General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

wood casing/ synthetic fabric covering base/ synthetic keys/ synthetic power cord and cable coverings, carrying handles, parts/ folding metal legs

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

108.5 cm

Width

61.0 cm

Height

21.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Communications

Category

Music

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

RMI

Country

United States of America

State/Province

North Carolina

City

Rocky Mount

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

late 1960s +

Canada

Part of a collection of electronic equipment for musical composition, performance and recording owned and used by Canadian Paul Hoffert, composer, musician, author, researcher, entrepreneur and arts administrator. American born, he came to Canada as a child and his career has encompassed many areas of the Canadian music business, including working as a jazz pianist, CBC music director and performer, educator, manufacturer of stereo equipment, music producer, and film composer. In the late 1960s he worked for a short time as a researcher in Hugh LeCaine's electronic music lab at NRC, where he wrote a computer program for music analysis and developed a solid-body electric violin. In 1968 Hoffert and rock drummer Skip Prokop, formed the very successful jazz-rock band Lighthouse (1969-1974, 1982, 1993-present), which earned one platinum record and four gold records and received three Juno awards between 1971 and 1973 In 1977 Hoffert received a Canadian Film Award (later known as a Genie) for best original musical score for the movie "Outrageous!". He also headed the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, the Guild of Canadian Film and Television Composers,and the Ontario Council for the Art. In 1995 he was inducted into the Canadian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2009 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

Function

An instrument used to make musical tones using electronic circuits controlled by a piano keyboard.

Technical

The Hoffert collection consists of approximately 25 pieces of electronic equipment for musical composition, performance and recording. These range from iconic keyboard instruments of the 1970s, to a variety of digital devices from the 1980s, to computer software from the early 1990s. These were used either for stage performances, especially during his years in the jazz rock band Lighthouse, or for work in his home studio. This is an electric piano designed for stage performance. Other popular electrics like the Fender Rhodes generated sound electro-mechanically: striking a key would cause a hammer to hit a metal tine, whose vibration would be converted to an electrical signal by an electromagnetic pickup. The Electra Piano, on the other hand, generated tones using entirely electronic means. Each of the 61 keys had its own tone generator. The Electra Piano had a limited range of sounds: piano, harpsichord, lute and organ voices which were selected by switches above the keyboard, with volume control and sustain controlled by foot pedals. The sounds were not realistic replicas of the acoustic instruments, but their unique quality made the Electra Piano popular in the early 1970s among progressive rock bands. Among the well-known performers who used one were Tony Banks (Genesis) and Rick Wakeman. Paul Hoffert played this instrument extensively while touring with Lighthouse and recorded the band=s hit albums on it. In order to make it more road-worthy, he had it modified to give it a sturdier wooden case. Rocky Mount Instruments was a division of Allen Organ Co. It manufactured several models of the Electra Piano between 1967 and 1980, selling well over 10,000 before they were discontinued.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

black lettering on metal plate on back reads 'RMI electro-piano [script]/ AND/ HARPSICHORD'/ black lettering on control keys reads 'PIANO', 'PIANO/ pp', 'HARPSI', 'HARPSI/ pp', 'LUTE', 'ORGAN/ MODE', 'ACCENTER'

Missing

unknown

Finish

medium brown stained and coated wood casing top/ textured black synthetic fabric covering base/ black and white keys/ black synthetic power cord and cable coverings, carrying handles/ metallic folding legs/ plated metal parts

Decoration

N/A