Elton's Piano
Jordan M.
REALLY want a piano like that. Then maybe I'll learn how to play... lol
--
{JORDAN} ~c/o 2OOO~
"The Closet"... is temporarily shut!
Check this out for new pix of me:
http://www.geocities.com/jordan72282/pix.html
---------------------------------------
"Someday out of the blue
In a crowded street, or a deserted square
I'll turn and I'll see you, as if our love were new,
Someday we can start again,
Someday soon."
-- EJ/TR 2000
---------------------------------------
"Nate Donchez" <Souph...@go.com> wrote in message
news:01bfd1be$94e091c0$603692d1@natedonc...
> Just a few questions about Elton's piano. I know its a Yamaha acustic 9 ft
> grand, but what kind of computer system does it have? How much is it
worth?
> How many other piano's does he have for touring? Does he ever plan to use
a
> keyboard again? Does he have an offstage system, or someone playing
> keyboards behind him producing the strings?
> This is alot please help someone?
>
meude
is the same piano he used at Princess Diana's funeral. Imagine hauling that
thing to Iceland the very next day after a show in England...yikes!!!
"Jordan M." <bigj2203@.msn.com> wrote in message
news:#5CzqCc0$GA.386@cpmsnbbsa08...
Nate Donchez
Eclipse512
None. The piano is acoustic, but the info is fed into tone modules off-stage to
create the effects and alternate sounds you will sometimes hear.
> How much is it worth
Tens and tens of thousands of dollars. Those babies aren't cheap.
>How many other piano's does he have for touring?
He always tours with two, one which is just kept as a backup if there is an
unfixable accident with the first.
>Does he ever plan to use a
>keyboard again?
He wouldn't 'plan' per se. Elton just makes those kinds of decisions when he
starts out on tour, but the only reason he did before was because of the
breadth of sounds and effects he could get. Now that he can get all that and
still play an acoustic piano, I wouldn't plan on seeing him back on keyboards.
>Does he have an offstage system, or someone playing
>keyboards behind him producing the strings?
It's the piano being fed through a tone module with a string patch. The mix is
moved up when they want the string sound to be heard
Fool4EJ
NG too?), explaining in fascinating detail just how the sound is mixed on
the board (THANKS, CLIVE!) to produce all the rich orchestral-like details.
Most people think that there is some sort of piped-in accompaniment , but
it is all our man Elton and the enhancement produced by Clive. The person
who posted seemed to know exactly what he was talking about, and I was very
impressed. In fact, hmmmm maybe I can find that & copy it here for those of
you who may have missed it...lemme see
OKAY I FOUND IT BUT IT'S REALLY LONG!!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Blue...@aol.com
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 20:50:41 EDT
Subject: Re: Strings at Solo Shows/Use of Synth on Solo-Tour?
Regarding Elton's use of synthesizers in the current solo show, I asked
Clive
(Franks, Elton's sound sculptor extraordinaire) about these very issues when
I saw him at the Portland, Maine and Amherst, Massachusetts shows. Here's
the scoop:
Q. What's with Elton's piano? Is it a real acoustic piano, a MIDI
controller, or what?
A. Elton's Yamaha concert grand was built specially for him and is a real
acoustic grand piano whose keyboard is also a MIDI controller. What this
means is that the piano makes sound like any other piano, but the MIDI
keyboard controller also generates a data stream that's routed to Clive's
mixing station on the auditorium floor.
--- More Detail Than You Probably Want ---
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface, pronounced "mih-dee") is a
specification for a relatively low bit-rate data transmission protocol in
which "controllers" (for example, a piano keyboard or touch sensitive
percussion pad) generate data in response to note events, and "sound
modules"
produce audible responses to those data. For example, when Elton plays
middle C on his piano, the keyboard controller generates a so-called "Note
On" event that says, in effect, "start playing middle C now." When Elton
releases the middle C key, the keyboard controller generates a second
so-called "Note Off" event that says, "stop playing middle C now."
The point of MIDI is that it separates data describing the physical playing
of the notes from data describing the actual sound of those notes. When you
play a MIDI controller, it generates only Note On and Note Off events, along
with various auxiliary control events for such things as sustain, note pitch
bending, and other special effects. The MIDI data stream specifically does
NOT include information regarding the exact sonic nature of the notes to be
produced from that data stream. (NOTE: I intentionally exclude the General
MIDI specification and patch change events from this description.)
MIDI sound modules produce audible tones in response to the MIDI data
stream.
The tones can sound like anything you want - an oboe, a drum or cymbal, a
presampled human voice, a jet aircraft, whatever. The actual sound is
determined by the "patch" the sound module is currently programmed to use.
