Supertramp Pianos?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Agtronic
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Agtronic

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Hey guys!

I'm a guitarists who has recently taken a much larger interest in song writing / composing rather than trying to impress with "licks".

I've been a big fan of Supertramp since I was a kid (not even knowing that the band was called supertramp) ...

Anyways, I've been listening to music with a much different ear lately, and I must say the electric pianos in many of Supertramp's biggest hits sound absolutely beautiful.

Being born in 1979, the only thing that was ever "cool" to play when I was growing up was guitar or drums. That is a real shame, 'cause nothing impresses me more than someone who can play piano beautifully. This also means that I've never been exposed to the older instruments that were popular in back in the day.

The point of this message.

I'm interested in learning more about these pianos (or are they called keyboards?)

Can anyone give me any links to sites about these old machines that describes them? Are they classics (therefore expensive) or just "old junk" that you can get anywhere? What are they called? Where there a lot of different types of pianos like this?

Being a member of Columbia House (mail order CD club for those who don't know) (I was feeling "suckerish" when they called me with an offer I just couldn't refuse) and like every month, my lazy ass forgot to cancel the automatically-sent jazz "selection of the month" and I got a double CD by BOB JAMES. I was completely blown away when I put this CD in. I had no idea who this guy was. I noticed alot of the tracks featured one of these electric pianos, but it sounded different, more mellow.

Can anyone clear this up for me? I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks!
 
They used Fender Rhodes occasionally, but most of the "Supertramp sound" came from Wurlitzer electric pianos.
 
I met Roger Hodgson of Supertramp.. He lives in the same small n. Cali town I grew up in....
I've seen him play a few times at a local bar/club... That was over 10 years ago though, I dont live there anymore....

But he's amazing....
 
These Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzers are sought after instruments, hard to get and cost thousands of buxx if you find one. If you have a computer setup, however, you can easily get a VST plugin that allow you to produce the same sound with very realistic properties. All you need is a computer, a sequencer like Cubase or Logic, and an e-piano plugin, as well as a MIDI keyboard. The "Future Music" magazine has a CD-ROM in each of their issues with one of these emulations, along with free sequencers you might wanna check out.

The "vintage" sound of these e-pianos is very fashionable right now and you can hear it on many recent songs (Norah Jones, for instance, also uses a "vintage" Wurlitzer on many of her tracks). I am sure that in a couple of years people will hate that kind of sound, only to come back a few later again.
 
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