10 best songs featuring the Yamaha CP-70 keyboard
What is the Yamaha CP-70 keyboard?
In the mid-1970s, a need arose for a touring instrument that could capture the sound and feel of a grand piano with added portable capabilities. The Yamaha CP-70 was built in 1976 as a solution to this problem.
Though it followed in the footsteps of a few other electric pianos, this Yamaha electric piano still pioneered a sound as it aimed to retain some of the timbres of a traditional piano. Unlike traditional pianos though, the CP-70 lacks a soundboard and uses shorter strings with pickups similar to a guitar’s. It also has its own built-in pre-amp.
As the instrument was designed for touring musicians, the CP-70 features detachable legs and a split design – meaning it can be broken down quickly while on the road. The build of the CP-70 gives the instrument a unique sound of a bell-like tone and a slightly metallic sustain.
The piano’s portability and built-in pickup system that could be plugged directly into a sound rig made it a trendy choice among popular musicians at the time, but its iconic sound has also been immortalized in many legendary studio recordings.
Who has used the Yamaha CP-70 keyboard?
Since its release in 1976, the CP-70 has been a favorite electric keyboard of artists from across the genre spectrum. A few of these musicians include Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Toto, and Phil Collins, who, among many others, all use the keyboard’s signature sound in their songwriting. Listing all the users of the CP-70 is a mammoth task, as the keyboard’s distinctive sound has graced countless albums.
The use of the Yamaha CP-70 sound in so many recordings is what makes the keyboard an all-time classic electronic instrument, standing amongst legendary synthesizers like the Minimoog and drum machines like the Roland TR-909.
10 best songs featuring the Yamaha CP-70 Keyboard
With our historical context and understanding of the instrument out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the best songs of all time that feature the iconic and distinctive Yamaha CP-70 sound. It’s always difficult to narrow down a list like this, but here is our pick for the 10 best songs featuring the Yamaha CP-70.
1. “Girl On Fire” by Alicia Keys
It’s only natural that Alicia Keys would be first on this list. In “Girl On Fire,” she uses the Yamaha CP-70 to craft a powerful, emotive backdrop to her intense vocal performance. The piano’s unique tone enriches her modern R&B vibe, perfectly complementing Keys’ belting vocals. The Yamaha CP-70 sound adds depth and warmth to create a well-rounded production.
Exploring Alicia’s Electric Keys: Soulful vibes for any production
What is Alicia Keys known for?
Alicia is an multi-awarding winning artist known for her piano playing, vocals, and RnB, hip hop and classical music influences. She gained widespread fame with her 2001 album Songs in A Minor, and became a superstar thanks to the huge singles “Empire State of Mind” from 2009 and “Girl on Fire” from 2012.
How to create your own music with Alicia’s Electric Keys
You’ll learn how to create a song using Alicia’s Electric Keys. We’ll cover making a backing track with samples, composing chords, adding bass, making a melody, creating a counter-melody, organizing an arrangement, and mastering.
1. Making a backing track with samples
Let’s use some loops from Soul Magic Samples to begin our track. Start by setting your project tempo to 98 BPM.
What is phrase mixing in DJing? How to seamlessly blend two tracks
5. Adjust your transition
You will need to determine the best type of transition to use to go from one track to the next. Depending on the phrases you selected, one type of transition may work better than another. For example, if you are transitioning from the end of a chorus to the beginning of a verse, a cut transition may work better than a fade.
On the other hand, if you’re mixing house music and transitioning from the outro of one track to the first verse of another, a fade transition may be more appropriate.
There is no right or wrong way to transition between two tracks – it’s more of an art to select an appropriate transition style. The genre you mix can play a factor in determining the type of transition to use.
To learn more, check out our guide on DJ transition techniques. If you’re just starting to learn how to DJ, take your skills one step further by learning more about DJing with Traktor and how to make your first DJ set.
The guide to DJing with just a laptop
2. Organize your music library
If you’re beginning as a DJ, you may not have much music yet. Start out by purchasing and downloading the music you want to play. Once you have some music, you’ll need to choose a place to keep it. The storage location could either be on your hard drive or laptop. Create one folder where you’ll store all of your music. You may want to create sub-folders in this main folder using genre names.
