Yamaha Disklavier PianoSoft Chat

For more than a decade, award-winning composer/performer/arranger/producer Joel Plimmer has been bringing his many abilities to the Yamaha MusicSoft library.  A sensitive and intuitive pianist, he is also a meticulous MIDI programmer.  These two talents make him a valuable PianoSoft artist.  Although you will frequently see him listed as the pianist or arranger, you won’t always see his name on the PianoSoft credits but you should know that at least 50% of the PianoSoft that is released is reviewed and QC’d by Joel.

As a performer, Joel has toured with renowned jazz flutist, Tim Weisberg and singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg.  As a composer, he created the musical score for the award winning film, “The Cookie Thief” starring Eric Roberts and has written for Tim Weisberg.  

He has also collaborated with Paul Williams on several projects including the beautiful Christmas Song, “Give.”  The song, “Give” is featured on the album entitled Give, a one-of-a-kind disc which features 19 selections including traditional tunes like “Deck the Halls,” “Jingle Bells” and “O Holy Night.”  The CD benefits the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) Neuroscience Institute in California and is available for a donation of $15. The CDs can be ordered by e-mailing Alissas.Angels@verizon.net or by calling Alissa at (714) 848-9147. The CD is also available through Yamaha Cares. For additional information, please write yamahacares@yamaha.com.

His producer/arranger credits include productions at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, Harrah’s in Reno, Nevada and The Grand Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Joel lives in Lyons, Colorado with his beautiful, talented wife Wanda (watch for an upcoming article about her) and their two precious sons, Joel-Walter and Harrison.

Some time ago I told you about some of the new holiday collections.  I thought it might be nice to spotlight some of my favorites (and customers’ favorites) from previous years.

One of our best selling Christmas collections is Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas, number 00501990.  Shannon Grama, a superb composer/arranger, developed this collection.  It sounds incredibly like the original, best-selling Mannheim Steamroller album.  It opens with a rousing rendition of “Deck the Halls” and features favorites like “We Three Kings,” “Carol of the Bells,” “Stille Nacht” and more.  The arrangements are quite unique and beautifully performed.

Here is the link to find it at yamahamusicsoft.com:

http://www.yamahamusicsoft.com/index.php?action=ProductDetail&product_id=1000308

 Shannon Grama

Another one that came to mind immediately is Wonderful Time of the Year, number 00501975. This collection was arranged and performed by Jason Nyberg.  You can read all about him a few posts back.  Of course, it includes “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “The Christmas Song,” “Silver Bells” and other great songs.

The fabulous piano duo of Landsberg and Yount recorded a great collection called “Sleigh Ride” - 00501996 a few years ago.  There are great songs featured including “Sleigh Ride” and “Brazilian Sleigh Bells” and the arrangements are fantastic.

And the link for this collection at yamahamusicsoft.com is:

http://www.yamahamusicsoft.com/index.php?action=ProductDetail&product_id=1141551

There are so many from which to choose but I will select just one more.  This one is called “The Holly and the Ivy” - number 00501259 and this is special because it includes some songs you don’t hear over and over during the holidays.  These are beautiful songs like “Coventry Carol,” “The Holly and the Ivy,” “Fum, Fum, Fum,” “Gesu Bambino” and much more.  It is performed and arranged by Bryan Pezzone (see his profile in an earlier posting) and the arrangements are real gems.

Here is the link to yamahamusicsoft.com:

http://www.yamahamusicsoft.com/index.php?action=ProductDetail&product_id=1139394

 Bryan Pezzone

But wait!  There’s more!  Click here to see some great Holiday bundles and more great collections:

http://www.yamahamusicsoft.com/index.php?action=Info&page=new&info_id=255

There is plenty of wonderful music to give you a very musical holiday!

 http://www.nybergmusic.com

and learn more about him here:

Jason Nyberg has been composing and arranging music for over 20 years. His close association with Yamaha as a concert artist and music programmer has led to many opportunities in the music and entertainment industries.  Currently he is scoring Disney’s new television show, “Aaron Stone” which debuts on Disney’s new cable channel coming in February.

“I’m proud to have worked with Yamaha for the last two decades,” Nyberg says.  “They make the world’s best instruments and Yamaha keyboards are an integrated part of the music I write on a daily basis.”

Nyberg also writes music for movie trailers (”coming attractions”) such as the recent trailer for “Ghosttown” and has had music in over 50 trailers in all.  Recently he had another prestigious credit: “One of my most exciting musical moments was hearing my music during the 2008 Academy Awards.”

