Two interesting new virtual electric piano collections have just been released, and both run on Native Instruments’ Kontakt Player platform. There are countless sources of electric piano sounds, but Alicia’s Electric Keys and Altera Keys are a bit different. It’s all about the Keys!
Alicia’s Electric Keys
Native Instruments’ Alicia’s Electric Keys software package provides an authentic emulation of Alicia Keys’ signature Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano sound. This piano features on many of her greatest recordings including “Girl on Fire”.
Released in 1976 with a hefty price tag of around $4,000 (equivalent to $25,000 today), the original CP-70 was considered groundbreaking. In essence, this is an acoustic baby grand piano, but with the soundboard replaced by piezo-electric pickups.
The piano comes in two sections which are simply clipped together. The lower section houses the keyboard and piano action, and the upper part contains the strings, frame and pickups. This makes the piano portable, and ideal for touring musicians.
But it is the stringing that gives the CP-70 its distinctive punchy sound. To keep the instrument compact the strings were made shorter and thinner. This adds additional harmonics to the sound, especially in the bass end. And it is these harmonics that give the CP-70 its unique timbre. Shorter strings also cause the note to decay faster.
The original CP-70 has a direct mains input, which apparently caused health and safety concerns for some blind piano tuners. Yamaha rectified this by using an external power adaptor for its 1978 upgrade — the CP-70B. The CP-70’s have a 73-note keyboard, whilst the CP-80 (released in 1978) has 88 notes. Later models include the CP-70D and CP-80D (with graphic EQ), and the CP-70M and CP-80M (1985) which are MIDI-equipped.
Alicia’s Electric Keys is developed by Native Instruments in conjunction with Galaxy Instruments, Ann Mincieli (Keys’ Grammy-winning engineer) and Alicia Keys herself.
Keys’ CP-70 has been meticulously sampled at her personal studio, and can be used as a direct CP-70 substitute. But the software also incorporates a series of custom FX chains that Keys herself uses to create a unique collection of iconic sounds. The software comes with 85 preset electric piano sounds, all fully editable. Presets with a name starting “GOF” are the signature sounds from her Girl on Fire track.
The graphic on the software’s Main page features an image of a CP-70 with the titles of various Alicia Keys songs written all over the top. When the virtual instrument is played these light up in a random order creating a fun bit of visual feedback.
Alicia’s Electric Keys sells for $149.00 (£129.00) and is available from the Native Instruments website. There is a YouTube walkthrough here.
Brief Specification
Requires Kontakt or Kontakt Player (version 7.10.5 and higher)
85 preset sounds
8.5GB disc space
See also: Alicia Keys’ Boston Piano For Sale in Charity Auction
Altera Keys
Altera Keys is a new virtual electric keyboard library from Impact Soundworks.
It features a collection of 20 sampled core instruments many of which are inspired by various legendary electric, digital and acoustic pianos from the 1970s and 1980s.
These include the Fender Rhodes (MkI and MkII), Hohner Clavinet and Pianet P, Wurlitzer, RMI Electra-piano, Yamaha CP-70 (see above), and Yamaha C7 acoustic grand. There are also three synth keys here — the Yamaha DX7, Roland JD-800 and Moog Little Phatty.
These core instrument emulations are used as the basis for over 250 unique presets. Each comprises up to five layers – Keys (the core instruments), Shimmer, Pad, Tines and Release Noise, all of which can be mixed as desired.
Shimmers are reverbs created by the Keys, but any instrument’s Shimmer can be layered with any Key. Tines and Release Noise layers are attack and release mechanical noises from the core instruments created by synthesis and physical modelling. Pads have also been created using a variety of synthesis methods and are designed to fill out the overall sound.
As well as the presets, an intelligent randomise function can create unique new voices at the touch of a button. These can then be edited to produce completely original new sounds.
Comprehensive editing and FX facilities further enhance the power of this virtual instrument.
Altera Keys also sells for $149.00. More information can be found on the Impact Soundworks website, and there is a YouTube walkthrough here.
Brief Specification
Requires Kontakt or Kontakt Player (version 7.8 and higher)
250 preset sounds
7GB disk space
4GB RAM (minimum)
Intel Macs: i5+, macOS 12+
Silicon Macs: macOS 11+
Windows: i5+, Windows 10+