Members rj.phila Posted November 11, 2008 Members Share Posted November 11, 2008 i just recently started a hunt for one of these, and can already tell its gonna be a tough battle. ive never seen one in person-anyone ever played one? seen one for sale? should i just give up and be happy with my glockenspiel? they just sound too damned good...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted November 11, 2008 Members Share Posted November 11, 2008 I would LOVE a Jenco Celesta. Danny Federici carried one for years and the miced it onstage. I see 3 octave ones on E-bay or sometimes the rarer 4 octave ones. They go up to almost 3 grand on auctions. I check out Craigslist all the time for these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members electrobaby Posted November 11, 2008 Members Share Posted November 11, 2008 I played around with this one at last years namm show:If you have several thousand to spare pick one up http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/ContentDetail/ModelSeriesDetail/0,,CNTID%25253D5012320%252526CTID%25253D235200,00.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted November 11, 2008 Members Share Posted November 11, 2008 Check this version of Incident of 57th St . At 4:50 or so you can see a Jenco Celeste that Danny is playing. [video=youtube;Y28OiuX_Bo0] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rj.phila Posted November 11, 2008 Author Members Share Posted November 11, 2008 electrobaby-thanks for the link. do you know how much the yamaha's sell for? when on the link, the "locate dealer" tab doesnt work, and if i search the catalog of any of the linked online retailers, none of them show the celesta as available. how did it sound? after looking at videos and listening to the instrument closer, i notice that some of them have a nice, bright tone(what i want), and some have a more woody, muted tone(not really what im looking for). honestly, a couple grand would be a relief. the only ones i see for sale online are collector's item/concert grand-types that are well over 15k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundwave106 Posted November 11, 2008 Members Share Posted November 11, 2008 Well, the one list price I found (a Yamaha CEL-56P celesta) carried a price of 8700 pounds. Yikes! They are nice sounding instruments -- I would suspect that the concert celestas (which I usually see in orchestras) sound nicer than the table top models. The Yamahas are pricey buggers, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members electrobaby Posted November 11, 2008 Members Share Posted November 11, 2008 it sounded nice from what I could tell in the noisy booth....but honestly not anywhere nice enough to pay through the nose for...nothing a synth rompler couldnt easily emulate in my opinion. and yeah Im sure the price is rather high as most of their orchestral stuff is...I think the 4 timpani drum set is something like 45K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted November 11, 2008 Members Share Posted November 11, 2008 They seem to be niche instruments. I don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cygnus64 Posted November 11, 2008 Members Share Posted November 11, 2008 . ive never seen one in person-anyone ever played one? Yup, I've played one. You could write to symphonies/opera companies/ballet orchestras and see if they have one they arent using and would like to sell. The ballet "The Nutcracker" was the first orchestral piece to use the Celeste. They usually use a real one. Ballet and opera companies all over are folding, they might like the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundwave106 Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 You could write to symphonies/opera companies/ballet orchestras and see if they have one they arent using and would like to sell. Heh. As long as the Nutcracker is a Christmas staple, I suppose the celesta will always have a place in the orchestra. Same with a couple other pieces (eg "The Planets", "Carmina Burana", and other early 20th century scores). Symphonies seem to be doing better than ballet and opera, though both aren't hugely healthy these days. I agree that a ROMpler can emulate the sound sufficiently, though not exactly. Considering the cost, though, it'd probably be better just to get one of those orchestral VSTs with a celesta patch. Even analogs can emulate the "feel", though not the sound, with sine-wavey pingy patches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Birdienumnum Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 I remember my old DX7IID had a great celeste. It's just getting that "ting" right - mellower and less staying power than a glockenspiel - and adding a wooden "thunk". I should imagine most synths could pull this off, with or without samples. I used that FM celeste on a recording once - it sounded totally authentic as long as it wasn't up front in the mix. I checked Sam Ash online - they carry a lot of acoustic instruments - but alas, no celeste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cygnus64 Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 Heh. As long as the Nutcracker is a Christmas staple, I suppose the celesta will always have a place in the orchestra. Same with a couple other pieces (eg "The Planets", "Carmina Burana", and other early 20th century scores). Bartok- Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Delicious Lamprey Problem Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 Only here will you find someone looking for a Celesta and have people suggest a VST. I love you guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundwave106 Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 Only here will you find someone looking for a Celesta and have people suggest a VST. I love you guys! I'm sure the real thing is tons better, but hey -- I don't have an orchestra-sized budget, and the celesta in Kontakt 3 works for me. (goes off and plays Mister Rogers Neighborhood lines. Wheee....