MIDI customisations of acoustic and electric pianos have been available for some time now through companies like Dyno My Piano of New York, who, in addition to having converted several instruments in Stateside Studios have also done work in this country. Vangelis has had MIDI customisation done to his instruments, as have Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, whose MIDIed grand piano can be heard on Lloyd Cole's latest album.

The net effect of a MIDI customisation is a piano synth, where the sound (and hopefully the feel) of a piano can be combined with synth sounds. It's been a plausible idea ever since the invention of MIDI, since a wide number of sound parameters — velocity, pitch, duration and sustain — can be registered simply using a switch placed under the relevant note, in tandem with a sustain (loud) pedal.

All of which is very encouraging for a piano player, although as yet the application of this method has been mainly limited to studio pianos. Now, however, that's all going to change with the arrival on the market of production MIDI electric pianos. The Kawai EP 705M was, as far as I know, the first to arrive although it has been followed by a whole range of Yamaha instruments. Kawai are a company who have been making both pianos and synthesisers for some time, and although their acoustic pianos have not gained the same reputation as Yamaha's they nevertheless have considerable experience in that field to draw on.

Briefly described, the 705M is an upright electric piano, with a 74 note keyboard from F (one octave below the bass clef) up to F (two octaves above treble clef), some 3'6" high, and weighing 85 kg.

The instrument looks fairly ruggedly constructed, covered for the most part in black vinyl, and mounted on castors. The keyboard and the projecting surround looks a bit vulnerable from the transportation point of view, especially since there is no cover for the keys themselves, and it is covered with a grey enamelled metal surround which I did not find particularly attractive. There is (obviously) only a sustain pedal, which is a chrome footplate some six inches wide, and there is a music stand, and most importantly, an adjustable synth stand on the top of the piano. The power, output and MIDI out plugs are all on the back of the instrument.

The piano itself is one string per note, flat strung with a wooden peg board mounted on an iron frame.

The basic sound and feel of the piano is quite appealing. There are three buttons marked 1, 2, 3, which can be used in any configuration giving up to seven sound options ranging from a round sounding classical, a quasi-Rhodes sound to a full gritty Rock sound. Unfortunately it is only in a couple of the more rocky settings that a satisfactory response can be gained from the whole keyboard range, the less powerful settings sounding distinctly tired in the top octave and a half, as might be expected on a string per note instrument. The bass end is much more fun, having both a boingy feel and a boingy sound, although I suspect that it sounds more powerful due to the fact that the upper end is less powerful. Overall, I think that the stringing of this instrument is one of its major drawbacks, since the sound, though at first quite pleasing, does tend to appear bland after a while, lacking that beautiful shimmering quality on sustained notes and chords that is so characteristic in a fine piano sound. Perhaps a graphic might be able to rectify this somewhat since part of the problem may lie in the miking of the strings. However, considering that this instrument is about a third cheaper than any other similar instrument the sound acquits itself fairly well, and there is also a chorus setting which helps lift it somewhat.

The 705's MIDI capability is quite flexible. It transmits on all 16 channels, and can be used in Dual mode, where the whole of the piano is combined with the whole synth(s) sound, or where the piano can be muted and simply used as a mother keyboard, or where the synth(s) can be dropped for solo piano passages.

The more orchestral MIDI possibilities, ie using different synths for different voicings, present other problems which are unavoidable in a MIDI electric piano. In Split Mode Two sections of the piano keyboard either side of a programmable split point can be allocated to two separate synths. This mode works perfectly well for a number of options, vis;

a) synth/piano bass, synth/piano top,
b) Synth/piano bass, piano top,
c) Piano bass, Synth/Piano top.

However, if in splitting the keyboard you wish to do something with, for instance, two fairly thick chordal parts with the higher one playing brass and the lower playing strings, you're going to have to do it by programming the split point quite high up. If you do it with left and right hands either side of middle C (as would be possible on a mother synth or keyboard) then you probably won't want to use the piano sound as well since it will sound pretty muddy.

The MIDI section is controlled by 10 large plastic buttons, each with a small LED, and a couple of incrementers, and there is an LED display. Five of these buttons control the mode, and the channel and programme numbers of the two halves of the keyboard, four are for the keyboard's four MIDI memories (storing details of split point, program and channel numbers) and the remaining one is for writing in the split points and the memories.

Whether four memory settings is enough for a live performance I'm not quite sure. Bearing in mind the fact that some fairly weird split point settings might be needed I'm inclined to think that it isn't enough. However, it is at this point that some consideration of the 705's application should be made.

At 85kg, the 705 is not light, but transportation for gigging purposes would not be impossible. However, upright pianos are perhaps not the most cosmetic of instruments when it comes to stage use anyway, in addition to the fact that the instrument would have to be packaged quite well in order to protect the keyboard from damage.

This basically leaves studio use. Whilst the 705 is capable of controlling an adequate number of synths, its actual sound is probably not a lot better than most quite average studio pianos. Certainly, if I owned a studio with a reasonable acoustic I would much rather attempt a MIDI conversion than sell it and buy this instrument. However, in a studio which is looking to buy a piano, especially if there is a problem with space and only limited finance available, the Kawai could be a likely candidate.

Kawai Pianos, (Contact Details)
Thanks to Argents of Denmark Street for use of the EP705M.

RRP: £1990