The Yamaha CP-70 is an
electric piano
An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...
manufactured by
Yamaha Corporation
is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate with a very wide range of products and services. It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company. The former motorcycle div ...
between 1976 and 1985. The instrument was based on earlier electric piano technology, but took advantage of improved
pickups along with the company's longstanding experience in manufacturing acoustic pianos.
The new technology and a lack of a
soundboard gave it a more accurate emulation of an acoustic piano than earlier models. It was well received and used by a number of musicians in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including the
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
's
Keith Godchaux
Keith Richard Godchaux (July 19, 1948 – July 23, 1980) was a pianist best known for his tenure in the rock group the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979.
Biography
Godchaux was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in Concord, California ...
and
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
'
Tony Banks. It continues to be used in the 21st century by a number of artists, and it is still possible to buy replacement parts.
Features
![Yamaha CP-70 opened top](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Yamaha_CP-70_opened_top.jpg)
The CP-70 has the same key action as an acoustic piano, but does not contain a
soundboard. It has a smaller number of specially manufactured strings, reducing the overall weight. In particular, the bass strings are very short compared to an acoustic instrument (27 inches instead of around nine feet). The strings are amplified by
piezo-electric
Piezoelectricity (, ) is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials—such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA, and various proteins—in response to applied mechanical stress. The word ''p ...
pickups mounted on the harp casting that induce an electric current from vibrations, in a similar manner to pickups on an
acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
.
The choice of piezo-electric pickups and their mounting position avoids the problems with earlier electric pianos, where magnetic pickups carried harmonic information at a particular distance on the string. The lack of a soundboard means it is difficult for the instrument to
feedback
Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...
. The signal from the pickups is sent to a
preamplifier
A preamplifier, also known as a preamp, is an electronic amplifier that converts a weak electrical signal into an output signal strong enough to be noise-tolerant and strong enough for further processing, or for sending to a power amplifier an ...
which features a stereo
balanced line
In telecommunications and professional audio, a balanced line or balanced signal pair is a circuit consisting of two conductors of the same type, both of which have equal impedances along their lengths and equal impedances to ground and to other ...
signal via a pair of
XLR connector
The XLR connector is a type of electrical connector primarily used in professional audio, video, and stage lighting equipment. XLR connectors are cylindical in design, and have three to seven connector pins, and are often employed for analog b ...
output jacks, in addition to the more familiar
quarter-inch jack outputs.
The CP-70 is designed for touring. The instrument's legs are detachable and can be stored in an internal lid. The harp can be detached from the key assembly, though this requires two people. An optional road case is available. The CP-70s flat top allows other keyboards and synthesisers to be stacked on top of it.
Background
There had been numerous attempts to manufacturer a piano that was both portable and sounded like the acoustic grand model.
Benjamin Miessner
Benjamin Franklin Miessner (July 27, 1890 – March 25, 1976) was an American radio engineer and inventor. He is most known for his electronic organ, electronic piano, and other musical instruments. He was the inventor of the Cat's whisker detect ...
had been working on pickup and amplification techniques since the 1930s, and discovered that capturing the harmonic information and nuances of sound was difficult and changed as pickup positions and configurations were altered. Yamaha had been working on pickup technology since
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and took advantage of Japanese culture at the time which permitted research information to be exchanged between companies without threat of intellectual property lawsuits, as in the US. They used this knowledge to create a series of robust piezo-electric pickups, and combined it with their experience in manufacturing acoustic pianos to make an electric instrument.
The CP-70 was first manufactured in 1976, and cost $4,000. According
Toto's
David Paich
David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ba ...
, Yamaha invited a group of pianists in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
to test the instrument before manufacturing. After playing, they were "just freaking out over it". The first model had problems with tuning, and an upgraded version, the CP-70B, was introduced at the
NAMM
The NAMM Show is an annual event in the United States that is organized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), who describe it as "the industry’s largest stage, uniting the global music, sound and entertainment technology commun ...
show in 1978, along with the CP-80, which featured a full 88-note keyboard. The CP-70D and CP-80D models featured a
graphic equaliser
Equalization, or simply EQ, in sound recording and reproduction is the process of adjusting the volume of different frequency bands within an audio signal. The circuit or equipment used to achieve this is called an equalizer.
