Stage Piano

[Griselda Humbarger]

Astage piano is an electronic musical instrument designed for use in live performances on stage or in a studio, as well as for music recording in Jazz and popular music. While stage pianos share some of the same features as digital pianos designed for home use and synthesizers, they have a number of features which set them apart. Stage pianos usually provide a smaller number of sounds (usually acoustic piano, electric piano, and hammond organ), with these being of higher quality than the ones found on regular digital pianos and home synthesizers.

Unlike many digital pianos, which are designed for semi-permanent installation in a private home and have design elements which make regular transportation difficult (e.g., permanently mounted legs, modesty panel, internal power amplifier and speakers, and a fixed sustain pedal), a stage piano generally has a portable, detachable stand, no internal amp or speakers (an output jack is provided so the instrument can be plugged into a keyboard amplifier), a detachable sustain pedal to be plugged into a jack, and a robust body. This enables a performer to remove all of the detachable parts and makes the instrument easier to transport to gigs and rehearsals.

The sounds of a high-end stage piano are usually created through sampling or complex digital signal processing-modelling, methods of higher quality compared to what is commonly found on digital keyboards, which use relatively simple synthesis methods to allow for more, different types of sounds, albeit in lower quality. Along with the sounds of the most common keyboard instruments, most stage pianos also provide a recreation of electro-mechanical pianos like the Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer 200A, or Yamaha CP-70/CP-80 series, which were based on picking up the sound of a metal tine, reed or string hit by a hammer.

While almost all digital pianos and lower-end synthesizer keyboards designed for home use have small onboard powered speakers, stage pianos are often designed without onboard speakers; instead, they are designed to be used with external amplification. In some models, low powered speakers built into the instrument are present and are intended for home use, however in case of live performances more powerful and higher quality amplifiers are preferred, plugging them through the output jack. Only some particular models of stage pianos, such as the Yamaha P-250 or Casio Privia, have onboard powered speakers already built into the instrument.

The controls on stage pianos can usually be navigated through knobs and buttons placed on the instrument. Among these, MIDI interfaces are provided to permit them to be used as master keyboards, which can control other tone-generating modules, such as Hammond organ-emulators or synthesizer string modules.

Stage pianos usually have 88 keys, which is standard for all modern acoustic pianos. However, some stage pianos have fewer keys, such as the Kurzweil SP76 which has only 76 semi-weighted keys, but is still called a stage piano because of its layout and weighted keys.

We built Stage Piano with piano players in mind, whether they are on-stage or in the studio. The plugin includes plenty of articulations and foot pedal parameters that give you the natural expression of a real acoustic piano. Each sample set offers separate pedal parameters that will let you adjust the level of sustain resonance, hammer falls, staccato release, and soft pedal to create a genuinely accurate piano performance. As a result, Stage Piano offers the most realistic and engaging piano sound you can hear in your MPC production system.

Stage Piano includes multiple effects like Flavor timbre control, EQ, compression, rich reverb, and delay. Create brilliant shimmers, dark haunting echoes, or spacey washed pianos with a cutting-edge effects engine built into the instrument.

The new MPC/FORCE sounds browser for standalone makes finding or saving your favorite patch a breeze. Sounds mode for MPC & FORCE Standalone lets you browse patches, change key ranges, and create massive performances!

Each Instrument has parameters laid out for touch screen control using MPC/FORCE QLINK mapping to put the most valuable instrument controls at your fingertips. Sweep filters on the fly, change waveforms with a turn, and pump up the volume with your QLINKS! The touch UI gives instant feedback, and straightforward touch controls get you deep into sound design territory.

I'm looking for an amplification system for my Yamaha CP88. After much research, it seems that speakers like the Yamaha DBR, DXR or QSC might be the way to go, but am interested in more feedback before I invest. My budget is around $1600. I'm mainly interested in using the acoustic piano sounds. I've tried the Roland KC 550, and although it sounded OK for organ/synth sounds, the acoustic sounds come out "boxey." I've noticed the same with a pair of Electro-Voice speakers used in a PA system. I play with other acoustic instruments, like violin, clarinet, cello, an acoustic guitar, some percussion, so am really trying to sound as acoustic and clear as possible. I don't need a lot of power, as the other instruments are not amplified. I'm looking for quality and clarity of sound, which will bring out the harmonics of the digital piano samples. Any suggestions?