He also works with the development of Alfred Publishing’s popular piano course, creating accompaniment recordings that can be used along with the books.

Nyberg has also been featured in several “Watch and Learn” tutorial videos from MIDItainment Corporation which teach the basics of Yamaha keyboards.  “We’re working on some really big projects for keyboard players,” Nyberg comments.”  Along with Tom Folenta, an amazing musician and marketing specialist, we’re creating an online destination for amateur keyboard players that will be a one-stop shop for everything related to keyboards - products, lessons and entertainment.”

Nyberg currently lives in Minnesota with his wife Jenny and three (soon to be four) children; Ryan, Sean and Grace.

It’s not too late to download the latest fantastic Halloween PianoSoft Plus XG Collections!! They are both really great and here is a little more about them:

http://www.yamahamusicsoft.com/index.php?action=ProductDetail&product_id=1141657

A Haunted Halloween: This collection was arranged and performed by Joel Plimmer, a great composer, pianist and arranger. Joel has recorded many great PianoSoft albums and is a key Quality Control expert for new PianoSoft collections. It has a lot of great songs like Toccata and Fugue in d minor, Purple People Eater, Tubular Bells (theme song from “The Exorcist”), Beetlejuice and much more.

If your Disklavier can play PianoSoft Plus XG, this will work on your instrument.

Boo - Halloween Favorites: This is a collection by the talented Jason Nyberg. I’ve been waiting for Jason to send me his latest bio and photo so I can do a whole article about him but he’s been a little busy lately anticipating the birth of his FOURTH child! Good luck, Jason and Jenny!! This collection has some terrific songs including: Theme from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” Monster Mash, Theme from “Halloween II,” Theme from “The Munsters” and more.  Here’s the link to this collection:

http://www.yamahamusicsoft.com/index.php?action=ProductDetail&product_id=1141656

This one also is for any Disklavier that can play PianoSoft Plus XG.

Visit: www.yamahamusicsoft.com

for many great Halloween products!

toccata

Boo,
Cathy 

If you did, you’re going to love these new collections! 

Check out “That’ll Be the Day - Turning Back the Dial” by clicking here:

http://www.yamahamusicsoft.com/index.php?action=ProductDetail&product_id=1141215

Featuring such songs as:
That’ll Be the Day
Donna
I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter

and more.

Here’s a good excuse to don your bell bottoms:

and many others.

Next time I’ll be telling you about some DO NOT MISS Halloween collections.

In an earlier post I talked about the fact that there are many people involved in PianoSoft development.  Many of the key people work outside of the home office and have their own successful music businesses and careers.  One of the best PianoSoft engineers lives and works in Burbank California.  During his long career as a producer, he has established relationships with some of the finest musicians on the West Coast.  With his expertise and the artistry of his colleagues, he has produced some of the most beautiful PianoSoft albums in the library.  Here is more about David Kreisberg (affectionately known as “David K”):

David Kreisberg has been a Los Angeles based producer, engineer and composer for over 30 years.  His credits include recordings with artists such as Herb Alpert, Elmer Bernstein, Ray Brown, Benny Carter, David Foster, Jerry Goldsmith, Dave Grusin, Jerry Herman, Fred Hersch, Shirley Horn, Roger Kellaway, Henry Mancini, Van Dyke Parks, Oscar Peterson, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Lalo Schifrin, Wayne Shorter, Nina Simone and Stevie Wonder among many including Grammy nominated recordings with Joe Williams and Maureen McGovern.

In 1992 he co-founded Virtuoso Piano Performance Software specializing in the production of solo piano performance recordings for Yamaha’s Disklavier series pianos.

In 2000 he partnered in creating Prescriptive Music, an independent record label specializing in original audio recordings distributed to the health and wellness industries.

In 2000 he also began independently producing Disklavier software recordings for Yamaha Corporation including works for PianoSoft Solo, Pianosoft+Audio and SmartPiano with currently more than 160 titles to his credit.

David also worked with David Abell at his renowned piano shop in Hollywood for 20 years where he designed, built and operated Studio “A”, one of L.A.’s premier recording studios dedicated to acoustic piano recordings.

In college, David studied composition with Aurelio de la Vega at the music department of California State University Northridge where he met his wife, composer Robyn Hutter.  Together they reside with their family in Burbank, California.

