Jul 27, 2011 Comments Off
Umbrella Music is a stockist of AKAI music making equipment, from controller keyboards to pads and interfaces.
AKAI are also makers of the famous Headrush pedals. The full range of AKAI pedals can be found here.
Jul 19, 2011 Comments Off
Umbrella Music is now selling Alesis recording and computer hardware. Alesis is a well known brand which offers amazing value for money. If you are needing a computer audio interface, microphone preamp, controller keyboard, or anything with the Alesis brand onit drop us a line on 0845 500 2323 or www.umbrellamusic.co.uk.
Jul 19, 2011 Comments Off
A Clavinova has all the presence and beauty of an acoustic piano. Polished models offer a luxurious, classic piano finish while the colour variations available are designed to complement any room decor.
Yamaha Real Grand Expression technology creates playing response and expressive capability similat to those of a grand piano. RGE combines three key elements: Sound, touch and pedals. The grand piano voices are created by sampling a Yamaha concert grand piano. A single piano was selected and finely tuned by a master piano technician. The result is a sound that captures both the beauty of each note and the harmonised sound of a single piano. The touch of a Clavinova has been meticulously refined using feedback from many pianists. Yamaha technology creates smooth and dynamic changes in tone according the strength of touch, replicating the expressiveness of a grand piano. Finally, the pedals are designed to complete the playing experience that only a Yamaha Clavinova can provide.
Intelligent Acoustic Control provides a full, balanced sound with rich lows and clear highs even at low volume. One of the joys of a Clavinova is that the volume can be adjusted to avoid disturbing others. However, playing at low volumes can make it difficult to hear bass and treble. The Intelligent Acoustic Control function automatically adjusts the sound and the volume control makes fine adjustments to the speaker system, ensuring that you can always enjoy the utmost sound quality even at low volumes.
A Clavinova has many piano voices so that you can select the type of piano best suited to the musical genre you wish to play. In addition to acoustic pianos, you can enjoy the sound of electric pianos, including a Yamaha CP1 stage piano. Other instrument voices including classical organ, harpsichord and guitar are available while dual voice enables two sounds, for example piano and strings, to be combined giving the opportunity to play a wide variety of music.
In addition to being compact and requiring no tuning, a Clavinova has a number of other useful features. Two headphone jacks offer the ability to listen in to a practice session or play duets in silence. A metronome, transpose function, brilliance control and digital effects such as concert-hall reverb and many other versatile features are also incorporated.
Recording is a useful way to evaluate your performance and share with others. You can record at the touch of a button using up to sixteen-tracks. Playback tempo can be adjusted and performances can be stored on a USB memory device. In addition, this Clavinova has a USB audio recorder, which enables performances to be recorded as an audio track (WAV file format). Recordings can be transferred to a computer and then stored on a portable digital media player or onto a CD, for playback in a CD player. This function also provides the opportunity to play along with an audio track stored on a USB memory device.
Hide away the control panel to recreate the classic acoustic piano look.
Have a look at the Yamaha CLP480 at Umbrella Music.
Jun 14, 2011 Comments Off
Affordable elegance — the new RP201 brings Roland’s superb piano sound and hammer-action keyboard into a compact, classy, and affordable instrument. The gorgeous, grand sound is made all the more realistic by resonance-behavior modeling for string, damper, and key-off. A variety of skill-building features are onboard the RP201, including metronome, recorder, and Twin Piano mode for side-by-side teacher/student sessions. The friendly panel features dedicated buttons for ease of use and fast navigation, while the instrument’s low power consumption makes it more environmentally friendly without sacrificing output level. Two beautiful cabinet finishes, Satin Black and Rosewood, are offered.
The RP201 is based on Roland’s acclaimed 88-key stereo multi-sampling, in which the distinctive acoustic properties of each grand-piano key have been faithfully captured. Together with its 128 polyphonic voices, the RP201’s piano engine performs like a true grand. No matter how fast you play or how much sustain pedal you apply, you needn’t worry about note drop-outs.
