JPJ part2

[James Page <james-page@xxxxxxx>]

.....On many of their albums, John Paul Jones had used a Steinway 
piano in the studio. His piano work is very standard, but effective: 
"Piano is very close to my heart, but I had some bad experiences with 
lessons and I wouldn't go near it for a long time." Piano appears on 
"The Rain Song", "Friends", "Rock and Roll", "Hot Dog", "South 
Bound Saurez"

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FARFISA VIP-255

The Farfisa VIP organ is only used on one Led Zeppelin track, but it 
is a very distinctive contribution. The Italian-based Farfisa company is 
well-known for its combo organs of the 1960's. They are small, 
portable transistorized organs that were an alternative to the heavy 
Hammonds of the time. A direct competition to the Vox organs, 
Farfisa dominated the '60's combo organ market with its bright and 
buzzy-sounding tones. At their peak in the late 1960's, Farfisa was 
Europe's largest maker of electronic instruments. In the early 1970's 
the VIP line of Farfisas brought a new set of features to the 
marketplace. The Farfisa VIP has two 4-octave keyboards and a set 
of bass pedals. It has registrations similar to other organs, such as 
"Brass", "Reed", "Flute", "Horn", etc. The most unique feature of the 
Farfisa VIP was the "Synthe-Slalom" setting, indicated on the front 
panel by a picture of a man on skis! The "Synthe-Slalom" effect is a 
pitch bend controlled by a foot-pedal on the floor beneath the 
keyboard. It allows the player to glide the note up to the correct pitch 
by moving the pedal fully forward, and drop the pitch by pulling the 
pedal back down. 

  John Paul Jones used his Farfisa VIP ("the same model as Sly 
Stone") to create one of the most interesting overdubs on any Led 
Zeppelin album. For "Dancing Days" on "Houses of the Holy", Jones 
uses this animated sound to add interest to the later verses, 
beginning at 1:38. The chord tones sweep up and down from the 
correct pitch, but slightly behind the beat, creating a rhythmic effect, 
as well as a pitch glissando. (This glide is very similar to the unique 
"portamento' setting on many Yamaha analog synthesizers.
During the late 1972/early 1973 tours, the Farfisa was sometimes 
used on top of the Hammond organ, and was featured on "Dancing 
Days". On some shows, a very small Hohner combo organ appears 
on top of the Rhodes or Mellotron.

YAMAHA CP70B PIANO

  For the final tour in 1979/80, Jones used a Yamaha CP70B electric 
grand piano. This was a descendant of the original Helpinstill idea, to 
use a magnetic pickup to amplify an acoustic piano. Yamaha 
developed this idea much further with the CP70 and it's larger mate, 
the CP80. The Yamaha was indeed portable, as it could be taken into 
two pieces. One piece would house the mechanical keys and 
hammers, and the other piece could be lifted off to contain just the 
strings and harp frame. This made for a true piano that was 
somewhat simple to transport, although it still required constant 
tuning. The piano used a sophisticated pickup and preamp to enable 
a truer piano tone, although it was still less "true" than an acoustic 
grand with microphones. As the Yamaha was being used next to the 
large white Yamaha GX-1, there was a special casing built to make 
the Yamaha look like a white, full sized concert grand.
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YAMAHA GX1 SYNTHESIZER

  This is Led Zeppelin's most visually memorable keyboard: the 
Yamaha GX1. Originally, Yamaha developed the GX1 as a research 
model, and very few were sold - it is likely that only 7 were made. A 
massive analog synthesizer, the GX1 is very impressive. The GX1 
was beautifully designed, with strong chrome legs supporting a large 
white console. The main unit housed three keyboards; two with 
standard size keys, and one with smaller keys. On the front panel, 
there were a variety of switches and buttons to program, store, and 
recall sounds. Beneath are a set of bass pedals similar to any home 
organ.

 The GX-1 contains several very powerful polyphonic analog 
synthesizers, and it incorporate features for home organists and the 
professional rock/pop musician. Beside the great sonic possibilities of 
the synthesizer, the keyboards allowed levels of touch control never 
before seen. The top keyboard was small, with only half-sized keys. 
However, it had incredible expression with touch control. Selected 
parameters could be affected by velocity, aftertouch pressure, and 
key motion. The second large keyboard also had horizontal position 
control, meaning that to move a key side-to-side could produce 
vibrato and other effects.

  The GX-1 was an early design that would eventually evolve into the 
more commercial Yamaha CS80 synthesizer. As powerful as the GX1 
was, it was still very expensive, so few musicians were able to afford 
it. Stevie Wonder made use of it early on, and called it "the Dream 
Machine". During his "Songs in the Key of Life" album, he 
demonstrates it especially well on the tracks "Village Ghetto Land" 
and "Pastime Paradise", where he creates an animated "string 
section". Keith Emerson's also used the GX1, initially on their "Works" 
Vol. 1 album, as heard on "Pirates" and "Fanfare for the Common 
Man". It is featured on their 1979 "Live" album, most notably on the 
opening track "Peter Gunn". 

  John Paul Jones bought his GX1 around the time of the "In the Out 
Door" sessions in late 1978. The album was recorded in Stockholm 
Sweden, the studio owned by ABBA. ABBA's keyboardist Benny 
Andersson may have influenced his purchase, as Benny was one of 
the few GX-1 owners at the time. It is heard on "Carouselambra", 
where he plays strong polyphonic synth sounds that create the main 
element in the song. The GX-1 is the featured synthesizer throughout 
the In the Out Door album, and it can be heard on "In the Evening", 
"Carouselambra", "All My Love", and "I'm Gonna Crawl". In particular, 
his string arrangement on "All My Love" is very realistic, and the 
"baroque horn" solo demonstrates the expressive vibrato capability.

 On the final Led Zeppelin tours, John Paul Jones used the GX-1 as 
his main keyboard, performing organ, clavinet, bass and synthesizer 
parts with it. Although he called it "a joy" to replace the troublesome 
Mellotron, he later sold the GX-1 to Keith Emerson as a spare. At the 
time, he claimed that many other keyboards could replicate its sound, 
and it nearly required "a full-time engineer to keep it going". 
(Eventually, Emerson, too, sold this GX-1 - to film 
composer/synthesist Hans Zimmer.)
Touring keyboards of John Paul Jones/Led Zeppelin
1969 - (no keyboards)

1970 - Hammond C3/B3

1971- Rhodes Suitcase 73, bass pedals, Hammond C3/B3

1972 - Rhodes Suitcase 73, Mellotron M400, bass pedals, Hohner Mini organ
(Dec.'72/Jan.' 73 only)

1973 - Rhodes Stage 73, Mellotron M400, bass pedals, (Farfisa VIP and Hammond
B3 occasionally)

1974 - (no tour)

1975 - Rhodes Stage 73, Mellotron M400, Clavinet D6, Steinway grand piano

1976 - (no tour)

1977 - Rhodes Stage 88, Mellotron Mk. V, Clavinet D6, Yamaha CP70B, bass
pedals

1978 - (no tour)

1979/1980 - Yamaha GX-1, Yamaha CP70B, bass pedals