Ableton’s electric piano
Electric is a modelled electric piano, built with Applied Acoustics Systems and based on the classic instruments of the 1970s. It uses no samples. Instead it simulates the real mechanism: a hammer strikes a metal fork, the fork rings, and a magnetic pickup amplifies the vibration, much like an electric guitar. Each part can be changed. A harder hammer gives a brighter, more bell-like attack. Moving the pickup closer to the tine pushes the tone into warm overdrive. Two pickup types cover both the bark of a Rhodes-style tine piano and the reedier bite of a Wurlitzer-style one. Because the sound is calculated live, it responds to how you play the way the real thing does. You can also push the controls past what any physical instrument could do. It’s especially good for warm chords, soulful keys and dubby, chorused stabs. Electric is included in Live Standard and Suite.
Features
Hammer with stiffness and force, both responsive to velocity and key
Hammer noise with its own pitch and decay for a realistic attack
Fork with separate tine and tone controls for the struck bar and its resonance
Tine colour and decay for shaping brightness and sustain
Pickup with adjustable symmetry and distance from the tine
Two pickup types: electro-dynamic (R) and electro-static (W)
Pickup input and output for clean tones through to heavy drive
Damper with tone and level, plus control over attack and release noise
Stretch tuning for the bright, slightly stretched tuning of real pianos
Global voices, transpose and pitch bend, including MPE per-note pitch bend
Great for
Warm chords
Soulful and jazzy keys
Dub and deep house stabs
Overdriven keys
Bell-like tines
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