Depends on what your using it for but if you are just playing at your house a pair of 8 or 10 inch monitors would be the way to go. But if you are gigging and using it for your main sound it's hard to go wrong with the newer Roland KC's, I made the jump and they are fantastic. The KC600 and 400 sound so much better than the previous iterations it's scary.

There were two issues with the older Roland models, they sounded boomy and they sounded a stuffy/boxy. Also a lot of people were just using one of them. For acoustic piano you want to use two KC400's stereo linked, you can thank me later. And don't forget to engage the Shape button, works magic. The KC600 is still a little bass heavy for acoustic piano and too large and heavy to run in stereo which is important for AP.

For years I ran PPA's from ElectroVoice to JBL and they did sound good, better than the keyboard amps at the time for AP but were lacking punch and body for synth, organ and EP's. With the new KC series you've got the best of both worlds, amazing clarity and definition for AP and the body, weight, and punch for synths, organs and EP's. Not to mention they are louder and project more than the PPA speakers ever did, if you need that. Plus you get amazing connectivity with all the inputs and mic input on line one.

Like I said for AP's two KC400's in stereo is the ticket. If you are playing mostly synth, organ, and EP's a single KC600 is the way to go. I've run two setups, a KC600 for cover band gigs where AP is maybe 10% of what I play and a stereo KC400 setup where AP is like 60% and EP 40% for the jazz group. I'm much happier with the KC's than I was with my PPA setup. The only advantage the PPA's have at this point is their lower weight.

The "boxy sound" from an amp may be partly the amp but partly just having to go mono. That describes how most if not all stereo sampled pianos sound in mono. We've had that discussion many times before...some folks even use just one output instead of the combined L+R for that reason.

Not sure the pianos are the same on that keyboard as my Modx, but the Modx pianos are some of the worst I've encountered in that regard. The CFX samples at any rate (which are my choice if I can go stereo). AnotherScott advised trying the s700 samples for mono.

If I use just one speaker, not pleasing. But if I'm not using my IEMs, I often do use just one, because I like to monitor what FOH is getting. In the 12 years our band has been playing, not once has a sound company been using stereo. It's one of the questions I always ask, as I'm prepared to do it if they are. To be fair, that's probably 1 gig out of 6 or 7 at most, we usually use our own PA. And we are pretty small potatoes, so that might make a difference.

If I was in a position where my "amps" (or speakers) were providing the sound to both me and the audience, I'd probably use a second one...though the thought of that kind of volume hitting me is not a nice one.... Not for "stereo sound" but just to get rid of the boxy phasing that you get with piano, and some other patches if you are not careful--often due to whatever fx they put on them.

My advice is to follow your instincts because you've determined the right "way to go." You won't go wrong with any of those, though some may be better than others with specific pianos. I can't speak to that since I don't use the CP88, but if Dave Ferris says the DXR8 is the one, you can take it to the bank. I do know you want two speakers for stereo, and I also know that for a more natural sound you'll probably need to roll off low end, or notch the low-mids. I hope the CP88 has some EQ controls that let you do that. If all you're playing is piano, forget a mixer and cable directly to the speakers. I've been doing this for almost 25 years and it works fine, though some on this forum disagree. I see no point in carrying extra pieces of gear and cables if you don't need to. Good luck!

On the mono point, I do a lot of gigging where it's just easier to run keys in mono. Anyone have any success running a stereo DP patch to a DI with the "180" button engaged? In theory that should kill the "boxiness" from phase cancellation, but I suspect an opposite problem of unnatural frequency boosting could occur.

I play with other acoustic instruments, like violin, clarinet, cello, an acoustic guitar, some percussion, so am really trying to sound as acoustic and clear as possible. I don't need a lot of power, as the other instruments are not amplified. I'm looking for quality and clarity of sound, which will bring out the harmonics of the digital piano samples.

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