Wurlitzer EP100 (Tube Fleckstone Model 100)
Right up there with the Fender Rhodes is the legendary Wurlitzer, a pick-up based electric piano introduced in the early 50's. This model, the EP 100 "Fleckstone" model, was made in 1953 and has full piano length action. The Fleckstone's "woody" signature sound can be heard on numerous Beatles albums, as well as on tracks by Ray Charles, Donnie Hathaway and the Rolling Stones, to name but a few. So If you need the "birth of rock-n-roll" model, this is the one.

All the early Wurlitzer models featured tube circuitry amplifiers, and this one is no exception. The patches use two velocity layers to capture all this, and the EP100's vibrato effect can be accessed and adjusted from your mod wheel.

Wurlitzer EP200
Another Wurlitzer piano. The Wurly sampled here - an 80's edition of the classic EP200 model made popular in the 60's and 70's - is very accurate and has that warm, soulful sound to it. Which has translated really well to the multisampled version. Try finding another set of Wurly samples this musical and playable...

As with all pickup based instruments, hum and noise are to be expected, but us purists know that these artifacts shouldn't be edited out completely, the Wurly would sound less alive without them. The modulation wheel on your master keyboard adjusts the amount of vibrato.

Fender Rhodes MK I (Tubed)
The Fender Rhodes is the predecessor to the MK II, and very similar in sound and appearance. Which is why Propellerhead chose to record this one using a Fender Twin tube amplifier, for that thick, growling quality. The inevitable amplifier noise adds to the overall impression - this is for real!

Every third key has been sampled here, using eight velocity levels plus release samples.

Fender Rhodes MK II
The Fender Rhodes piano is the mother of all electric pianos. This particular model - a 73 keys MK II Stage Piano - weighs in at a healthy 60 kilos, lacks the Wurlitzer's vibrato feature, and has some pretty crude tonal controls, but its rich, warm sound is what matters. And that's the sound we've tried to reproduce here. Play hard for extra grit.

This Mark II was sampled directly from the instrument output, with no extra Bass Boost or treble added. The sound is comprised of four velocity crosswitched layers: extremely soft, soft, medium, and loud (hard), allowing for plenty of variation and expression.

Hohner Clavinet D6
The Hohner Clavinet with its staccato sound and slightly nasal tone is best described as: Funk. This string instrument was originally designed to be an electric version of the 17th century Clavichord, but after Stevie Wonder released Superstition, all hope of ever using this Keyboard for chamber music was forever lost.

The D6 was multisampled in eight velocity layers, with release samples to boot! Four Mother patches are available, one for each of the Clavinet's microphone settings, representing the switches labelled A, B, C and D on the original instrument. This gives you four combos: AC, AD, BC and BD.

The mod wheel controls the tone color on all Mother patches. Loads of possibilities, loads of authenticity.

Hohner Pianet T
The Hohner Pianet is a pretty low-key little instrument. Significantly smaller than the average Rhodes or Hammond, the Pianet has no volume control, no tonal controls and no mains connection. All you do is plug it in and play away.

The soft, muffled tone sounds like a cross between a Wurly and a jazz guitar and is created by plastic suction pads plucking the reeds inside.

This Hohner Pianet T model was sampled in two velocity layers with release samples that make this

The Hammond Model A
No vintage keyboard collection is complete without a Hammond, the Don of all electric organs. Hammond organs used a tonewheel system for generating their sound, and a set of drawbars for controlling tone and harmonics.

Multisampled here is the Hammond Model A from 1935, a huge mass of wood and technology that was Hammond's first release. The A's were popular among the gospel musicians of the 50's and 60's, so if you're into that sound - or just into Hammonds - give this one a try.

Three different drawbar settings were captured - low, high and full - and if you crank up the modulation wheel a 122 Leslie (all tubes of course) from 1946 awaits