The greatest star of early cinema, Charlie Chaplin, was awarded an official ‘Blue Plaque’ by English Heritage on Wednesday 14th June – ably supported by comedian, Paul Merton, composer, TV presenter/historian Neil Brand and the fast-rising keyboard maker Dexibell.
The plaque was unveiled at Charlie Chaplin’s ‘cherished haven’ flat at 15 Clenshaw Mansions in Lambeth, and comedian Paul Merton hosted a celebratory afternoon showing three short Chaplin movies at the iconic Ritzy Cinema.
To provide as authentic a ‘silent era’ piano accompaniment to the Chaplin films as possible, Dexibell supplied a VIVO H7 which was used by composer, author,TV presenter and silent era specialist Neil Brand using the Dexibell’s own internal amplification and its ‘VIVO GRAND’ signature Piano sound.
Commenting on the event and his experience with the VIVO H7, Neil Brand said: ‘The Dexibell keyboard both looked and sounded classy, giving me plenty of scope for a broad range of sound just on piano alone. The range of other sounds it can produce is impressive, but for my needs it’s great to find a portable, flexible keyboard which responds like a real piano in a silent movie situation – the attack, sustain and note control made both fast, percussive runs and light, melodic textures easy to play and sound excellent.’
Dexibell’s Brand Manager for the UK, Mike Roissetter, explained how Dexibell became involved: ‘After playing and falling in love with our VIVO piano, it was Oliver Wakeman who put English Heritage in touch with us about providing the most realistic piano as possible without having the impractical option of unloading an acoustic piano into a cinema. VIVO was perfect. With 112 Watts of internal amplification, the VIVO piano filled the cinema with amazing sound and the T2L (True To Life) technology shone through as Neil tested the Quad Core CPU to the limit with fast playing, keyboard runs and damper use.
‘The 24bit 48KHz technology meant that Neil could utilise the massive dynamic response in order to quickly change the mood. Polyphony is usually a factor with this type of playing but the unlimited polyphony of VIVO meant that a note was never missed. It was an honour for Dexibell to have been chosen to be involved in this extraordinary event.”
Info: www.proel.co.uk and www.dexibell.com