Getting the wrong end of the stick

[Arpangel]

But it’s got no Rhodes, or Pianet....

But you could create good emulations of both (with better dynamic control than the latter)...

A Rhodes? On a Hydrasynth? really?

[resistorman]

But it’s got no Rhodes, or Pianet....

But you could create good emulations of both (with better dynamic control than the latter)...

A Rhodes? On a Hydrasynth? really?

I was just thinking the same thing! I get the feeling that you're looking for a sound, not a specific instrument.

[Arpangel]

But it’s got no Rhodes, or Pianet....

But you could create good emulations of both (with better dynamic control than the latter)...

A Rhodes? On a Hydrasynth? really?

I was just thinking the same thing! I get the feeling that you're looking for a sound, not a specific instrument.

As usual, it’s all down to money, if you’ve got deep pockets you just get stuff, regardless, it doesn’t have to justify itself so much.

[ajay_m]

The stage ep pack from air which I have on my akai force includes a Pianet and that pack is included in the mpc61 as standard.
All the sampled instruments are very high quality and one of the great things about the force is you have 8 touch sensitive rotary encoders each with its own little oled display that map directly to instrument settings which makes tweaking very immediate.

[Arpangel]

The stage ep pack from air which I have on my akai force includes a Pianet and that pack is included in the mpc61 as standard.
All the sampled instruments are very high quality and one of the great things about the force is you have 8 touch sensitive rotary encoders each with its own little oled display that map directly to instrument settings which makes tweaking very immediate.

OK, let’s get this correct, I’m right in saying that the MPC61 comes with these sounds as standard, just confirming.
I’m just concerned that a lot of stuff on the MPC I won’t actually use, it seems to be a workstation type thing, and I don’t need beats sequencing etc.

[Martin Walker]

They were, indeed, horrible to play.

I can attest to this too. The Planet T is the only keyboard I ever sold and not at some time after regretted it. The action was horrible. It was barely touch sensitive, the energy in the tine came from lifting a 'sticky' rubber pad, and when it couldn't stick any longer it release the tine, the difference between softly playing and hammering was not very great at all.

Back in the mid 70's I had a Pianet N ('Natural' wood finish), and although I liked the sound (it was certainly the cheapest way to add a sort of 'acoustic' keyboard sound to your rig), I totally agree about the sticky pads being a pain.

In my case (after buying secondhand), some notes hardly had any volume at all because the stickiness of the foam pads had started to wear out.

However, the most annoying aspect was that unlike the later 'T' version with electromagnetic pickups, the 'N' version used electrostatic (capacitive) pickups that placed a highish voltage between the moving tines and the nearby staionary 'other side' of the pickup, forming a varying capacitor that generated an electric field whenever any tine was moving.

Sadly, the combination of high voltage and 61 tiny capacitors distributed across the keyboard was prone to issues with dust and humidity, in my case resulting in occasional continuous 'fizzing' or intermittent 'static' background noises that could only be cured by a thorough dusting inside, and then the application of a hair dryer.

As I say though, I loved the sound, but increased its versatility by passing it through fuzz and wah pedals (as I believe Dave Stewart did in 'Egg'). Sadly of course the fuzz pedal increased the audibility of background 'fizzing'

Despite its issues, I kept the Pianet N for some years, only finally phasing it out after I had finally saved up enough to buy a Fender Rhodes Stage 73

[IAA]

I was just playing with the latest free LABS release Vintage Keys, https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/vintage-keys and it made me think about Arpangels quest for his perfect Rhodes sound. This is a very pure 73 and worth a look at Tony.

The LABS range is amazing and a real credit to Spitfire, a UK company to boot!

(I have no affiliations with Spitfire!)

Ian

[Arpangel]

I was just playing with the latest free LABS release Vintage Keys, https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/vintage-keys and it made me think about Arpangels quest for his perfect Rhodes sound. This is a very pure 73 and worth a look at Tony.

The LABS range is amazing and a real credit to Spitfire, a UK company to boot!

(I have no affiliations with Spitfire!)

Ian

Thanks Ian, we’ll, Spitfire have a good reputation, I’ll check it out.

[ajay_m]

Yes, these should all be part of the MPC61 stock sounds. While I don't own one - only the Force, which is more or less a keyboardless version of it anyway, I can say that, while it has some current limitations (lack of tempo mapping, a bit awkward to create stuff in non-common-time e.g 3/4), it is far more capable then any sequencer I've seen in a 'workstation' keyboard so far.
It can certainly record completely free-format audio or MIDI and is not a 'beatmaker' box - obviously Akai's heritage comes from this direction but it's more accurate to think of the Force and MPC61 as now being much more like 'Ableton in a box' but with linear arrangement as well.
I also do feel that the sounds are extremely high quality, obviously with the ability to plug in a large SSD directly inside the unit, you have a huge amount of storage compared to anything Roland or Korg offer, and a lot of the sample libraries for the MPC range of products are pretty good quality and will of course work with these devices.
So well worth checking out, but of course, I get that personal preferences are very different for everyone.

[MarkOne]

Of course, Akai are now part of the InMusic group, who took over the remnants of Alesis after the Fusion more or less killed that company, and have acquired Numark Ion and M-Audio.

I think the Akai products of today probably have a lot in common with the keyboard stuff being developed by Alesis, and less in common with the Akai products of yore.

[Marten Bunt]

[i'm a big fan of the Rhodes and the Hohner Pianet T and M (and the others). I have 3 Pianet T at home that a have revisited as a hobby. I'm now busy with a Hohner Pianet M. I've got two of those...so if anyone wants more information; gave my a message; love tho show yout the Hohner Pianet T and M world.

A musician friend from Switserland has the Rhodes and Wurlizer and an delivered a Pianet to him. When I asked him how he rated the instrument against the Rhodes and the Wurlitzer he said: it's in the same league! It's sounds like it's between the Rohdes and the Wurlitzer.

Keep enjoing the music!

Marten Bunt

[Arpangel]

It's sounds like it's between the Rohdes and the Wurlitzer.

Marten Bunt

That’s why I like it, it is a lovely sound.

[sonics]

Sampleson's Pianet T instrument is on sale at Audio Plugin Deals at the moment. I don't have it myself, so it's not a recommendation; I just saw it in passing. Includes a Wurly, too.

[Arpangel]

Sampleson's Pianet T instrument is on sale at Audio Plugin Deals at the moment. I don't have it myself, so it's not a recommendation; I just saw it in passing. Includes a Wurly, too.

Thanks, I found the Sampleson way too exaggerated, especially in the bass.