A
patch generally corresponds to a particular type of sound, as in "a Rhodes
piano patch." The word patch has its roots in early analog synthesizers in
which programming the synthesizer was done using patch cords, wires with
plugs on each end used to connect one part of the synth's circuitry to
another.
Q. Okay, so what does MIDI have to do with what I'm hearing?
A. Clive's mixing station includes a bunch of MIDI sound modules in
addition
to the mixer itself. The MIDI feed from Elton's keyboard controller is
routed to the sound modules and produces the synthesized strings and other
instrumental sounds you hear during Elton's performance.
Q. So am I hearing synthesized sounds, the real piano, or both?
A. Depending on the song, and where you are in the song, you're generally
hearing a mixture of the real piano, picked up by microphones inside it, and
sounds generated by the MIDI modules. Both the mic'd piano and the output
of
the MIDI sound modules are routed through Clive's mixing board (and then to
the amplifiers feeding the auditorium speakers), and it's Clive who
determines at any given time both the nature of the sound and the relative
strength of its components.
An example. When Elton is playing a song like "Tonight," Clive sets the
MIDI
sound module(s) to use orchestral patches (strings, mostly). So you hear
Elton's piano, which is itself a combination of the acoustic piano and one
or
more electronic piano patches, accompanied by an orchestral background, or
"pad." Clive uses the faders (volume controls) on his mixing console, in
real time, to sculpt the sounds so you hear a pleasing blend.
On "Daniel," by contrast, the piano sound you hear is almost exclusively
from
the MIDI sound module(s). The specific sound is known as a "Rhodes Piano"
or
"Fender Rhodes Piano," after the instrument originally produced by the
Rhodes
company. This keyboard sound is characterized by bell-like percussive tones
and is a common synth patch.
When asked about an average mix, Clive said that at an arbitrary point in
time, you might be hearing about 60% synth versus 40% acoustic piano.
Obviously, that's only a rough rule of thumb.
Q. Are there any prerecorded accompaniments?
A. Absolutely not. The only instrumental sounds you hear other than
Elton's
piano are MIDI modules generating music, in real time, in response to
Elton's
playing. The reason it sometimes feels like prerecorded music is because
Clive masterfully uses the mixing board to make the MIDI sounds appear less
directly correlated to Elton's playing.
Example: The orchestral jabs in "Tiny Dancer," where Elton's singing, "And
oh how it really feels," are produced by Clive alternately raising and
lowering the relative volume of the orchestral pad by moving the faders
quickly in time with the music. The orchestra therefore seems to be playing
surging quarter notes when, in fact, the actual sound coming from the MIDI
modules is much more continuous.
Q. How are Elton's backing vocals produced? In "Ticking," for example,
Elton seems to have two or three other singers producing incredibly well
synchronized harmony.
A. Clive uses a digital effects unit called a harmonizer to produce the
additional voices in real time. In other words, they're generated
automatically from Elton's singing. Clive routes Elton's vocal microphone
to
the harmonizer's input, and routes the harmonizer's output to the mixing
board, where he combines it with Elton's vocal. When Elton sings, the
harmonizer produces additional voices based on Elton's. The harmonizer does
this very quickly, so it sounds like other people singing exactly in time.
--- More Detail Than You Probably Want ---
Digital harmonizers work by performing frequency analysis, pitch shifting,
and timbre changes. The harmonizer uses frequency analysis to determine
what
pitch Elton's singing. It uses pitch shifting to generate additional voices
at appropriate multiples of the input pitch (a third higher, a fourth
higher,
an octave lower, whatever). It uses timbre changes (if desired) to make the
synthesized voices sound different from Elton's. The harmonizer knows what
to generate because you program it with the song's key and harmonic mode.
Q. How are Elton's vocal effects, such as echoes, accomplished?
A. Again, Clive has effects units that perform such things as echo and
flanging (when Elton's voice sounds weirdly distorted in a dynamic
phase-changing kind of way). Clive switches these units in and out at the
appropriate times to produce the effects you hear.
Q. So Clive keeps pretty busy?
A. Definitely. Clive is truly a performer in Elton's shows. He works with
Elton in a sort of collaborative dance to produce what we hear. If I may
offer an opinion, I think the sound at Elton's solo shows is awesome, given
that these are mostly hockey arenas.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------
--
Denise :-)
"I thank the Lord for the people I have found" EJ/BT
Adam G. Pringle
>How much is it worth?
$90,000 to $150,000 depending on the year, type and make.
--
Adam -Piano Man- Pringle
Saginaw, Michigan
http://www.mp3.com/adampringle/
http://www.geocities.com/agp88keys/
--
ICQ#: 6314062
AOL IM: agp88keys
--
"Even if I only had one finger left I'd play for you."
-Elton John
--