Resonance-behavior modeling for string, damper, and key-off makes the RP201 all the more natural and realistic. Your pedal positions are detected smoothly, letting you constantly vary the tone by changing pedal depth just like an acoustic grand piano.
With its Progressive Hammer-Action keyboard (PHA alpha II), the RP201 has a natural key touch that reproduces the feel and response of an acoustic grand piano. Lower keys are more heavily weighted; as you move up the keyboard, the key weight becomes progressively lighter.
Onboard the RP201 are useful features for improving your piano skills. The Twin Piano mode splits the keyboard into two identical zones, letting two people sit side by side and play in the same range — great for student/teacher sessions. The onboard metronome and recorder are also great tools for practice.
With the RP201, nothing gets in the way of creativity. The dedicated, easy-to-access front-panel buttons and music holder enhance ease of use. The low power consumption of the instrument is environmentally friendly without sacrificing output level.
Get your Roland RP201.
Jun 7, 2011 Comments Off
Umbrella Music is a musical instrument shop based in Walthamstow, east London.
At the shop there are a wide range of instruments available to try – pianos, guitars, brass and woodwind instruments, violins, cellos, and much more.
You can visit the shop in Walthamstow or shop online at http://www.umbrellamusic.co.uk/.
Alternatively you can call on 0845 500 2323.
May 24, 2011 Comments Off
Would you like to take up the V-Drums or upgrade to a more powerful synthesizer? We’re making it easy for musicians to get their hands on the equipment they need with our Take it Today finance scheme. With this fuss-free payment plan you can take home the latest gear and spread your payments over a comfortable period, without being stung by sky-high interest rates.
The scheme is Roland’s answer to Government’s cuts to the Arts Council’s Take it Away funding programme – which offers musicians a loan of £2,000 to buy musical instruments. Following the cuts, however, the Arts Council programme is only open to people aged between 18 and 25.
We wanted to do our bit for the Big Society – and Britain’s musicians of all ages – so we’ve teamed up with Roland dealers all over the country to offer musicians the chance to get the latest gear right now without getting into unmanageable debt.
Roland’s Take it Today funding scheme offers two payment plans. The first is Interest Free Finance (representative 0% APR) on purchases between £500 and £2,000. You simply pay a 10% deposit and then pay the balance in instalments over nine months.
The second payment plan is Low Rate Finance (representative 3.9% APR). This is available on all Roland Products over £2,000. Again, you just pay a 10% deposit and then pay the balance over 36 monthly instalments.
Call Umbrella Music on 0845 500 2323 to apply.
May 23, 2011 Comments Off
Add a world-class backing band to your show with the Roland BK-7m, a state-of-the-art module that packs an interactive band into a sleek, slim package.
No bigger than a book, the Roland BK-7m is a dream machine for the entertaining artist or solo musician who needs a backing band onstage, in the studio, or at home. With hundreds of great Tones, Music Styles, and rhythms on-board — all quickly accessible with one-touch buttons — the BK-7m will make you sound like a pro ensemble onstage. Choose from the library of built-in styles or play your own music files directly from USB for play-along accompaniment. You can even record your performances directly to USB memory for distribution and archiving.
The BK-7m is powered by a state-of-the-art Roland sound engine, packed with over 1,000 great Tones and dozens of drum and percussion kits. The module is able to handle 128 voices simultaneously, and is compatible with a variety of voicing formats, including GM2, GS, and XG Lite. Feed the BK-7m a quality Standard MIDI File, buckle up, and get ready for a great-sounding band. You can also use it as a high-quality sound module for a MIDI-compatible instrument such as a digital piano, V-Accordion, organ or guitar.
