RMI Keyboard Computer circa 1974

Does anyone have any earthly idea where a guy might rent, perhaps buy one of these for use in a high school production of "The Pirates of Penzance?"

You don't need to rent an RMI to do "Pirates of Penzance" - the keyboard parts of post 1970 musicals are filled with lists of obscure electronic musical instruments that were used for the original productions. If you do "Cats" next year are you planning to rent Prophet Vs? (The original Broadway production of Cats used Prophet Vs and rhodes - I once met a keyboardist who was playing Cats one night when one of the Prophets caught fire.) If you want to match the RMI sound (sort of like a combination of a Wurlitzer electric piano and a harpsichord) there are RMI presets on many currently available synths. The various Roland "Vintage Synth" JV-80 and SRX boards have great versions of these. I suggest listening to your favorite recording of the show and determining what sort of sounds you want to use with currently available gear.

Thanks, I'll pass that along. I'm asking on behalf of the pit orchestra director.

Sorry, but I have played an RMI KC in person and I haven't heard those sounds on any modern synths.

The last time I played a show that was scored for RMI, it was the regular RMI electra-piano that was called for, not the super esoteric Keyboard Computer.

Are you sure the orchestra director is asking for the correct instrument?

No, not sure at all. He just asked me if I knew where he might put his hands on an RMI that had the "presets" or stops for the early 70's production of Pirates.

OK, what about the RMI you listed. Any leads?

This is an interesting thread, and one that I never thought I'd be part of. My home town is actually Rocky Mt., NC where that factory used to be. One of my best friends, a phenom on keys, used to have 1 and loved it.

As for your current connundrum (sp), I do have a possible solution. If you go to Hollowsun.com they have a huge wealth of vintage keys, and I know for a fact they used to have an RMI sample set.

Good Luck,

KC.

This is an interesting thread, and one that I never thought I'd be part of. My home town is actually Rocky Mt., NC where that factory used to be. One of my best friends, a phenom on keys, used to have 1 and loved it. As for your current connundrum (sp), I do have a possible solution. If you go to Hollowsun.com they have a huge wealth of vintage keys, and I know for a fact they used to have an RMI sample set. Good Luck, KC.

Thanks. Good thing I posted here.

Then for sure it is the Electra-Piano sounds you want. I used to own one, and was surprised that a dinner theatre gig I played one summer was scored for that very instrument.

You won't find too many of them around any more - they were reviled for their unrealistic piano sound and didn't even have a velocity sensitive keyboard.

Look for a sample set. If Hollow Sun has them, then all you need to find is a sampler or synth to load them into.

Sure, but that doesn't mean that it's a good idea for a high school theatrical production to spend a fortune renting an obscure 34 year old instrument which will quite possibly malfunction during at least one performance. I have spoken to representatives of some of the musical theater licensing companies and have repeatedly urged them to create keyboard books for amateur productions which reference the General MIDI soundset in their patch lists. If someone wants to be more ambitious and sit with an original cast recording and create custom programming on a high end synth that's great, but at least GM patches can give a rough idea of what's being sought, and there will always be some way to access those sounds. Unfortunately many of the licensing companies really don't care what happens in the orchestra pits of the shows they send out, they just want the fees.

Regardless of the merits of the RMI Keyboard Computer, how ridiculous is it for a high school band director to be hunting around for one in 2008?

i'm probably the only RMI owner on here...

Rundgren had great RMI sounds on A Wizard A true Star and Intitiation.

Not to downplay the instrument and as a former owner, there must have been a lot of studio wizardry going on.

Another consideration is the waveform cards. If you don't have those, you miss out on a lot the instrument can do. Since they were keypunch cardboard, there are not many that survived.