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I disagree that the Wurlitzer is brighter, more hollow, and clearer (more vibraphone-like) than the Rhodes; to me, the opposite is true. I hear the Wurlitzer as more guitar-like, blending in with the music and being darker. What is the general consensus here?
I would say that a Rhodes is more bell-like during normal use but a lightly-played Wurlitzer actually has a "sweeter" tone. With average playing, the Rhodes has a murkier, darker tone than a Wurlitzer played in the same way - the Wurly simply cuts through better. Played hard, of course, the Rhodes has the edge - with a Wurly you'll just damage the reeds!
Regarding the "difference between the electric and electronic pianos", I think that this is untrue - the earliest 1950s literature refers to the instrument as an "electronic piano", and the phrase "electric piano", while technically more accurate, was never actually used by the Wurlitzer company.
Could we change the title of this page to "Wurlitzer Electronic Piano", with a redirect from "Wurlitzer electric piano"? The former is the proper name of the instrument from the manufacturer, while the latter is what most people think it is. Any thoughts? —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
Ritchie333 (
talk •
contribs)
09:47, 12 September 2007 (UTC)reply
While I agree in principle that the manufacturer's trademark should have precedence over the common term, I should also point out:
retrospectively the phrase "Wurlitzer electric piano" is a more accurate description of the instrument
In 30 years of playing keyboards I have never heard anyone call it anything other than a "Wurlitzer electric piano"
The phrase "Wurlitzer Electronic Piano" is potentially misleading; it implies that the instrument is an electronic rather than an electric piano.
The instrument has been out of production for 25 years, and the trademark is seldom used.
What are Wikipedia's principles on this? Anyone know?
Admittedly, the first time I ever heard of the Wurlitzer being an "Electronic Piano" (which it isn't) was when I bought one and saw it on the front. I've checked the manual of my Nord Electro (which emulates it) to see what it refers to, but it only mentions "Wurlitzer 200A".
The sample of an "Emulated Wurlitzer" from a Nord is not really appropriate for an article on a Wurlitzer, any more than a picture of a plastic squid belongs in an article on a squid. How about a sample of a real one?
Sojambi Pinola (
talk)
17:08, 21 June 2014 (UTC)reply
I sold my real Wurlitzer years ago before my kids were old enough to break it. I did play it on an album, but I haven't got any sample recordings of it on its own, so the NS2 is the only free audio file I can get. Its "good enough" for the casual reader, and it's got the proper licence.
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)21:29, 1 December 2017 (UTC)reply
Styx - "Lady" was written on a wurlitzer, but is not played on a wurlitzer in the recordings. The wiki article even says it was played on piano for the recording (but links to a dead site).
I've had a go at cleaning up this article, as it was totally unsourced. I've got one book that has a few paragraphs on the Wurlitzer, but the main prose in the article is still largely lacking references, so I can't tell whether or not it's
original research by somebody who's seen a lot of Wurlies drawing their own conclusions. The "Recorded Examples" list is, IMHO too long, and seems to be an attempt to list everything the Wurly was ever heard on. I'd rather trim this down to examples eg: Supertramp, You're My Best Friend - stuff that actually have chance of being
reliably sourced. If you disagree, shout, or I'll
boldly run off and do it. --
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)21:20, 28 August 2012 (UTC)reply
Oh, come on...the only audio example on the page is a Nord 2?
It would appear that someone went nuts deleting the audio references. . . I personally would love to see some of these restored so that I can delve into my music collection and listen to some songs featuring the Wurly. I suppose I can go into the article history and resurrect some of these, but I think someone else may be more qualified to pick which of the original list are most representative of the instrument.
Mikerrr (
talk)
21:59, 7 April 2014 (UTC)reply
Dating the change from 200 to 200A amps: 1972? or 1974?
I can find no evidence, other than repeated heresay, that the 200A replaced the 200 before 1974. I am starting to suspect that the date of 1972 is wrong, and its repeated mention on Wikipedia and elsewhere is causing a circular pattern of misinformation. The earliest dated schematic for the 200A series, that I can find, is from October 15, 1974. People may be confused by old parts stuck in later machines. I'm happy to be proven wrong, though.