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members enx Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 what makes them so expen$ive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cygnus64 Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 They have a very unique action. They are "clunky". Ive played the Nutcracker 250+ times, some with a real celesta and some synth. No comparision. Its not only the sound, it's how the player approaches the instrument. With a real one, the keyboard player always sounds like they are struggling. Dynamics are a lot different. On a real one, some notes just dont "sound", they are either very weak or just not there. It's a very inconsistent dynamic, as if someone put some kind of volume "randomizer" on it. Here is a real one played by an excellent player: Sugar Plum Fairy Notice how uneven it is, both rhythmically and volumewise. Two notes never sound exactly at the same time like on a piano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bruto Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 Dynamics are a lot different. On a real one, some notes just dont "sound", they are either very weak or just not there. It's a very inconsistent dynamic, as if someone put some kind of volume "randomizer" on it.Here is a real one played by an excellent player:Sugar Plum FairyNotice how uneven it is, both rhythmically and volumewise. Two notes never sound exactly at the same time like on a piano. Nice observation on the Celeste. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundwave106 Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 what makes them so expen$ive? It's an acoustic instrument. Compared to pianos, furthermore, there's not much demand for home model celestas. I can't Google anyone making anything equivalent of the portable Jen-Co celeste box of old. (Actually Yamaha was the only new manufacturer of this instrument that I could quickly Google.) If you want expensive, try pricing a grand piano. For instance, I think the top Bosendorfer grands can go for over $100,000 (and more). (But man, Bosendorfer grands are awesome to play.) I think even your more typical grand piano is $20,000 to $60,000 or so. Uprights and baby grands, of course, can be quite a bit less. But not quite the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 The old ones are very expensive because they are so rare. Jenco maid a lot of marching glockenspiels that are not worth much. I had one broken from HS and I rewelded it, bought new felt and resold it on e-bay. The table top ones like Danny used go for a lot of money. Here is one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Jenco-Celeste-Very-Good-Condition-Some-Wear-Splitting_W0QQitemZ120324037092QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item120324037092&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A3%7C65%3A13%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318 And a four octave model: http://cgi.ebay.com/Jenco-4-oct-celesta-celeste-Leedy-Deagan-Musser-Yamaha_W0QQitemZ380078850309QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item380078850309&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A3%7C65%3A13%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members electrobaby Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 If you want expensive, try pricing a grand piano. For instance, I think the top Bosendorfer grands can go for over $100,000 oh easily, even the top of the line concert grand from yamaha goes for well over a 100K....Bosendorfer probably even more....although I guess thier price is decided by Yamaha maybe....seeing as how they own them and all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rj.phila Posted November 12, 2008 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 thanks-from what i can tell, those table top models dont sound so hot. dont think id drop 3k for one. i have a guy who is offering me an identical model of the 4-octave one, but he said he wants "more than 7500" for it. im thinking about this instead: https://www.soundsonline.com/Dulcitone-Celesta-pr-RS-DCM.html the demos sound really good. only problem is, i cant tell if i can use it with my PT 6.9/G5 PowerPC dual core setup. website doesnt say if it works as a plugin, or standalone, or what(or maybe im just dense about computer specs and compatibility, which is also true). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 Depends. If you want vintage instruments it is a no brainer. Some people including myself like the real thing. Especially when it comes to Hammonds or Leslies but at a point people overcharge for stuff $7500 is too much for something that needs repairs or is that old. People do it with Hammonds all the time. No B-3 is worth 10 grand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundwave106 Posted November 12, 2008 Members Share Posted November 12, 2008 thanks-from what i can tell, those table top models dont sound so hot. dont think id drop 3k for one.i have a guy who is offering me an identical model of the 4-octave one, but he said he wants "more than 7500" for it.im thinking about this instead:https://www.soundsonline.com/Dulcitone-Celesta-pr-RS-DCM.htmlthe demos sound really good. only problem is, i cant tell if i can use it with my PT 6.9/G5 PowerPC dual core setup. website doesnt say if it works as a plugin, or standalone, or what(or maybe im just dense about computer specs and compatibility, which is also true). My guess is you will get a lot of WAV files (or Gigas), plus some presets that will contain the layers pre-programmed for you. You will not get a sample player like you get in some packages, so for best results it would be good to have either Kontakt 2+, Gigasampler, Halion, or EXS-24. As a note, it looks like you can save a tad of money by downloading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tzenka Posted November 19, 2008 Members Share Posted November 19, 2008 Hello, I have one and I am thinking of selling it... If I decide to do so, it will probably be about $5,000. It Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rj.phila Posted November 19, 2008 Author Members Share Posted November 19, 2008 tzenka-thanks for that. i probably wouldnt pay 5k for a table top model,personally. best of luck with your sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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