The Smiley Smile Message Board

Where do you get them? I found a company called Schiedmayer that makes them, and I emailed them asking for a price, which I'm guessing will be very expensive. I believe Yamaha makes them, but their website doesn't give any information on how to obtain them. It just lists authorized Yamaha dealers, and none of the ones it listed for where I live carry celestas. I'd really just like an old secondhand celesta, for less than $1,000, even if it doesn't sound good. If anyone has any suggestions on where to look I'd be delighted.

Woah! I thought a celesta was like a xylophone, but it's like a piano thing...

What type of sound does it make?  Apparently there's one on a few BB's albums, but I don't know what to listen for...

(http://www.pianomuseum.at/celesta.jpg)

Essentially, it's a glockenspiel with a keyboard...

From wikipedia:

The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard.
The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set
of metal plates suspended over resonators.
There is a pedal to sustain or dampen the sound.

The sound of the celesta is akin to that of the glockenspiel,
but with a much softer timbre.
This quality gave rise to the instrument's name,
celeste meaning "heavenly" in French.

Bob Phillips
20to20soundesign

I have a simulated Celesta sound on my Korg sound module.. the sound sort of reminds me of when they fill drinking glasses with varying amounts of water and tap them with a spoon to create diferent musical notes

Girl Don't Tell me is perhaps the best, most audible use of Celeste.  Or, non-beach boys, dance of the sugar plum fairy.

Hmm, well if that's all it does...

I would think seriously about investing money in that... a good glockenspiel would surely fill that gap fine.  Perhaps there's even a way of muting a glockenspiel to make the sound warmer.

You're Welcome?

what's that?  ;)

A glockenspiel doesn't have a sustain pedal, and would be much more difficult to play, but I'd like a glockenspiel, nonetheless, if I ever have the money to get one.

That's like saying "that's all a guitar does"?  Might as well just get a bass and capo it up at the 12th fret.

The celeste really does have a very distinct sound from the glock, the sustain is critical to the sound.  Plus, it's impossible to play anything involving more than four notes at a time on a glock, not impossible, but unwieldy and not especially musical unless you have three of four hands.

It's used in the single version of Little Saint Nick as well. And in Brian's version.

Buddy Holly used a celeste on "Everyday".

It's a great song and production and I think Brian may have had it in mind making 'Girl Don't Tell Me".

i just used a hired celeste on a track i did today... it's a very old one... for recording it was very noisy and you could hear the keys clunking and the damper pedal made the whole thing creek... it's lovely when you get one that rings but some are really dampened.... best for a kind of twinkly sound!
have fun if you get one