In addition to playing MIDI Files with its internal sound generator, the BK-7m can also play and manipulate audio files. Play MP3 or WAV files via USB and use the on-board controls to change key signature and tempo to best suit your vocal range or performance style. You can also use the BK-7m’s Centre Cancel feature to minimise the vocals from pre-existing songs to create instant karaoke-style sing-along tracks.
To expand the capabilities of the BK-7m, a USB port is provided for connecting to industry-standard USB storage devices such as a USB key or self-powered USB hard disk for playing and modifying/saving files. You can also use the USB port to record your performances as audio files (WAV, 44.1KHz/16-bit linear format) on a USB storage device.
The BK-7m’s composite video output can be connected to an external monitor, which allows the audience or other musicians onstage to follow the lyrics and chord symbols of the performed song. Turn your show into a multimedia experience!
Get yours at Umbrella Music.
May 18, 2011 Comments Off
The ideal instrument for beginners and everyone who wants to give piano-playing a real chance. For this reason, CDP-100 features an absolutely authentic grand piano stereo sound and touch. Together with the dual elements technology HL sound chip and Natural-Scaled Hammer Action keyboard this piano provides an individual sound source for strong or light touch. The digital pianos richness of tone will boost motivation.
The CDP-100 digital piano looks fun and offers all the important basic functions – the perfect choice for price-conscious music students and beginners. The COMPACT model will delight you with its weighted keys and scaled hammer action, its grand piano sound and its internal loudspeaker system.
The CDP-100 has 88 weighted keys based on a scaled hammer action, which ensure an authentic playing experience.
5 high-quality tones are stored in the CDP-100 to give you more variety.
4 reverb and chorus effects supplement the diverse range of sounds offered by your digital piano.
The tried and tested interface for electrical musical instruments, additional equipment and computers simplifies the data exchange.
The CDP-100 digital piano plays up to 32 voices at the same time, offering a realistic and diverse range of sounds.
The HL sound creation lets you experience the sounds produced in large concert halls right in your living room.
Just listen to this! The CDP-100 has 5 stored demo pieces that give you a sample of its range of sounds.
The grand piano sound provided by the CDP-100 really comes into its own via the integrated loudspeaker system.
Your CDP-100 digital piano will be elegant and convenient with its optional wooden stand with a high-quality anthracite finish.
To buy the Casio CDP100 click here.
May 18, 2011 Comments Off
Digital Piano Buying Advice
Looking to buy a digital piano but don’t know where to start? This article will help and advise you as to which digital piano to purchase.
There are two types of digital pianos, stage pianos and ‘lifestyle’ pianos. Stage pianos are, as the name implies, or stage / live use and are portable, whereas lifestyle digital pianos are fixed, meaning once it goes in your living room it will more than likely stay there. All lifestyle pianos have 88 notes, and stage pianos can have 73, 76, or 88 keys.
Key action: The key action is very important when considering which piano to get. Familiar brands have a graded hammer action, meaning that the left hand side is heavier than the right, simulating acoustic pianos (simply because the piano tynes are thicker on the left on an acoustic piano). You do get lighter and heavier key actions, so best try to play a few pianos to find the action that best suits you. An action that is too light might not be realistic.
Sounds: A very useful feature of digital pianos is that they include more than just one piano sound, in fact most now include 2/3 types of acoustic piano, an electric piano, strings, organ, choir, and bass. The more expensive pianos usually have more sounds built in, such as brass, guitar, and others. The main sound will of course be the acoustic piano samples, and generally all well known brands have mastered these sounds in their pianos.
Features: This purely depends on what the player is needing: if you want a ‘sit down and play’ piano all you need it a piano with good key action, good speakers, and a fantastic piano sound. If multi-track recording is needed, with effects and backing tracks, something more substantial will be needed. The more features the pricier the piano becomes, however in the long term it can be connected to outside recording facilities such as a computer so in the long run they are usually a good investment purchase.
