

really?

 

I do (or did, and hopefully will do again) a fair number of band gigs where I mostly use organ and EP, with some AP and a bit of Clav and synth here and there. I could see myself using a board like this on those gigs, and simply making the previously-AP tunes into EP tunes. Of course there are situations where that would be a Bad Ideaâ¢, but in these particular cases I could see it working. That would mean I'd have to find another source for any other sounds I was previously getting from whichever DP I was using, which could involve going from 2 boards to 3. Would it be worth it? Dunno. While I too was a rather vocal critic of the sound of the Valente earlier in this very thread, I have to say the more recent videos have got me taking a second look. So hey, people who said I shouldn't write off the sound based solely on those videos, good news: you were right and I was wrong, and I'm happy to have been wrong.

[dazzjazz]

I cannot seem to get a response from Valente regarding shipping. I"ve filled in their web-form and sent an email.

Anyone got another avenue of contact ?

[bourniplus]

Anyone got another avenue of contact ?

 

Tiago is a member of the EP forum, and has his own Youtube channel. His contact might be there somewhere.

[Morrissey]

 

There is simply something about actual vibrating elements that is compelling.

Yes. I prefer playing the weighted action boards that have speakers in them, because you get similar vibrations in your fingers to what you get from playing an acoustic piano. It's just a more "real" experience, when the keys don't feel as isolated/detached from the sound.

 

 

Wanted to amplify this observation. I've never gigged with a keyboard with onboard speakers. Food for thought.

[dazzjazz]

I just got a reply, so I"m waiting on a shipping quote...fingers crossed COVID is not inflating the prices as much as they were 6 months ago.