$299 or subscription
Far more than just an electric piano plugin, Electra 88 delivers some of the richest classic tones ever to be emitted from Andy Jones’ hard drive
Universal Audio work with some of the biggest classic music gear brands to produce component-level software emulations of the highest calibre. Until earlier this year you needed UA hardware to run them, but in February UA announced three plugin bundles that ran natively in any DAW – no hardware required. Select plugins were also made available natively to buy individually and this list has been growing ever since. This all-new Electra 88 is a brand new UA instrument, and an emulation of a 1974 Rhodes Eighty Eight Suitcase Mark 1 electric piano. It also runs natively in any Mac and PC DAW, and you can buy it for £$299 or as part of a UAD Spark subscription ($19/month or $149/year) this gets you Electra 88 plus more than 30 other native UA plugins.
Electra and more
At £$299 Electra 88 is one of the more expensive UAD plugins but it’s often discounted in the company’s sales – it’s half price as we write this. And Electra 88 is not just a piano emulation; its full title is ‘Electra 88 Vintage Keyboard Studio’ so it also includes studio effects, pedals and amps which can utterly transform your sound with gloriously vintage colour, dirt and flavour.
The signal setup of all of these sections flows left to right – pedals, amp and studio effects – with all the main levels controlled via the main screen. You can also focus in on each block by clicking the main UI options: Keyboard (shown above), Pedals (right), Amplifier and Studio (top right). This then opens another UI with extra parameters to tweak for each of the blocks.
Pedals, for example, open up a UI with three pedals on it and drop-down menus let you choose from Fil-Tron or Wah for the first, or one of six options each (Chorus, Compressor, Flanger, Phaser, Spring Verb and Tape Echo) for the second and third pedals.
All three amps give you a lesson in how mic positions and types really do make a sonic difference
Suitcase full of dreams
We cover the Studio window in more depth in the box right. That leaves the Amplifier Window, which again has three options to focus in on. This time you just get to choose one amp and mic setup combination which then appears back on the main Keyboard screen. These setups really do make a big difference to the sound because you get a wide range of options with each.
The Reverb Amp (as shown left) has one mic (choose from four types), two mic positions and two speaker types; the Suitcase Preamp has one or two mics (choose from four mics) and two positions; and the 147 Power Amp has three mic setups, two mics (choose from t
