Yamaha REFACE CP Portable Electric Piano and Vintage Keyboard Sound Engine, Synthesizer

Product Information

Last of all, I fired up the CP model. Much of its panel is occupied by what turned out to be the best effects selection of all. There are six piano types to choose from and Yamaha are just as cautious about naming their origins as when organ donating. You won’t be surprised to hear that the CP selection is based on Yamaha’s Electric Grand and you can probably guess the rest too: Rd1 and Rd2, Wr, Clv and Toy. The second Rhodes is the later, brighter model, while the Wurlitzer’s contrastingly hollow tones are faithfully represented.

reface - Overview - Yamaha - UK and Ireland reface - Overview - Yamaha - UK and Ireland

Marking the last of the Japanese giants willing to plunder their vault of past glories, Yamaha’s Reface range hits the ground running with a quartet of models. Each has a ‘re-imagined interface’ and all are streamlined, focused and ready to play wherever you happen to be, thanks to built-in speakers, battery power and mini keyboards. I use it as my throw-around, take-it-anywhere keys, and will also put it on top of my MAG organ for extra options on small gigs. I love the classic EPs, and they are there. There's even a decent acoustic piano hidden in there (why it is hidden is beyond me). The effects are a real bonus here. Arranged in series, all can be active at once and their transformational potential is huge. Firstly, there’s drive with its piano-specific tonality, to which you add tremolo or wah, chorus or phaser, followed by analogue-style or digital delay, finally bathing the whole lot in reverb. The chorus is lovely, the phaser almost as good and the tremolo shifts to a swimmy stereo whenever the Rd and CP types are selected. The digital delay at its maximum depth repeats for an eternity, while the analogue delay becomes duller with progressive repeats. The shortest delay times are very short and impressively boingy. It’s quite an armoury to have within reach and the only minor criticism I have is a physical one: the switches were a bit flimsy and one needed an occasional wiggle to wake it up. Conclusion It’s a combo piano, in mini keyboard form, that lets you play the most iconic electric piano sounds.If the Reface CP becomes a classic, I would not be surprised. It's simple, a little weird, takes a bit of getting used to, and sounds absolutely gorgeous! All four reface models offer a rich potential for creative sound design – and the opportunity to get in touch with the whole world: With Soundmondo, Yamaha created an online hub connecting the reface community all over the globe. Soundmondo offers creative possibilities to create, share and discover sounds. The connection is established intuitively using a special Web MIDI technology for Google Chrome. As soon as a reface model is plugged in, it offers the possibility of direct synchronisation. Voices and set lists can be stored in a private area as well as shared with the community. Lode is a brilliantly simple free synth for Ableton Live and Push 3 that sounds a lot like the Roland TB-303 The CP’s sounds, and the playability of those sounds, will have many users longing for a full-size keyboard USB. Connect a USB cable to send and receive MIDI over USB to a Mac, a Windows PC, or an iOS or iPad device.

Yamaha Reface synths reviewed! | MusicRadar Yamaha Reface synths reviewed! | MusicRadar

I like hardware and I play live mostly. This apparatus is almost ideal because I love the sound of a Rhodes piano but: In other words Fender Rhodes, Wurly, Clavinet, CP & Toy piano – sounds that are about as iconic as they come. And Yamaha does a good job of nailing the sounds. The portability is there (6xAA batteries) but i found out that if you play in full volume the batteries will get drained after 6-7 hours or maybe less. So i think that it's not safe to jam more than one time with the same batteries.

Conclusions. I was blown away by the attention to detail in both the Reface CP’s instruments and effects. So much so, that the tiny keys were really the only thing that became irksome over the course of my testing. Considered as a portable MIDI sound module, it’s genuinely impressive. Played from a more substantial controller, it’s even breathtaking. Editor Stephen Fortner is a far bigger Hammond-head than I am, and having spent time with a Reface YC, he opined, “The B-3 and Leslie emulation are way better than I expected. Maybe a notch under a current top-end clonewheel, but just a notch. I’d totally gig with this.” Continuous sustain pedal input for half-damper effect and increasing sustain as you depress the pedal The Reface CP is built into the same high-quality plastic housing as the other Reface models and features the same battery/wall-wart power and mini- speakers - these sound very good considering their size and can be turned off (if required). Unlike the smooth plastic on the other Refaces, the CP has a textured plastic finish to reflect the tolex covering and vinyl-look plastics used on electro-mechanical pianos of old! Reface CP - an emulation of vintage electric pianos. The CP has six sound models taken from Yamaha's CP4 stage piano: a Rhodes Mk.1, a Rhodes Mk.2, a Wurlitzer, a Clavinet, a Yamaha CP80 and a toy piano. [9] The keyboard has a maximum polyphony of 128 notes. The Reface CP also has an effects engine that includes drive, phaser, tremolo, delay, reverb and chorus effects. [12]