Sojambi Pinola (
talk)
19:31, 6 July 2014 (UTC)reply
massive list of users & uses
is this really necessary? I mean, one instance of a use by eddie van halen? it's fascinating, but...
& it amused me greatly to see don fagen's name down twice.
Yes, The Beatles' use of the Hohner and Rhodes is well documented, but I don't think that they never used a Wurlitzer, as
Nicky Hopkins often did, so maybe they used one on
Revolution? But you're right about the Hohner and the Rhodes. Thank you for the removal of
Come Together and
Let It Be because they pretty much moved away from all other electric pianos in favor of the Rhodes beginning with
Get Back and
Don't Let Me Down which were recorded in January 1969.--
71.200.109.219 (
talk)
00:12, 2 June 2017 (UTC)reply
I'm pretty sure the only Wurlitzer electric piano on a Beatles track is "I Me Mine" from 1970. "Revolution" single is a Hohner EP.
Sojambi Pinola (
talk)
Proprosed split for a "List of Wurlitzer electric piano players" article
Moved from article
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
^
ab
Burgess, Richard James (2014).
The History of Music Production. Oxford University Press. p.
76.
ISBN978-0-19-938501-0. According to Jared Pauley of jazz.com, "Sun Ra was the first musician to record with an electric piano, the Wurlitzer, for his 1956 recording Angels and Demons at Play." Players of the statue of Ray Charles and Joe Zawinul also used Wurlitzer pianos. ... Supertramp's "Dreamer" is branded by the Wurlitzer piano sound, ...{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (
link)
It's long been my intention to clean up this article using the collection of book sources I have, exactly as I did for
Rhodes Piano. AFAIK, the summary re:
List of Rhodes piano players did imply it should be created, in the same manner as
List of Hammond organ players (and, in turn,
List of Hammond organs). It helps stop arguments about who should and shouldn't appear in a "notable users" section of an instrument article, and means people don't get upset when their favourite artist gets deleted because it's too much off-topic.
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)16:40, 1 December 2017 (UTC)reply
"Notable users" section is inaccurate
"the first documented commercial recording using the Wurlitzer was two years earlier, Steve Allen's "Electrified Favorites" of 1958, prominently featuring the new keyboard (Coral 57185)."
I am not sure what the source is for that statement, but it is misleading. Two earlier recordings have come to mind:
Duke Ellington recorded on a Wurlitzer (probably a 110) on May 18 and 19, 1955, for Capitol Records, at Universal Studios in Chicago. One of the tracks was "Coquette."
[3] This is a very obscure session, and I’m not sure any of the Wurlitzer tracks were released until later. Even if that is the case, and if we are talking about the first _released_ recording, Sun Ra still beats Steve Allen:
Sun Ra's pertinent Wurlitzer single collected on "Angels and Demons at Play" was recorded in February 1956, and first released in 1956, regardless of its later compilation on a 1960 LP. The crucial track is "Medicine for a Nightmare."
Sun Ra's album "Super Sonic Jazz" was recorded in 1956-1957, and released in 1957. It contains extensive Wurlitzer on "India", "Advice to Medics", "Springtime in Chicago," "Sunology" pts 1 and 2, and a different take of "Medicine for a Nightmare." This was arguable not as "commercial" or corporate a release as Steve Allen's, but it was still sold and commercially available in 1957.
There was an infobox on the last musical instrument GAN I reviewed, is it not pertinent here?
As
Gerda says, the infobox wars are over, so done. I think the original reason there wasn't one is because the lead wasn't long enough to introduce layout issues with a reasonably-sized infobox, but that no longer applies.
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)13:59, 24 March 2021 (UTC)reply
"Wurlitzer electronic piano" why is the article at "electric" if it's called "electronic"?
"digital keyboards" what are they? (as you've linked electric piano....)
Gone with
electronic keyboard. It's basically any keyboard you're likely to see on stage in the last ten years where somebody's playing rock, pop or covering conventional piano sounds (in order words, you wouldn't expect the Wurlitzer sound to turn up on a
Kayne West album, though I guess all things are possible.....)
