Digital Piano – check this out!!

Okay – this is a blatant re-post from another blog but I know that lots of you would love to see it so I wanted to post it here!

Tim Corder leads the audio team at Kensington Community Church outside Detroit and posts amazing stuff on his blog. He posted today about their new all-digital grand piano setup, included a bunch of info on how they did it and also posted a video with a live mix of the piano in action. You have to hear this to believe it!

Go and read the full post on Tim’s site but here’s the basics -

The shell is made by Slam Grand Pianos.  It is a 7ft 4″ model based off of the Yamaha C7 shape.  Gary Raffanelli at Slam Grand did amazing craftsmanship and was so easy to work with.  His company builds piano shells for practically everyone who’s anybody – TV shows, touring, casinos, etc.

Inside the shell is a Yamaha CP33 Stage Piano that we use as a MIDI controller.  We chose this board based on the recommendation of some of our keys players for its realistic feel.  Even though we don’t use the internal sounds in the CP33 as a part of this setup, its great to know that its built in piano tones are still pretty strong and a good option to have available in a pinch.  But for realistic feel when playing, the CP33 is pretty awesome.  The Graded Hammer Effect action gives all keys an authentic resistance that increases from the top register to the lower – just as on an actual acoustic piano. Which means that you can naturally pound out thunderous low notes with your left hand and let the fingers on your right dance and fly with the high notes.

Here`s a video of this thing in action – beautiful!!

On a side note, if you ever find yourself in or around Troy, MI make sure you get out to Kensington. You will not regret it! I visited Kensington on a trip back from Willow Creek three years ago and still remember it as a landmark moment in my life. It was my first Father`s Day as a dad and everything that happened during the service seemed to be speaking directly to me – it was awesome.

3 Responses to “Digital Piano – check this out!!”

1. Russ Hutto says:

   February 16, 2009 at 3:07 pm

   Nice sound!

   Hey I was just noting that my old blog from about a year ago is still listed in your blogroll, HA!

   russhutto.com is where I’m hanging out these days (not ordinary radical)

   Thanks, man!
   Russ

   Reply
2. Bart de Krijger says:

   February 17, 2009 at 12:23 am

   Wow, they did an impressive job! Looks great, sounds good. I understand what they mean with the CP33 action – I’m still very happy with the CP300′s that we use. Never heard of Synthology Ivory before, thanx for that lead. If these guys are right then I’d love to hear Synthology Ivory in a live setting. Talk to you later!

   Reply
3. Fred McKinnon says:

   February 17, 2009 at 6:43 pm

   man, that’s amazing. I wish we had that – I LOVE my Yamaha baby grand on our stage, but it gives the sound guys fits some … we have the best mics you can get .. the Earthworks PianoMic System, but it picks up everything else in the room, too … even though the lids are closed.

   Reply