Digital Piano
I’ve mentioned briefly our new piano setup but now that I have a great sample to share, I thought I’d go into a bit more depth on what we’re doing.
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.
Then the electronics are based around a Muse Research Receptor and Synthogy’s Ivory. When we were planning to go the digital grand route, I felt strongly that a sampled library with a few choices of pianos and tones would be the most flexible option and a great investment rather than just using a digital stage piano. The best one we’d heard was a Yamaha CP250 but even then, it was missing realism to me. It still sounded digital.
The challenge was how to execute a software library in a consistent, reliable, and simple package on stage. No one was very excited about relying on a tradition computer setup – even if it were a Mac based solution. Enter the Receptor. The RECEPTOR was designed to do just one thing: run virtual instruments and effects in a live context. It utilizes a highly optimized, super-efficient OS and kernel that runs on a dedicated 64-bit processor-based hardware to make VST plug ins available without needing ProTools or Logic and a traditional computer setup. The best part is that you can operate Receptor from the front panel (which is what we do on a week to week basis to load from our patch library), connect a monitor, mouse, and keyboard to the back of the unit and see the plug-in GUIs, or remote control the unit via Ethernet (allowing the ability to change settings from a computer at FOH during rehearsal).
Synthogy Ivory sounds great. The creators sampled three different pianos – Yamaha C7 Grand, Steinway D Concert Grand, and Bosendorfer 290 Imperial Grand. Each key is sampled at 10 different velocities with several pages of customization options for how the piano responds, dynamic range, effects, tuning, how it is mic’d, etc.
Kudos to my friends at Willow Creek for putting us on to the Receptor & Ivory. The result is a natural sounding solution that sounds like the real thing. Now we are able to use the grand on our stage almost every week. Its become a staple just like our drum kit, which adds a lot to the look of the band. Best of all, there’s no feedback, piano tuners, or inconsistent results. The piano always sounds great and can be placed in the mix in ways that were never achievable with our acoustic one. Most importantly, this package has been rock-solid reliable. I highly recommend Slam Grand, Receptor, and Ivory.
Below is a video from a prelude a couple weeks ago with a traditional jazz quartet. Check it out to see for yourself…
WOW… I mean big time. That is without doubt the best sounding piano I’ve heard live. If you hadn’t said it was digital I would have been begging to know how you mic’d it to get that great tone. What does a setup like that cost?
Under $10,000 as you see it there. Basically 50/50 between the cost of the shell and the electronics. Our acoustic piano cost us $60,000 used and is still worth $25,000 today. We’re selling it and replacing it with two of these systems for two different rooms.
[...] 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! [...]
Hi Tim: sounds great. I have been researching options to upgrade my live (portable setup) and considering the CP33 (because I like the piano pretty good) and a receptor loaded with Komplete etc. Are you able to access the other sounds easily using the CP33 as a controller or do you somehow set that up on the receptor in advance. I am not sure how that works exactly.
Sold my S90ES which allowed me to set up performances but have only used self contained keyboards.
Have a 20% off coupon for today and tomorrow if you happen to recommend quickly. Thank you so much
Hi Christopher…
I’m really not that much of a MIDI expert so I don’t know how much I can help. Our use of the Receptor is VERY tame compared to what I’m sure a true keys player could do. The Receptor is capable of recalling presets based on MIDI commands and lots of real-time editing. The CP33 seems quite capable of driving the MIDI side of things, I just haven’t dove into many of those options because we strictly use our Receptor for Ivory and don’t give our artists access to all of its settings. The video demos on the Receptor site are probably the best resource for you if you haven’t already found them. I’ve also had good luck talking to the Receptor support team with questions. Sorry I can’t help more!
Maybe I can help here. We’re Receptor endorsers at my church, we’re in the Silicon Valley and are 20 minutes from Muse and 50 minutes from Digi, gives us alot of opportunity to be involved at ground level.
The new Receptor Pro Max is a beast. The nice thing about the Muse software is that it assigns MIDI program change numbers to ALL of the presets of ANY VST instrument that you install. Through various multis you can build an entire worship set and recall those sets by sending a single program change command. You can assign separate MIDI channels to each of the 16 available instrument “channels” and you can add up to three FX (VST based, not internal) to each instrument channel.
On mine I’ve got Ivory, Atmosphere, Trilogy, Kontakt 2, and Mr. Ray all in one Snapshot Multi, and use program change commands to bring up the various channels and layers as needed.
If you guys need info or assistance, you can hit me at my email address, or I can forward you to Jack Ortolani or Rick at Muse. They are really interested in the Worship market, and the Vice President Bryan Lanser is a believer.
Blessings,
Erik Luper
Family Community Church