MAKING OF

MAKING OF

This UVI Soundcard contains seven legendary instruments: Three “eras” of a classic tine-basedelectric piano, a famous electro-acoustic piano, a soulful reed piano, one funky clav and his “littlebrother”. We searched the world to find the best-sounding instruments to be able to capture theessence and soul of these unforgettable keyboards.Each keyboard was carefully multisampled using up to 12 velocity levels, delivering a range ofexpression that feels like the real thing under your fingers. Audiophile recording gear was used tocapture the sounds in stunning detail, using top quality mics, mic-pres, convertors and more.

Classic Electric Pianos

1972 1979 1984

The electric piano was invented in the 1940s , and its principles are derived fromboth the celesta and the electric guitar. The action is similar to that of a conventionalpiano, but whereas in a conventional piano each key causes felt-covered hammersto strike sets of strings, in this piano felt-tipped hammers ( after 1970 neoprenerubber tips on plastic hammers ) strike metal dowels called "tines" to create a pingsound which also resonate the tone bars over each tine ( the assymetrical tuning forkprinciple ), creating a mellow ring. Different models of the pianos were manufacturedbetween 1970 and 1984, 73 and 88 note versions, the stage model, and the suitcasemodel which included built in amplifier and speakers.

Electric pianos were particularly popular from the early 70's-mid 80's, and many of itssignature songs date from this period: The Doors' "Riders on the Storm", "Just theWay You Are" by Billy Joel, "Still Crazy After All These Years" by Paul Simon,"Babe" by Styx, "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" by Stevie Wonder, "Peg" bySteely Dan, the intro to "Sheep" by Pink Floyd, “Get Back”, by the Beatles (with BillyPreston), plus jazz fusion/crossover classics like “Spain” Chick Corea (Return toForever), “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock (Headhunters), “A Remark YouMade” by Weather Report and “Angela (theme from “Taxi”)” by Bob James. Theyhave never gone out of style, however, and are an integral sound in current neo-soul, smooth jazz, and other genres.

MAKING OF

Super W(Reed Piano)

This electric piano is usually a 64-note instrument whose keyboard range is from Aan octave above the lowest note of a standard 88-note piano to the C an octavebelow the top note of an 88-note piano. Tone production in all models comprises asingle steel reed for each key, activated by a miniature version of a conventionalgrand piano action and forming part of an electrostatic pickup system using a DCvoltage of 170v. A mechanical sustain pedal similar to that of a conventional piano isfitted. Compared with the classic electric piano, this one has a brighter, more hollowsound. When played gently the sound can be quite sweet and vibraphone-like,becoming more aggressive with harder playing, producing a characteristic slightlyoverdriven tone usually described as a "bark".

Some classic Reed Piano songs : “Dreamer” by Supertramp,”What’d I Say”, by RayCharles, “No Quarter” by Led Zeppelin, “Mama Told Me Not to Come”, by Three DogNight, “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” by Cannonball Adderley, “Stay With Me”, The Faces…

MAKING OF

Electric Grand(Electro-Acoustic Piano)

This electric-acoustic piano is a particular type of piano manufactured and marketedby a famous japanese manufacturer during the 1970s and 1980s, althoughexperimental instruments of similar type were made as early as the late 1920s.Unlike a digital piano, this one has hammers and strings. What makes an electricgrand unique is its means of amplification, which is done via pickups under thestrings (like an electric guitar). This method of amplification yields a smaller, lighterpiano, and therefore easier to transport (these pianos are still substantially heavy).The amplification-via-pickups method also bypasses the difficulty of having to mic aconventional grand piano, and thus makes an electric grand easier to set up with asound system.

Some famous artists who used it: Phil Collins, Tony Banks/Genesis, Jeff LorberFusion, Hall and Oates, Journey, Howard Jones…

MAKING OF

Funky Clav

This instrument is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to anelectric guitar but is better understood as an electric harpsichord. Its distinctive brightstaccato sound has appeared particularly in funk and rock songs. The recordedmodels consists of 60 keys and 60 associated strings, giving it five-octave rangefrom F0 to E5. Each key uses a small rubber tip to do a "hammer on" (forcefully fretthe string) to a guitar-type string when it is pressed, as with a conventionalclavichord. The end of each string farthest from the pickups passes through a weaveof yarn. When the key is released, the yarn makes the string immediately stopvibrating.

The archetypal clavinet sound can be heard on Stevie Wonder's track "Superstition",Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Under Foot", Sun Ra's "Atlantis", The Commodores'"Machine Gun", Billy Preston's "Outa-Space", Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "Tank"from Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Herbie Hancock's "Head Hunters" and SteelyDan's "Kid Charlemagne". The track "Up on Cripple Creek" by The Band, is the firstrecorded example of patching a Clavinet through a guitar wah-wah pedal. A Clavinetwas also used in Tori Amos' track "Not David Bowie", which appeared on heranthology "A Piano: The Collection" and in Soundgarden's "Fresh Tendrils" fromSuperunknown.

MAKING OF

Planet H

Those were a series of electric pianos built in Trossingen, West Germany from the1950s to the 1970s.

Sound is generated by an array of metal reeds which are plucked by foam pads,which have been impregnated with adhesive (actually a proprietary viscous siliconeoil). The pads are connected to metal rods connected to the keys. On pressing akey, the pad is released, creating a tension which makes the reed vibrate.Electrostatic pickups mounted directly below the reeds transmit the sound to anamplifier.

During its period of manufacture, this electric piano was offered in a number ofdesigns. It soon found popularity with popular music groups of the 1960s, leading toproduce the Combo model, designed for the performing musician in mind. This hadno legs, being designed to sit atop an organ or acoustic piano.

The early models of this Electric Piano were used on a number of hit recordings fromthe 1960s and 1970s, including « She's Not There »   by The Zombies, « Louie,Louie » by The Kingsmen, « I Am The Walrus » by The Beatles, and « Joy to theWorld » by Three Dog Night. This instrument is enjoying a renaissance due to thepopularity of retro sounds and the availability of new pads for the earlier models,most of which had been reduced to unplayability due to pad decay.

All texts arranged from Wikipedia.org

MAKING OF

CreditsProduced by UltimateSoundBank

SOUND LIBRARY

Recording by Benoit HenriotProgramming by Sebastien JeannotSound Design by Geoffroy Soulaine & Emmanuel Usai

SOFTWARE PROGRAMMING

Sebastien Métrot, Olivier TristanInstallers by Benoit Henriot

INTERFACE DESIGN

Christophe Lécrivain

DOCUMENTATION

Benoit Henriot & Guy Cédile

Special Thanks to Michael Garçonand Pierre-Luc Vallet (Studio du Flon - Switzerland)

for the great quality of their instruments.