Pop’s Most Beloved Piano
3:22
The distinctive sound of Abbey Road pop history
A beloved Steinway Vertegrand, expertly recorded at its legendary home: Abbey Road, Studio Two. Full of character and nostalgic charm, with a bright, metallic tone owing to its lacquered hammers. Famous for its use on countless ’60s pop era records, including The Zombies, Russ Conway and The Beatles, featuring prominently on Penny Lane and With A Little Help From My Friends. Close, Room and Vintage signals. Five presets. Six controls. Available in our easy-to-use, award-winning plug-in.
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Listen to Originals Mrs Mills Piano
Staying A While - Homay Schmitz
7:41
What's Included
Presets (5)
- Close
- Clean
- All Together
- 1968
- Distant
Signals (3)
- Close — A pair of vintage German valve microphones. These beautiful microphones that have been in the Abbey Road collection since the early 1960s were placed in front of the sound board for a full, rich spread.
- Room — The warm acoustics of Abbey Road Studio Two were captured using a spaced pair of omni mics. These detailed and well balanced microphones are ideal for a natural sounding pick up of ambient spaces.
- Vintage — The classic sixties Abbey Road recording chain. Now extremely rare, the D19 microphone was placed above the strings in the middle of the piano and recorded using an all valve tape machine.
FAQs
What is Mrs Mills Piano?
This beloved Steinway vertegrand was expertly recorded at its legendary home: Abbey Road, Studio Two. Full of character and nostalgic charm with a distinctly bright, metallic tone, owing to its lacquered hammers. Features prominently in The Beatles tracks Penny Lane and With A Little Help From My Friends. Still in use today, the piano has featured on countless records and film scores, but has been affectionately known for decades by Abbey Road engineers and artists as the ‘Mrs Mills Piano’, in homage to British pianist Gladys Mills, the majority of whose popular music hall, singalong-style records were recorded on this piano throughout the 1960s and ‘70s.
What is the difference between Originals Mrs Mills Piano and Originals Jangle Box Piano?
While both pianos were recorded at Abbey Road, Studio Two and are most well known for their use on various legendary ‘60s pop records and film scores, each has a unique history and sound. Mrs Mills Piano is a Steinway vertegrand with a warm and bright sound that cuts through a mix, owing to its lacquered hammers. The piano has been slightly detuned to give it a characterful chorus effect. Jangle Box Piano is a tuned Challen ‘studio’ piano with two distinctive characters — one mellow, warm and dark, and the other bright and percussive, reminiscent of a tack piano (owing to its felt-tipped brass strips that drop between the hammers and strings when engaging the centre foot-pedal).