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)14:43, 24 March 2021 (UTC)reply
"meant it is stable enough to be used in the 21st century" I don't really get this. Are you saying that conditions in the 21st Century are different and tougher? Or are you saying the instruments, if maintained, can still be used? Wouldn't that be the case for anything? Harpsichords? Theremins?
I originally wanted to say "stable enough to be used today", but what "today" is changes with time. Basically, a 50+ year old Wurlitzer is built like the proverbial brick privy (like a Hammond) and requires little maintenance. Does that clarify things?
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)14:43, 24 March 2021 (UTC)reply
"Compared with the (Fender) Rhodes electric piano, the ..., compared to the Rhodes " saying the same thing twice.
Done (also copyedited a bit)
And why would one compare it to the (Fender) Rhodes piano?
Because the two are by far and way the most commercially successful and popular electric pianos, featuring on numerous hit records, but are difficult to tell apart by the casual listener.
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)14:43, 24 March 2021 (UTC)reply
"increase profitability with the emerging digital synthesizer market" was it considered part of that market or are you saying costs were reduced to compete with that market?
While it's true there are a lot of models, I'm concerned a straight list would be lop-sided, as it would lose the context elsewhere that clarifies the 200 / 200A models are by far and away the most well-known and popular, while others are pretty obscure.
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)22:02, 24 March 2021 (UTC)reply
The problem is, the model numbers and their features are dotted around the article so widely that it's practically impossible to see them in one place. As this is the only article on the instrument and no model articles appear to exist (or need to exist) then the article ought to provide a clear description of all the available models and their features.
The Rambling Man (
Stay alert! Control the virus! Save lives!!!!)
22:06, 24 March 2021 (UTC)reply
I had a look at some other GAs -
Hammond organ,
Rhodes piano and
Mellotron, and none of them have this. I'm not saying this to be awkward; rather that if any of the did have a list like this, I'd find a precedent/ consensus and copy the format over to this article, and have a good idea to how it's structured (eg: column header names, formatting, position in article etc).
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)22:09, 24 March 2021 (UTC)reply
Looking at sources, there are the 200 / 200A (most popular), 112 / 112A (second popular), 100, 110 and 111 (third popular), 140, 145, 146 / A / B, 106P, (all obscure) then there's the 2xx and 7xx series (really obscure) .... would it not be simpler to create an equivalent of
List of Hammond organs and put the information there?
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)10:38, 25 March 2021 (UTC)reply
"talk to them without others hearing them" did the students also have a microphone to talk back?
No - I guess the analogy is if you're in class, and saying "Write down 2x2", having 15 children shout "done", "what", "come next playtime you're it" etc etc isn't practical.
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)20:26, 24 March 2021 (UTC)reply
"207/207VA/205V, etc.)" I don't think "etc." applies here, what others?
I've changed this to examples, qualified with "such as". There isn't much information on the teacher / student models, they were far less well-known than the stage instruments.
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)20:26, 24 March 2021 (UTC)reply
"has played a customised" sure, but I guess you explicitly mean as part of the act or in recording?
I'm not sure what you mean, but the "customisation" here is at least to add an output jack so it can be plugged into a keyboard amp and / or PA system, which the stage instruments can just do anyway.
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)20:26, 24 March 2021 (UTC)reply
Maintenance section is bordering on a
WP:HOWTO guide.
It's a reliably sourced HOWTO guide, though ;-) .... I used to own a Wurlitzer and the information about tuning the reeds is pretty damn useful, in my experience.
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)20:26, 24 March 2021 (UTC)reply
"Wurlitzer patches" what's a patch in this context?
As a longtime Nord user, it means you have a choice from the Piano library from a number of different Wurlitzers, though I only ever use the 200A programme on stage ... anyway, copyedited
Ritchie333(talk)(cont)20:26, 24 March 2021 (UTC)reply
I made a start on an image list, but didn't get very far. I included the best-selling models in a table, and two of them we don't have pictures for.
Commons:Category:Wurlitzer electric pianos does include some shots of the 206, a student model reappropriated by pro musicians, but I don't have a source for what years it was produced. This makes producing a list that is complete and verifiable somewhat problematic. Here's what I've done so far:
Image
Model Name / Number
Years produced
Description
112
1955-1956
Sustain pedal attaches underneath the instrument, as opposed to the side on earlier models.[1]