Import your music library in Traktor Pro 4 by dragging the audio files from your central storage location into Traktor’s track library. In Traktor, create Playlists to organize your music files. Right-click on the Playlists header and choose Create Playlist. Title the playlist according to the music genre (e.g., house, tech house, techno, etc.), an event you’ll play the songs at, and/or the month and year you purchased the tracks.
Why upgrade to Traktor Pro 4? Here’s what’s new
3. Collaboration with leading producers
Previously only available to Traktor Pro Plus subscribers, Pattern Player is a collaboration between Traktor and industry legends, including Rebekah, Luke Slater, Len Faki, Chris Liebing, Dubfire, and others. Bring the sounds of iconic drum machines and producers to your sets with percussion kits and signature drums, ready to layer over tracks and combine with effects.
The Fairchild 660 and 670: Vari-mu compressor icons
How much does a Fairchild cost?
In the 1950s, the Fairchild 670 sold for around $1,000, which was expensive. Adjusting for inflation, that would be around $10,000 today. Only 1,000 units of the 670 were produced, and fewer 660s were made. As a result of their rarity and coveted industry status, you can expect to pay roughly $25,000 for a used Fairchild 660 or $35,000 for a Fairchild 670 in 2024.
Luckily, plugins like the Lindell Audio MU-66 make adding the sound of a Fairchild to your studio much more affordable. With modern features like a sidechain high-pass filter, dual-band functionality, an adjustable crossover frequency, parallel mix knob, SMASH switch, and NIVEAU filter, the MU-66 provides even more control and flexibility than the original hardware.
The 10 best soulful R&B tracks to get you inspired
What is soulful R&B?
R&B has become a genre so big that it’s difficult to pin down and describe it accurately. There are vast numbers of subgenres that include pop crossovers, hip-hop elements, and electronic inspiration. Let’s look at what makes this genre so idiosyncratic. We’ll start with a bit of history.
R&B was originally a distinctly African-American music that emerged from roots in gospel and Afro-Cuban music. Emotive, often virtuosic vocal performances are usually at the forefront of this genre. The poignant lyrics that are penned by R&B artists speak to love, heartbreak, and the human experience. The music itself features lush arrangements and deep grooves.
While the original heavy hitters of the genre employed relatively simple instrumentals, artists in the 1970s like Al Green and Marvin Gaye pushed R&B forward with complex arrangements and sonic palettes. They established a tradition that remains to this day. R&B writers, artists, and producers utilize ultra-modern production techniques and interesting arrangements to achieve uniquely distinguishable soundscapes.
The soulful R&B songs we’ll look at incorporate funk, jazz, hip-hop, and pop elements into a modern sound that has influenced songwriters and producers worldwide.
EP vs. LP: What’s the difference? Does it matter in 2024?
Music formats are a tricky business in the 2020s. Musicians used to be limited by the media they used. Vinyl, cassette tapes, and CDs all had their constraints, which shaped the way that music was released. In the digital era, few limits exist. A music release could be five seconds long or last an entire day. How can we decide which format to release in?
The terminology has also gotten confused. Words like “EP” and “LP” come from old media, and their modern definitions are vague. So what is an EP exactly, and what is an LP? In this article, we’ll define these terms, explain the pros and cons of EPs vs LPs, and give examples of artists using both formats to their advantage. While it may not settle the EP vs. LP vs. album debate once and for all, this article should give you the confidence to release your music in the format that’s right for you.
Jump to these sections:
What is an EP?
An EP is a music release that contains more tracks than a single (which typically has 1–2 tracks) and fewer than an album. Most EPs tend to feature around 3–6 tracks, with a runtime of 10–30 minutes. Besides these loose constraints, EPs can take many forms. Where a single might present an artist’s most crowd-pleasing track, and an album offers a deep musical statement, an EP can be almost anything you want it to be.
EP stands for “extended play,” a name that comes from the vinyl era. For much of the 20th Century, the length of music releases was dictated by the medium they were released on. When vinyl records were king, the EP plugged the gap between the 7” single (which could only contain two fairly short tracks) and the longer LP or album. EPs tended to be overshadowed by LPs, but legendary work was released in the EP format, like The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour, a double EP featuring the soundtrack to their TV movie with the same name.
Over time, cassettes, CDs, and digital downloads joined the party. The practical constraints of EPs and LPs became less important — though many music fans still enjoy vinyl — but the EP remains popular. More weighty than a single but easier to put together than an album, EPs are a handy stepping stone in a musician’s catalog.
