Nord Pianet T Sample

I was poking around Nord's sample library archive yester-day, and I discovered what I believe is a Hohner Pianet T sample.  It's labelled simply "Pianet" in this collection, but it sounds similar to the Pianet T recordings that I've heard (including a demonstration record I recently found here).

For Nord's Pianet N sample, I had to turn the "decay/release" knob on my Nord Electro 5 towards "release" (I set it at 68 ms); otherwise, the sound stops too quickly.  With the Pianet T sample, I had to turn the knob towards "decay" (I set it at 4.61 s, although I may adjust this later).  If I hold down a key while using the Pianet N sample, the sound will eventually fade away on its own, but with the Pianet T sample, the sound keeps going.  The volume does trail off a bit after the key is struck, but it doesn't fade away completely.

An-other difference to note between the two is that the Pianet T is mapped correctly across the keys.  For some reason, the Pianet N sample is an octave too low.

A couple years ago, I found a Pianet T sample created by a Nord user, but it sounds a bit thin and the low C# is noticeably out of tune.  I don't know how often I'll use this newly discovered Pianet T sample (I still prefer the sound of the N model), but it's nice to have the option.

Somewhat related:  I recently found a video of a Bach two-part invention performed on a Pianet T:

Czerny: Hundert Übungsstücke, Op. 139, No. 8 Allegretto con moto

Originally, I'd recorded this about a month ago, but when I was playing it again recently, I discovered that I'd misread some notes.  Last week, I fixed my mistake and re-recorded it.

The range of the Pianet wouldn't actually accommodate this piece.  The keys ended at F, but this has F#, G, and A above that.  The Nord sample allows for those extra notes though; it goes at least an-other octave higher and two octaves lower than the original range.

Schumann's Kleine Studie on the Hohner Pianet Demonstration Record

A couple months ago, I realized that Schumann's Kleine Studie from the Album für die Jugend bears some resemblance to the C major prelude in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.  As Pieter-Jan Belder briefly mentions in this video for All of Bach, the C major prelude is "like a lesson in harmony."  I think Schumann's Kleine Studie has a similar character, and - like the C major prelude - it's also composed primarily of arpeggios.

Recently, I realized that the recording on the Hohner Pianet Demonstration Record emphasizes this similarity.

In my physical copy of the Album für die Jugend (from the Neil A. Kjos Music Company) and in the notation I downloaded from IMSLP, there are directions to play the piece while using the pedal:

[source]

Because the Pianet has no sustain pedal, the piece can't be played this way on it.

It sounds to me that in the demonstration record, the lowest note of these arpeggios is held longer in order to give something of the same effect that using a pedal would.  The first four measures from above are played more like:

Holding that lowest note makes the Kleine Studie more similar to the C major prelude:

[source]

Schumann: Für ganz Kleine

Notation

The Beatles' Hohner Pianets

Later this week (the 6th), it's the 55th anniversary of the release of Help!, the Beatles album that features the most Pianet, so here's a post about the Beatles' use of the instrument.

The Beatles had at least three Hohner Pianets.  In an interview with Keyboard Magazine*, Andy Babiuk, who wrote a book about the instruments the Beatles used, relates how the Beatles first encountered the instrument:

There is an interesting story that Roy Young told me.  He was in a band in those early days, and while they were in Germany, he would often sit in with the Beatles and do sets with them and play piano - the grand piano that was on the stage at the Star Club.  There are pictures of it in the book. 

But in late 1964, Roy Young was playing in London with some other band, opening for the Beatles, and the Beatles were standing in the wings because there's this friend from a couple years ago that they used to jam with in Hamburg. 

Roy was playing a brand new Hohner Pianet, one of the first ones in England.  As soon as he came off stage they said "Hey, what's that thing you're playing?"  He says, "It's this new instrument Hohner gave me, and it's called an electric Pianet.  It's an electric piano.  It's got a different sound."  And Lennon says, "We're gonna get one!"  And McCarney says, "Yeah, we've got to get one of those for a new record we're doing."  And Lennon adds, "We're going to get two of them... because we can!"  I always thought that was a really funny story. 

And they ended up really having two of them. There's a picture with Paul playing it in the studio in '65 on the cover of Beat Instrumental Monthly.  And then you see Lennon playing it in the film Help.  And later you see a different version of the same keyboard on the rooftop in Let It Be, off in the corner:  It's set up in case they wanted to play any songs that needed it, there on the opposite side of Billy Preston.