Speakers: One reason many people choose a digital piano over an acoustic piano is because it has a headphone jack, so you can play to your heart’s content and your neighbours won’t hear! With headphones you get a realistic stereo image. However, most players would be playing using the built-in speaker in the piano. Stage pianos tend to have smaller speakers (to keep them portable) and lifestyle pianos have large speakers. Even the entry level digital piano will be able to be played at a fairly good volume. For a louder, clearer sound you’ll need a piano with larger, more powerful speakers.
Finish: Worth mentioning, digital pianos by brands such as Roland, Korg, Casio, Yamaha, and Kawai are available in a variety of finishes, for example Rosewood, Polished Ebony, White, Cherry, Mahogany, and others, so decide on which colour best fits your living room before making a purchase!
About us: Umbrella Music has an expert team of sales advisors to point you in the right direction when considering making a purchase. Call us or e-mail us if you’d like more information, we’ve played most digital pianos ourselves and are excited to pass on our knowledge.
www.umbrellamusic.co.uk / 0845 500 2323
Apr 26, 2011 Comments Off
New from Yamaha, the CLP465 is in a class of its own.
Combining the elegance of mini concert grand with the latest RGE (Real Grand Expression) sound engine, the Yamaha CLP465GP comes in a polished ebony finish that is sure to turn heads. A rich and powerful sound is delivered by the 40W x 2 speakers (16 cm + 5cm x 2), providing a room-filling quality.
* GH3 action
* 14 voices
* Yamaha “Real Grand Expression” sound engine
* Smooth release and damper resonance features
* USB audio recording and playback
The CLP465GP is designed to faithfully replicate the touch and tone of a concert grand piano. The GH3 (Graded Hammer 3) keyboard mimics the weightier feel of the lower notes and the lighter feel of the higher range, using the same keyboard mechanism as a grand piano. There is a choice of four touch-sensitivity modes to suit your playing style: Hard, Medium, Soft and Fixed. The CLP465GP also comes with all the pedals you would expect on concert grand: Damper with half pedal, Sostenuto and Soft. Just like a real concert grand, the CLP465GP comes complete with an authentic suspended lid and inbuilt sliding key cover, giving the piano a stylish and sleek look.
The Yamaha CLP465GP is somewhat unique; combining impressive looks with an impressive array of changeable voices, all powered by the RGE sound engine. With smooth release, damper resonance, 14 interchangeable voices and a maximum polyphony of 128 notes, the model has been carefully designed to enable the pianist to enjoy complex works with numerous pedalling marks, maintaining a refined and distinguished tone throughout. As with all Clavinovas, the CLP465GP features a range of effects, such as: reverb, brilliance, Intelligent Acoustic Control (IAC) and dual/layers. This enables you to fine-tune the Clavinova to produce your desired effect quickly and effectively.
The CLP465GP has a library of 14 voice demo tracks and 50 piano tracks all pre-loaded. Whether you intended to listen, play along, or play the right/left hand parts, the library is a great opportunity to learn from accomplished pianists whilst developing your own style and ability. You can also record up to 10 songs and 2 tracks, ideal for developing your technical ability. As with all Clavinova models, the Yamaha CLP465 GP has transpose, tuning and tempo range, allowing to play along to your favourite tracks that are written in a different key, or to provide the piano accompaniment for an ensemble. You can record your performance data to USB flash memory as an audio file (WAV) and store it on a computer to track your progress, burn to CD, or even upload to portable media players for listening on the go.
The CLP465GP comes with a pair of HPE-160/170 headphones, a headphone hanger and music rest, and is driven by a 45W power supply. The CLP465GP is finished to a high standard, and has been treated with a scratch resistant coating. Thanks to repeated grinding and polishing, the body has the same high-gloss ebony finish you would expect to find on a concert grand piano. Ideal for serious pianists who have limited space to play with, the Yamaha CLP465GP is a balanced mix of concert grand design and Yamaha’’s renowned expertise and build quality.
To see more on the Yamaha CLP465 visit Umbrella Music.
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