Modern artists release EPs to build an audience at the start of their career, keep listeners interested between albums, and gather up loose tracks that don’t fit onto their longer releases. EPs are particularly popular in certain genres, such as dance music. Dance acts like Disclosure release some of their best work as EPs.
Why is an EP not an album?
An EP is shorter and contains fewer tracks than most albums. In the EP vs LP debate, an EP is defined by what it isn’t: it has too many tracks to be a single, and too few to be an album/LP. Any release that sits in this intermediate zone might be considered an EP.
What is an LP?
An LP, short for “long play,” is a 12” vinyl record that can contain an album’s-worth of music: around 20 minutes per side. When vinyl was the dominant music format, albums were released as LPs. In fact, the constraints of the LP format defined the album as we know it. It’s no coincidence that the typical album length (around 40 minutes) corresponds to the length of an LP. Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors — considered by many as one of the best LPs of all time — is almost exactly 39 minutes long.
As formats progressed, musicians were no longer limited by what an LP could hold. A CD, for example, can contain about 74 minutes of music, and digital albums can be virtually any length. Although, 40 minutes has remained a loose standard length for albums. That’s why some people still use the terms interchangeably, referring to albums as LPs even if they are released on formats other than vinyl.
What is an album?
An album is a longer music release that typically contains multiple tracks. Albums are closely associated with the vinyl LP format, and many people use the terms “album” and “LP” interchangeably. However, albums can also be released on CD and digitally — via streaming or download.
Albums are likely to be longer than 30 minutes and contain a minimum of six average-length tracks, but these are not fixed rules. The stoner metal album Dopesmoker by Sleep contains just one 72 minute-long track, while the Beach Boys’ 1967 album Wild Honey contains 11 tracks but is only 24 minutes long. Though they bend the “rules,” both are clearly albums.
What makes an album an album? The album was the dominant music format from the 1960s until the early 21st Century, a period referred to as the “album era.” Releasing an album is a milestone in an artist’s career. Most musicians try to put out an album every year or so, with singles and EPs in between.
You could say that an album is an album when it feels important. A shorter multi-track release might be called an EP or mini-album, while a long but less significant release might be called a mixtape. For many musicians and fans, albums are still the main event.
The pros and cons of EPs vs. LPs
So should you release an EP or an LP? Both formats have their pros and cons, and their status has shifted in the streaming era. The album (or LP) remains an important format, but EPs are more important than ever. To understand why, let’s look at some stats.
Streaming has changed the way we listen to music. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, 32% of listeners now use streaming platforms like Spotify, and 31% listen to music on video platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Only 9% purchase music in traditional formats. Streaming encourages listeners to ignore the format of a release and cherry pick songs from across releases, or let algorithmic playlists steer their listening.
This makes the EP a useful format. EPs can have more impact than singles: by gathering multiple tracks together, an EP offers more songs for a fan to potentially fall in love with. But listeners don’t expect the “cohesiveness” from an EP that they do from an album, meaning it’s okay if your EP is a motley assortment of tracks, each with a different quality that might catch the ears of listeners and playlisters.
Many modern artists use the EP format to their advantage. For example, Get Up by NewJeans helped catapult the K-pop group into global stardom – though the EP is only 12 minutes long.
Albums, in contrast to EPs, are expected to be deep, cohesive musical statements. This means they take more time and care to create. According to the IFPI study, most streaming listeners search for specific songs, artists, or playlists, while only a minority listen to specific albums. Given this, is it worth laboring over an album that many listeners won’t hear in its original form?
Time is also an important factor. In the crowded media landscape of the 2020s, it’s harder than ever to hold listeners’ attention. If you spend a year quietly working on an LP, your fans might forget you exist. Releasing two or three EPs in the same period could keep them more engaged.
In many cases, it makes more sense to release an EP versus an LP. This is especially true if you’re early in your career and trying to build an audience. EPs are an easier and more effective way of doing this.
These factors might help explain the decline of the album format. According to Statista, album sales in the United States dropped from 501 million units in 2007 – the dawn of streaming – to 102 million units in 2020, while overall music consumption rose over that time. We’re listening to more music than ever, just not in the album format.