As far as I can tell, the first Pianet model the Beatles had was the CH, and they did indeed have two of them.  Two of the identifying features of the CH are two switches (one on either side of the keyboard) and spindle-style legs:

[source]

Here's a shot from Help! showing the two switches:

And here's a picture showing the spindle-style legs:

Careful inspection of the wood grain reveals this to be the same instrument seen in these pictures from the studio, dated 19 February 1965 [source]:

That last picture is the one that Babiuk mentions on the cover of Beat Instrumental Monthly:

This is almost certainly the instrument that the Beatles used to record "The Night Before," "You Like Me Too Much," and "Tell Me What You See" - the three songs on Help! that include Pianet.  According to Mark Lewisohn's The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, these three songs were recorded in the days immediately preceding the day these pictures were taken:  "The Night Before" and "You Like Me Too Much" were recorded on 17 February 1965 with John Lennon playing the Pianet, and "Tell Me What You See" was recorded on 18 February with Paul McCartney playing the Pianet.

[Addendum (5 January 2021):  I listened to Help! to-day and discovered that "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" also has Pianet.  Lewisohn doesn't mention it in his book, but he does note that McCartney plays "electric piano" on "Bad Bay," which was recorded the same day, 10 May 1965.  A few internet sources credit McCartney with Pianet on both songs.]

A second Pianet CH (still with a switch on either side of the keyboard and spindle legs but with a different wood grain compared to the Pianet above) is seen in a group of studio pictures dated 3 November 1965 [source].  Evidently, the Beatles didn't use it for any recording during the session, which - according to Lewisohn - was devoted to recording "Michelle."

The next Beatles songs that have Pianet are "Getting Better" and "I Am the Walrus."  According to the liner notes of the 50th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the basic backing track for "Getting Better" was recorded on 9 March 1967 with McCartney playing the Pianet.  In The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Lewisohn doesn't even mention the instrument.  Of "I Am the Walrus," he writes, "Sixteen takes of 'I Am the Walrus', only five of them complete, were recorded on this day [5 September 1967], comprising the basic rhythm track of bass guitar, lead guitar, an electric piano and drums, plus an overdub of a mellotron."  This suggests that - with the other Beatles playing their usual instruments - it was Lennon who played Pianet on this track.  Because I haven't found any pictures of the Beatles' Pianets from this time, I don't know what specific model was used on these songs.

The next image I can find with the Beatles and the Pianet is from 1968.  In "The Making of The Beatles (White Album)" video, a Pianet N (identifiable by the very narrow left check block and scissor-style legs) is briefly visible:

[source]

Presumably, this was the Pianet used to record "Revolution" (the single version) and "Savoy Truffle."

In The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Lewisohn notes that the Pianet part in "Revolution" was played by session man Nicky Hopkins on 11 July 1968 as an overdub to the backing track that was recorded the previous day.

As with "Getting Better," Lewisohn doesn't even note the Pianet in "Savoy Truffle."  A few sources credit the part to Chris Thomas, who was George Martin's assistant and who produced some of the White Album tracks.  Going by Lewisohn's recording dates, it seems that the Pianet part was recorded on either 3 or 14 October 1968.

As Babiuk points out, the Beatles also had a Pianet set up (behind George Harrison) for the Let It Be rooftop concert on 30 January 1969, although they didn't use it:

The legs indicate that this is a Pianet N, but since this picture (which is the best I could find) is taken from such a distance, it's too difficult to compare this instrument and the White Album Pianet to see if they're the same.

---&---

I feel it's also worth mentioning that according to some sources, the electric piano heard on "Come Together" is a Hohner Electra-Piano.  Lewisohn notes that the part was recorded on 22 July 1969, as an overdub to the basic track that was recorded the day before.  Apparently, there are conflicting reports on who played it, but it was either Lennon or McCartney.

---
*The Keyboard Magazine website has disappeared, so the link no longer works, but here it is anyway.  I copied that quote months ago, which is the only reason I have it now.

Czerny: Hundert Übungsstücke, Op. 139, No. 7 Allegretto

I started using a more reliable camera, although I don't think the quality is quite as good.  Also, it bothers me a little that while this is exercise number seven, it's predominantly sixths.

Czerny: Hundert Übungsstücke, Op. 139, No. 6 Allegro vivace

The Moody Blues' Hohner Pianet

Back in March, Denny Laine posted an early picture of the Moody Blues:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Denny Laine (@dennylaineofficialpage) on Mar 11, 2020 at 6:12am PD 

I was very surprised to see Mike Pinder playing a Hohner Pianet (although it could be a Cembalet; it's difficult to tell without seeing the range of the keys).

While these don't seem to be the original legs (they're at a sharper angle, apparently to raise the Pianet higher for easier playing while standing), the spindle style does indicate that this is a Mark 1, C, or CH model.  The cord coming out of the bottom shows that the connections are underneath - an-other identifying feature of these models.

