The Vintage Electric Pianos ROM option adds the classic electric piano sounds that are vital to any modern keyboard player. While some electric piano sounds have remained obscure vintage gems, others have attained a level of importance to the keyboardist comparable to that which the Fender® Stratocaster® or Gibson Les Paul has for the modern guitarist.
The instruments included in the ROM block are: Fender® Rhodes Electric Piano, Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Hohner Pianet, Yamaha CP-80 Electric Grand Piano, and the RMI Electra-Piano.
Each program was created using high-quality audio samples of electric pianos as a starting point. The sounds were then processed using Kurzweil’s V.A.S.T. synthesis engine. This allowed us to apply powerful filters, velocity layers and cross-fades, envelopes and a host of other sound-sculpting tools. In some cases, samples from the K2600’s base-ROM were also used in combination with the Vintage EP’s samples in order to add a certain flavor or to enhance the harmonic content of the sound.
The final stage of sound-shaping was done in KDFX, our massive effects processing engine. KDFX played a crucial role in making this a truly ground-breaking project, providing on-board effects unprecedented in both quantity and quality. Effects pedals, speaker cabinets, and recording techniques have all been faithfully replicated, giving the Vintage EP’s programs a level of detail and realism never before achieved in any electric piano emulation.
Using V.A.S.T. and KDFX we were able to replicate the exact sounds from dozens of different live and studio recordings of electric pianos. For this reason, many of the program names in Vintage EPs are derived from song titles and not electric piano model numbers. Also, we have included a section devoted entirely to non-realistic sounds, "hybrids and synths," where we transformed the Vintage EPs sound sources into a wide variety of sonic textures, ranging from slight mutations to completely unrecognizable new sounds.
We have included detailed charts that list the controller assignments for each program and setup. If a program has been taken from a specific recording, the artist’s name and song title have been provided as well.
Fender® Rhodes
Produced from 1965-1986 in a number of variations of the original model, the Fender® Rhodes is the most widely recognized and easily identified electric piano sound in popular music. The Rhodes played an important role in defining some of the new styles of music that began to emerge in the mid-sixties and early seventies, mainly jazz-fusion, disco and funk, and was adopted quickly by other already established styles such as R&B, rock, pop, blues, and jazz. The Rhodes sound remains popular today and it can be found in a variety of settings: played live by blues, funk and jam bands among others, and on recordings of hip-hop, pop, acid-jazz, and electronica.
Wurlitzer
Similar in both its design and sound to the Rhodes, the Wurlitzer electric piano was nearly as popular, and actually pre-dated the first Rhodes suitcase model. The Wurlitzer produced a sound which had a slightly more narrow frequency range than the Rhodes; it was "thinner" sounding, blending more easily with other instruments in a mix.
Hohner Pianet
Although featured prominently in a number of classic rock songs by The Beatles, The Zombies and others, the Hohner Pianet remains a lesser-known instrument, its sound having often been mistakenly attributed to the Wurlitzer.
Produced from c.1962-1980 in various console models, the Pianet series differed from the Rhodes and Wurlitzer in a few important areas. Sound was produced by metal reeds, which were plucked by a set of adhesive pads. Also distinguishing the Pianet was the absence of a sustain pedal.
Yamaha CP-80
Known commonly as the "electric grand", the CP-80 (88 notes), along with its smaller counterpart, the CP-70 (76 notes), was the product of clever engineering combined with traditional piano-making craftsmanship. Inside the CP-80 are the basic workings of a real acoustic piano, which have been altered to fit into a smaller enclosure. On the outside, the CP-80 looks like a "grand" version of the Rhodes, covered in tolex, with the top portion extending in the rear to accommodate the piano harp inside. Up until the mid-1980s, when sampled pianos became available, the CP-70/80 was the only instrument capable of providing a decent substitute for a real piano. While it served this purpose well, the CP-70/80 had some unique features, which allowed it to have its own very distinct sound when desired.
RMI Electra-Piano
Built by Rocky Mount Instruments, a division of the Allen Organ Company, from 1967-1980, the RMI Electra-Piano is the one instrument represented in Vintage EPs which did not produce sound by electromechanical means. With an electronic tone-generator for each note, un-weighted plastic keys, which were not touch-sensitive, and a set of "stops" for sound selection, the RMI more closely resembled an organ than anything else.
There were five stops on the RMI for tone: Piano, Piano PP, Harpsi, Harpsi PP, and Lute. There were two additional stops; Accenter, which added in an attack "thump" as well as Organ Mode, which extended the decay of held notes.
The RMI was most widely used by progressive-rock bands like Genesis and Yes in the early to mid-1970s, although it has also appeared in a broad variety of other settings.
In Depth
Vintage Electric Piano Programs
600 Model This! Rhds 601 Shinin’ Xfade 602 CleanRhdsEchPlx 603 AgedTolexPhasSw2 604 Real 70’s Chorus 605 Studio ClassicEP 606 SweetLoretta Amp 607 TheNightFly 608 Sugdaddy Mtron 609 Herbie’sEPWahSw2 610 Adjstbl ChDlyRvb 611 XTineRhds RvsRvb 612 BellToneDist RDS 613 The Phase I’m In 614 HardStr CompRhds 615 SizzleTine PhsCh 616 EarlyFusionDstEP 617 Growlin’Electric 618 Serious EPno 619 70’s HrdStr EP 620 Rhds No Bell 621 Hard E Piano 622 Soft E Piano 623 Barking Tines 624 Triple Tines 625 Stay With Me 626 What’dISay Wurly 627 RetroVerb Wurly 628 VANCradleWillROK 629 Supertramp Wrly 630 PinkFloydzTheWah 631 EQ Vintage Wurly 632 StandnOnTheVerge 633 WoodstockClunker 634 Wurly + Alien FX 635 MeanPhaseWURLY 636 UpcloseHeavyWrly 637 Lesslie Wurlie 638 Soft Wurly 639 Joy to the Piant 640 TheseEyes 641 No Quarter 642 Black Friday 643 StrwyToEPHeaven 644 MetalBuzz Piant 645 ThisIsTheWalrus! 646 MistyMountain EP 647 Classic Zombies 648 Tony’s FuzzBox 649 Queen’s Friend 650 Bernie’s CP*Funk 651 CP80 Wallflower 652 Porta EPiano 653 VideoKilledtheCP 654 Red Rain 655 OBLA-D CP80 656 Dark Elec Grand 657 CP80 All Purpose 658 Bright Live CP80 659 Groovy Dyn Chor 660 Leave Me Alone 661 Thin Space Piano 662 Chorus’d Hall CP 663 80’sReflectxn EP 664 LiveAmp CP Plate 665 Tight Room forEP 666 Dr. John’s RMI 667 Lamb’s Wool 668 RMI Phase Flange 669 RMI Crunch 670 Wakeman On Ice!! 671 Rael On Broadway 672 MXR InMy Stomach 673 Electronica RMI 674 RMI Switch 2 675 Crocodile Rock 676 RoTo RMI 677 FrankenRoadz 678 Trace S&H EP 679 Baroque Synth 680 Skunk Art 681 SliderEP Synth 682 TalkinRingmod 683 Flurlitzer 684 EPno n’Pad 685 Pick Up EP 686 Strummed EPiano 687 Brittle Comper 688 Cheese Keys 689 RM-Either 690 Xylo-Rhoadz 691 Bubble Snap 692 Cypress Pluck 693 Electro Fugue 694 RMI Organ Keys 695 Hurtful 696 Multi Grand 697 Exploring RMI 698 Ambient Swells 699 Raffa’s Revenge
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