With over 160 David K produced collections in the PianoSoft library, it’s hard to spotlight only a few but don’t miss:

00501277:  Tribute to Ella - Songs of Ella Fitzgerald
00501282:  A Cunliffe Christmas
00501299:  Lars Roos - Classics Lite
00501300:  Rat Pack Faves
00501311:  Let’s Go to the Movies

I really could go on and on as there are so many more.  Suffice to say, David is a valuable participant in PianoSoft development.  Don’t miss out on enjoying this talent!O Tannenbaum

Today I verified three new Holiday masters.  For those of you who enjoy the printed versions of PianoSoft (rather than digital delivery) the good news is, these three collections will be available from your PianoSoft/Disklavier dealer or from www.yamahamusicsoft.com as well as through download. The new disks are:

00501282:  A Cunliffe Christmas: This is a superb collection performed by jazz pianist Bill Cunliffe.  There will be a profile about Bill in a later post but you can learn more about this great musician at:

http://www.billcunliffe.com/news/

Some of the songs in the collection are:

The Christmas Song
Silver Bells
I’ll Be Home for Christmas
Winter Wonderland

and much more…

00501284:  Eight Days and Nights: by the fine pop pianist, Adam Chester.  Read all about him at:

http://www.adamchester.com/

Featured songs are:

and more…

00506424:  Happy Christmas:  arranged and performed by Jason Nyberg.  This is a PianoSoft Plus Collection with marvelous orchestrated selections.  Visit

http://www.nybergmusic.com/ 

to learn more about Jason.  He too will be profiled soon on this blog.

Songs featured are:

I may seem biased but these are three GREAT collections just in time for the holiday season. 

Have a good week!

Cathy

First Lady of the Disklavier Sings
and
Sue Downs - I Love Being Here with You

She is a popular Disklavier recording artist and has performed on several other collections including:

There Will Never Be Another Sue!
Triocity
Hymns and Her
Sue’s Noodles (all original compositions)
It Will Be A Blue Christmas Without Sue

and much more. 

Sue is married to Jerry Downs, another talented musician and fantastic editor/engineer.  It’s a perfect musical marriage and I have a feeling it’s perfect in many other ways!

Don’t miss the chance to hear this superb pianist!

Hi! TGIF!  Today I was making a replacement master for a customer and got to thinking that many people probably do not know that Yamaha provides this service free of charge.  The first Disklavier pianos and a couple of generations later all played double density disks.  The later models could play high density disks and at the same time, double density disks were more difficult to acquire.  Also, high density disks hold far more data so we were not as limited, especially where XG products were concerned as they have more information requiring more space.  New PianoSoft Solo and PianoSoft Plus that is manufactured as a tangible product (not digital download only) is mastered on a high density disk.  Customers with previous generation Disklavier pianos cannot play high density disks.  If a customer buys a high density disk that is not playable, it can be sent to me and I will replace it with a double density disk version.  This is the current procedure and I will update you if there is any change.  You may send your HD disks for conversion to:

GenniMac, Inc.
2505 Anthem Village Drive
Suite E # 154
Henderson, NV  89052

Have a great weekend!

Today I was helping Jim make new masters for two new PianoSoft projects:  “In A Movie Mood” and “Sixteen Candles.”  These are two super collections that will be available for download from www.yamahamusicsoft.com very soon.  There were so many steps to the process it got me to thinking about what goes into making a new PianoSoft project.  Personally, my job primarily involves project concept, assembling the content for a collection, entering the songs and composers into the database and licensing the music.  ‘Project concept’ is sometimes accomplished by committee but everyone has very specific tasks in the process.  Assignments are made by consensus as well.  Some artists work alone and others work with engineer/editors.  Once the recording is finished and basically edited, the music is uploaded to a server and it is retrieved by an editor who does a final edit.  When that editor is finished, it is uploaded again to a server and a ‘final QC” (quality control) editor downloads the music and gives it a final check.  The data has to pass many technical requirements besides the more subjective and objective musical issues that are reviewed.  When the QC editor is finished, he/she uploads the music again to the server and Jim Leahy retrieves it and makes a master.  This is the actual product that we can sell.  In that ‘master folder’ resides audio style (mp3) files for online preview capability.  This is really just scratching the surface because there are so many little hidden tasks involved.  Over time I would like to profile the various specialists, artists and technicians who help create and manage Yamaha PianoSoft.

Most new PianoSoft is only available as a digital download.  There is still a very large library of printed goods you may purchase from your dealer or directly from Hal Leonard.  Digital downloads are availabale at www.yamahamusicsoft.com. 

Talk to you soon!!