Is the album dead? Not quite. There are still strong benefits to this iconic format. The qualities that make albums challenging to create are exactly what make them so special. The best albums are profound listening experiences that can stay with us for a lifetime.
Your most dedicated fans will care deeply about your albums. Even in the streaming era, making a great album can be the ticket to wider recognition and cultural impact. Don’t give up on the idea of making an album – when the time is right.
Start releasing your music
In this article we waded into the EP vs. LP vs. album debate. We defined these often confusing terms, explained their origins, and explored the relevance of these music formats in the modern music landscape. Now that you have a grasp on the most common music formats, it’s time to start using this knowledge to release your own music.
Komplete Start is a great tool for creating your own EPs and LPs. This free music production software package gives you everything you need to make music, from powerful synths to samples and audio effects.
The post EP vs. LP: What’s the difference? Does it matter in 2024? first appeared on Native Instruments Blog.
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Live 12.1 adds Auto Shift, Drum Sampler, and more – now in public beta
The 12.1 update brings significant additions and improvements to all Editions of Live, including Live Lite.
Auto Shift – real-time pitch tracking and correction device
Live 12.1 now puts real-time pitch correction within reach for anyone working with vocals. Select a scale, or define your own, to keep every note in tune with your track. Play and make harmonies from any monophonic signal using Auto Shift’s MIDI sidechain. Add vibrato, and modulate your sound using MPE or the device’s LFO.
Drum Sampler – compact one-shot sampler with built-in effects
Beatmaking becomes more fluid with this small but mighty device. The new Drum Sampler presents all essential sampling controls for immediate manipulation – and pairs them with time stretch and looping modes, FM and ring modulation, and the ability to layer a sub oscillator or noise, add punch, or crush sounds with an 8-Bit mode.
Auto-tagging for all your samples
You can now search your entire user library faster with filters – and there’s no need to tag the samples yourself. Live 12.1 automatically assigns new tags to any sample in your library less than a minute long. VST3 and AU plugins will also be assigned tags based on metadata.
Improved Limiter and Saturator
Limiter gets a complete overhaul – with a smoother release curve making for less distortion, better metering with the improved UI, and the addition of Mid/Side routing, True Peak, Soft Clip, and Maximize modes.
Along with a more focused front panel, Saturator sees the addition of a Bass Shaper curve ideal for low end processing. Drive 808 kicks and sub basses as hard as you like and let Saturator keep the frequencies in check.
MIDI improvements
You can now filter and select MIDI notes by time, pitch, velocity, chance, duration or by a number of other dimensions using a new toolbar in the MIDI Editor. 12.1 also introduces two new MPE-specific MIDI Transformations – Glissando and LFO – allowing you to create curves for the MPE parameters of selected notes.
Create more intuitively on Push
Live 12.1 comes with a host of updates to Push. With Push 2 and 3 you can now design sounds with more detail and control by mapping Macros, and experiment with a range of different sounds using Macro Variations. Push 3 now also lets you add groove instantly to all the MIDI clips in your Set with a single twist of an encoder.
The new update brings Live 12’s filtering system to the browser on Push 2 and 3, as well as auto-tagging for samples on Push 3 standalone. Plus, you can now save Default Sets and Template Sets on Push 2 and 3, and organize your Sets by moving tracks and scenes.
For more detail on Live 12.1, including updates to Push, check out the release notes.
If you’re a Live 12 user, you can join the beta program to try the free update now.
What is voice leading? How to create smooth, harmonic progressions
3. Minimize note shifting to create smooth movement
When creating satisfying and effective voice leading, a central principle to follow is that all voices should be well-written individual melodic lines. We know that great melodies usually don’t include large interval leaps, so we should apply the same idea to voice leading.
Generally, it is safe to leave any common chord tones between chords in the same voices. Where we can’t keep tones the same, stepwise motion is always preferable to leaps. “Stepwise motion” refers to moving a tone or semitone away, rather than a big interval jump (like a sixth). The only voice where big leaps are permitted is in the bass (voice 4).
Remember that chords don’t have to be written in ascending vertical order. As long as a C, E, and G are the notes that are present in the chord, it is a C major. Writing the chord as G, then C, and E, still leaves us with a C major chord.
Let’s move through our chord progression and keep all common chord tones where possible, using stepwise motion in the other notes.