Bright disco piano

[ttauri]

This is just something I got to wondering about after listening to Change's "The Glow Of Love"--that hyper-airy, swimmy, bell-like piano (it's on a lot of disco tracks, but Glow Of Love is the only name that leaps out at me right now)... howtheydodat?

Any thoughts? Piano tuning? Chorus? Etc?

Peece,
T. Tauri

[DeadPoet]

Don't know that track but my guess would be :


DX-7

[ttauri]

Nah, it's a real piano, just very bright, pronounced hammer strike.

Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" would be another example. Also Chic's "My Forbidden Lover"

One suggestion I got was that it could have involved recording with Dolby A on, playback with it off.

Peece,
T. Tauri

[PRobb]

My guess would be 451s XY close over the hammers, DBX "over easy" type compression, and Pultec 3k.

[paterno]

Originally posted by ttauri
Nah, it's a real piano, just very bright, pronounced hammer strike.

Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" would be another example. Also Chic's "My Forbidden Lover"

One suggestion I got was that it could have involved recording with Dolby A on, playback with it off.

Peece,
T. Tauri

The Dolby thing is possible. Here are a few other ideas:

1) a mic that has some cut and lack of bottom, like an re15 or D19

2) there was a period of time when people were into laquering the hammers on grand pianos to give them a ton of attack. There was a studio in Hollywood that had one like that -- jazz players hated it but the rock guys loved it! At one point they replaced the hammers and it changed the sound of the piano dramatically.

Cheers,
john

[Sharp11]

Originally posted by ttauri
Nah, it's a real piano, just very bright, pronounced hammer strike.

Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" would be another example. Also Chic's "My Forbidden Lover"

One suggestion I got was that it could have involved recording with Dolby A on, playback with it off.

Peece,
T. Tauri

One thing I remember from the Sister Sledge era, in addition to the lacquered hammers, is the Eventide Harmonizer being used on piano.

Ed

[ttauri]

Lacquered hammers, eh? That was the part that was really perplexing me. I could see ways of getting the brightness and the chorus/harmonizer effect, but the strike of the hammer was particularly flummoxing.

Thanks.

Peece,
T. Tauri