I have The Magnificent Moodies (this specific re-issue, which includes a few bonus tracks), the only album that this incarnation of the Moody Blues recorded, but the Pianet doesn't appear in any of the songs.  Pinder always uses acoustic piano.  Later, the mellotron was his keyboard of choice.  As far as I can tell, then, he used the Pianet only for live appearances and only very early in the Moody Blues.

Handel: Minuet in G major, HWV 521

From IMSLP

Manfred Mann's Hohner Pianets

As far as I can tell, Manfred Mann had at least two Pianets.  Here's a picture dated 1964 of the band with the Pianet Mark 1:

[source]

The identifying features here are the spindle-style legs and the screws on the panel just above the keys.  On the Mark 1, these screws are vertical:

Mark 1

unlike on the C and CH, where they're horizontal:

Pianet C

There are a few pictures from 1965 of Mann with a Pianet, and the shade of the wood seems to match that of the instrument above, but it's difficult to be sure.  It might be a different instrument.

On Thank Your Lucky Stars

On Top of the Pops

An-other of Mann's Pianets is easily recognizable by its multitude of scratches and distinctive chip in the finish.  Most of the pictures I've found of it are from 1964, and since the two pictures above are from 1965 and feature a fairly clean-looking instrument, this is obviously a different Pianet.

At the Marquee Club, 10 August 1964

For the longest time, I was confused by the connections on this Pianet because they're on the right side of the back panel.  The Mark 1, C, and CH models had the connections underneath the instrument, and the N model had the connections on the left side of the back panel.

About a month and a half ago, I finally figured it out (I think).  On the early models of the Pianet (up until the N), the player could control the volume with a knee lever, similar to some pump organs:

[source]

Since Mann stacked his Pianet on top of his Vox Continental organ, this method of volume control was obstructed.  Apparently, Mann's Pianet was modified so that he could control the volume with a Vox pedal, just as he did with the organ.  In the picture of Mann above, one can see that the jacks on the two instruments are identical, and in this picture, the Vox logo is visible on both pedals:

[source]

While I can't confirm any of this, it would account for the connections' being on the back panel rather than underneath the instrument.  It seems a bit odd though that Mann would have one Pianet modified so that he could play it simultaneously with the organ and still continue playing an unaltered instrument too.

According to some sources, Mann also used the Hohner Cembalet.  Evidently, this is what's heard on "Do Wah Diddy Diddy."  The Cembalet lookt very similar to the Pianet (the most obvious difference is that the Cembalet's range was C to C where the Pianet's was F to F), so while I think all of these pictures show Pianets, I might have mistakenly identified some of them.  The instrument in the first picture at least is definitely a Pianet; its keys end at F.

It seems that Mann used the Pianet live much more often than in the studio.  I'm incredibly confused by the band's discography and can't find any sort of definitive guide to it, so I can't even estimate how much of it I have in my collection, but of what I do have (seven albums [four U.K. versions and three U.S. versions], two live at the BBC albums ['64 to '66 and '66 to '69], and seven U.K. EPs), I think the Pianet appears on only three tracks:  "It's Gonna Work out Fine" and "Untie Me" on the U.K. version of The Five Faces of Manfred Mann and "The One in the Middle" on The One in the Middle EP.  As a side note:  the electric piano on "Did You Have to Do That" (on the Groovin' with Manfred Mann EP) sounds like a Wurlitzer to me, but I may be wrong.

For what it's worth, I think the Cembalet appears on four tracks:  "5-4-3-2-1" and "Cock-a-Hoop" on the Cock-a-Hoop EP and "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "Can't Believe It" (only at the end) on the Groovin' with Manfred Mann EP.

---&---

Addendum (6 September)

Lately, I've been wondering if the battered instrument seen above could actually be Mann's Cembalet, so I did some more research.  I found a video where the group mimes to "Sha La La" on Shindig! (it's an unofficial upload but available in a playlist on the official Manfred Mann YouTube channel), and it proves that this instrument is indeed a Pianet.  At the beginning of the song, the range of the keyboard (F to F) is clearly seen:

The camera then swings around to show the same distressed finish (plus a new chip) that matches what's seen in the pictures above (although it's a bit difficult to see because Vickers and McGuinness are standing in front of Mann):

Here's an-other picture from Getty Images for comparison (look for the chips above the "Vox Continental" logo):

[source]

Czerny: Hundert Übungsstücke, Op. 139, No. 5 Allegretto

Czerny: Hundert Übungsstücke, Op. 139, No. 4 Andantino