Most hi-fi e ...
and an
effects loop
An effects loop is a series of audio effects units, connected between two points of a signal path (the route that a signal would travel from the input to the output); usually between the pre-amp and power amp stages of an amplifier circuit, altho ...
. The final models to be released were the
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
equipped CP-70M and CP-80M, which were released at the end of 1985.
Maintenance
The CP-70B and later models have very stable tuning, compared to other electric pianos. The lack of a soundboard means that vibration from transport and humidity is unlikely to change the sound.
Because the CP-70 uses custom-made strings, sourcing new ones can be problematic. Each iteration of the instrument used a different type of string, although some of the treble strings can be replaced with standard ones from an acoustic piano. As of 2019, there were two companies in the US supplying the appropriate custom strings for the CP-70.
Notable users
![Keane1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Keane1.jpg)
The CP-70 was used by a number of prominent keyboardists, including
Keith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 1944 – 11 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became ...
,
George Duke
George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...
,
Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving ...
's
Bill Payne
William H. Payne (born March 12, 1949) is an American pianist who, with Lowell George, co-founded the American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other rock pianists, including Elton John, to be one of the finest American piano roc ...
,
Heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...
's
Howard Leese
Howard M. Leese (born June 13, 1951, in Hollywood, California, United States) is an American guitarist, record producer, and musical director who played with Heart as guitarist and keyboardist for 23 years (1975 through 1998). He continues to rec ...
,
Patrick Moraz
Patrick Philippe Moraz (born 24 June 1948) is a Swiss musician, film composer and songwriter, best known for his tenures as keyboardist in the rock bands Yes and The Moody Blues.
Born into a musical family, Moraz learned music at a young age a ...
,
Michael McDonald,
Magne Furuholmen
Magne Furuholmen (born 1 November 1962) is a Norwegian musician and visual artist. He was named Knight First Class of the Order of St. Olav by King Harald for his services to Norwegian music and his international success. Furuholmen, better kno ...
of
A-ha
A-ha (usually stylised as ''a-''h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ...
and
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
. During
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes (at the ...
's live performances, singer
Jimmy Barnes
James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-s ...
leapt onto keyboardist
Don Walker's CP-70. The
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
's
Keith Godchaux
Keith Richard Godchaux (July 19, 1948 – July 23, 1980) was a pianist best known for his tenure in the rock group the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979.
Biography
Godchaux was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in Concord, California ...
began playing a CP-70 as it was easier to transport one to gigs than an acoustic grand piano.
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
's
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...
encased a CP-70 inside a white case to resemble an acoustic piano.
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
'
Tony Banks used the instrument extensively, such as the hit "
That's All" and "
Taking It All Too Hard", and preferred recording with it over an acoustic piano.
The CP-70 achieved its commercial peak during the advent of
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
and was therefore prominently featured on music videos.
Keane's
Tim Rice-Oxley
Timothy James Rice-Oxley (born 2 June 1976) is an English musician, best known for being the keyboardist, singer and songwriter of the pop rock band Keane. In 2010, he formed a side-project, Mt. Desolation, with his Keane bandmate Jesse Quin ...
uses a CP-70 as his main instrument with the band.
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...
has used a CP-70 as her main touring piano, which she custom-painted. During the tour for ''
The Element of Freedom
''The Element of Freedom'' is the fourth studio album by American singer and songwriter Alicia Keys, released on December 11, 2009, by J Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during May to September 2009 at the Oven Studios in Long ...
'', her CP-70 featured the words "Freedom" and "Love" painted on its side.
References
References
Sources
*
*
{{Yamaha
Electric pianos
Yamaha music products