Are you looking for some vintage keyboards on your tracks reminiscent of The Doors, The Zombies or The Beatles? Maybe some blues, jazz, rag-time or ballad style piano played on a real 1950’s Challen upright…..? If you are then you have come to the right place!
Andy Pickering is a seasoned musician and has honed his craft in various bands and studio settings; a world tour in The Draytones, recording sessions with the likes of The Telmos and Joe Montague and in his session work for artists and producers including (list them here).
One thing Andy doesn’t compromise on is the quality of his instruments ranging from the 1958 Challen upright piano as heard on records by The Beatles, The Hollies and Pink Floyd, or the classic VOX Continental made distinctive by acts like The Doors, The Beatles and The Zombies.
If you need the sixties sound, a seventies electric piano or something specific to your tracks then Andy can write the part, record and mix it on the following gear.
The Phillips Phillicorda
A great organ for melody, rhythm and riffs. You can get a clean and mellow sound reminiscent of The Beach Boys and The Coral but also get hard gritty distorted sound to suit a garage and freakbeat sound.
Andy’s played this on a number of recordings recently including for The Active Psychos latest single Life / Where Is My Mind.
VOX Continental
The classic sound of the 60’s with bands like The Animals and The Doors as well as pop acts like The Zombies. John Lennon played this beauty at Shey Shea Stadium on I’m Down.
A really versatile instrument that can lead or be part of your backing track. really great loud and cranked right up but has some really subtle delicate tones when low volume.
The Continental became a popular instrument in the 1960s and 1970s, especially with garage and later new wave bands, and was used by the Beatles, the Animals, the Doors, Iron Butterfly, Elvis Costello, and Madness. After being phased out of production in the early 1970s, the instrument remained a sought-after combo organ by enthusiasts.
1958 Challen Upright Piano
Andy knew this was the piano for him the moment he played it in Abbey Road studios. A really great all-rounder with a beautiful range of tones. The piano was used on a fair few Beatles tracks from the white album era.
Andy uses this piano a lot and has recorded for a number of artists. The 3 mic set up means you’ll get a nice wide stereo recording to fit in your mix but can also be recorded for mono.
Nord Electro
This Nord is the most modern set of keys in the studio but has the some really authentic sounding emulations of hundreds of instruments. You can get a great sounding Hammond organ with or without the rotating Leslie speaker as well as many electric piano and combo organ sounds.
The likes of the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Small Faces, Kinks, Beachboys and everyone else are locked in here.
Andy can create so much just from this one instrument. The quality is professional and the final recording will be as high a standard as you could wish for.
