(Source: Yamaha)

A couple of months back, Yamaha relaunched the Cable-Nelson brand - which it acquired through its purchase of Everett Piano and Cable-Nelson in 1973 - at Winter NAMM 2006, with its offering of the Cable-Nelson CN116.

We recently had the opportunity to take a look at it, and based on looks alone, it certainly seemed to merit Yamaha’s claim that it would be an entry-level to Yamaha’s world-famous quality. For starters, the CN116 is a 46″ upright piano, finished in a polyester ebony, with a conventional, or rather, traditional cabinet with toe block and square legs.

Like most Yamaha pianos, the CN116 comes with a comfortable keyboard, which brings with it great feel and touch. Sound-wise, it’s excellent for an upright - rich, yet crisp and clear. However, do not expect similar volume levels with Yamaha baby grands as the CN116 is an entry-level Yamaha after all.

The Cable-Nelson CN116 will come with the same 10-year warranty as other Yamaha brands, and will be constructed to traditional Yamaha standards by Yamaha workers at Yamaha factories (in China, of course).

While we do not have any definite pricing to review, the CN116 should be priced reasonably, as befitting its entry-level status. However, a Yamaha is a Yamaha, so you’re not going to be getting a bargain-basement price for this upright piano.

So, if space is at a premium, and you’re looking for a quality piano at a reasonable price, the Yamaha Cable-Nelson CN116 will definitely be a competitive choice.

(Read the whole post…)

(Source: Kohler & Campbell)

We’ve been talking so much about guitars these past few weeks that we’ve almost forgotten that we’re supposed to be featuring pianos as well. Actually, it was a forum thread on a Kohler & Campbell KCM-650 grand piano that reminded us of this fact, so we’ve decided to push a bit of attention to it.

For starters, the K&C KCM-650 is an 88 key, 7 1/4 octaves, 6′ 1″ grand, which a piano enthusiast over at the Piano World forum bought for US$9,400. So far, we’ve seen only good things being said about it, with a few examples placed below:

The KCM650 is a good value. In my opinion it is a little better made that the Yamaha C series. I think you got a “good deal”.

In my opinion, it was the best piano of its size and quality that I could find for the money. I looked for months and found it to be much nicer than the Chinese pianos in the same price range.

Overall, we think that the purchaser’s own conclusion describes the KCM-650 best: “(The KCM-650) Looks as grand as it sounds, pun not intended.”

(Read the whole post…)

iTunes and the like cater for the listener in us. You know, the part of us that just wants to listen to new music and perhaps, sing to the tunes. What about for the musician in us? Which pay-for-download service caters for that?

Well, it seems that such a service exists in DreamMusician.com - a pay-for-download service that provides .mp3 files stripped of their musical parts, e.g. guitar, drums, keyboard, etc. Normally, creating these type of audio files on your own isn’t easy since you’ll tend to remove some of the vocal parts in the file as well.

And DreamMusician.com seems to know that as they are charging a premium for their edited .mp3 files, i.e. about US$2 per file (compared to the US$1 average you’ll see elsewhere).

In any case, if you’re looking for music that you can play your guitar or keyboard along to, check out DreamMusician.com.

(Read the whole post…)

(Source: Kikizo Games)

Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen best-selling guitar rhythm games with Guitar Hero and Guitaroo Man of the Playstation 2 gaming console. But what about for the PSP - the popular mobile gaming console? Zilch?

Although any guitar rhythm game developed for the PSP won’t be able to depend on a guitar controller, Koei will still attempt to bring Guitaroo Man to the PSP console with Guitaroo Man Lives! Instead of a guitar controller, Guitaroo Man Lives! will depend on both the PSP buttons and analog controller to bring challenge to players.

And based on the screenshots over at Kikizo Games, the game looks good enough to suck you into a looong gaming spree.

(Read the whole post…)

Bluegrass Books Online recently published the next installment in its free online guitar lesson series. The lesson consists of tabs in .pdf format, two .mp3 recordings (rhythm and tune), as well as a video showing a close-up view of the tutor playing a slow version of the lesson tune.

The lesson tune for May’s installment is Gold Rush, written by Bill Monroe. But if just one lesson isn’t enough, Bluegrass Books Online actually has another three older lessons you might be interested in (also free).

For more information, visit Bluegrass Books Online’s Free Lesson page.

(Read the whole post…)

(Source: iMusicShop)

Following up on the first Indie IRK 500 review is a set of three reviews from Harmony Central users. All three users were pretty unanimous in their overall ratings, with two awarding 10 out of 10 and one awarding 9 out of 10 to the IRK500.

The first user had this as his conclusion: “I’ve not been playing too long, since October 2005 so just over half a year. I’m told I’m good by friends, but they’re not the most critical audience. I’ve had this guitar for about three months. If my guitar was stolen, I’d buy the same again. I love its sound, its ease to play, its set-up, its appearance and its value for money. There’s nothing I hate.”

For the second user: “I’ve been playing for about 26 years, and I own several other guitars (strat, tele, SG, Epiphone acoustic etc) and a couple of basses This guitar is the first I’ve owned that could be called a copy. I generally play them through my Vox clean, but I do have several pedals as well. If the guitar was stolen or lost, I’d go on a killing spree. It’d be nice if it had the fifth knob, although I’ve heard that it doesn’t really do much. Of course, a truss rod cover that sid ‘rickenbacker’ would be a nice vanity feature too.”

Last but not least, the third user concludes that he “…went into this purchase having tried the guitar on two occassions for a total of about 2 and a half hours and more than used up all my songs and riffs! I also got to try it against other models they did and can thoroughhly reccommend the E335 dot copy though I can’t recall it’s code. Their lp’s are also bloody good and either of these are likely to be my next guitar with maybe the tele being sold. After all when I have the jangle I will need the contrats of some humbucking tones. Seriously though check out this make and model especially if you like the groups/people mentioned above as I am super glad to have bought this though it was a struggle to put down the equally nice E335 dot copy and it cam down to influences for me.”

(Read the whole post…)

The guys over at Gamers.com recently had a chance to try out Guitar Hero 2 at E3. For those that are out of the loop, Guitar Hero 2 will only be available from November onwards. So, any sort of preview is actually a Good Thing.

Anyway, the big focus of their preview is the multiplayer aspect of GH2. Up to two players can now join together and play different guitars, with one on lead and the other on rhythm or bass. On the interface side of things, this is represented by two characters on screen. But more interesting is the teamwork required to achieve certain combos. In certain cases, both players must do certain actions together, unlike the previous approach of two players just playing the same song individually (this option is still available though).

Overall, it’s certain that Guitar Hero 2 left a strong first impression on Gamers.com editors as their conclusion is that, “This game’s looking to be just as rockingly good as the first game, and that’s enough to make you go into a…psychobilly FREAKOUT!”

(Read the whole post…)