Photo: Raph_PH · CC BY 2.0
Billy Joel has said he writes at a Steinway grand at home. On stage he has been seen using a Kawai VPC1 inside a piano shell playing Synthogy Ivory, a Shure SM58 and a Hohner harmonica. On Turn the Lights Back On he sang into a Telefunken ELA M 251.
“I just know that when I’m playing a Steinway, I’m always going to enjoy what’s coming out of that thing”
Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.
“I just know that when I’m playing a Steinway, I’m always going to enjoy what’s coming out of that thing”
“I just loved the sound of the piano that she had.”
He has said he writes at the Steinway at his home, and he is a Steinway Artist who has said he loved his teacher's Steinway Model B. On stage, his keyboardist David Rosenthal said Billy plays a Kawai VPC1 fitted into a hollow grand piano shell, triggering Synthogy Ivory.
A Shure SM58, both wired and as a capsule on wireless, according to his front of house engineer Brian Ruggles in FOH in 2015. On the 2001 Face 2 Face tour it was an Audio-Technica AT4054.
A Telefunken ELA M 251, which producer Freddy Wexler told Mix won out over the Beyerdynamic M 160 Billy had used on earlier records. The Steinway was miked with Neumann U87s into Neve 1073s.
Hohner. In 2019 Hohner released a Billy Joel Signature Harmonica in C, designed with him and modeled after the Hohner he has played throughout his career.
Synthogy Ivory, played from a Kawai VPC1 controller, with two systems and a Radial SW8 switcher as a backup, per David Rosenthal.
Brian Ruggles mixes front of house on a DiGiCo SD5 and Josh Weibel mixes monitors on a DiGiCo SD10, according to Mix in 2022.
Billy Joel is the Piano Man from Long Island, behind Piano Man, Uptown Girl and a record run of monthly shows at Madison Square Garden. This guide covers his Steinways, his stage piano rig, his vocal mics on stage and on Turn the Lights Back On, and the consoles his crew mixes on, from crew, producer and brand sources.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Billy Joel didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
Report an error or ask for removal. We fix or remove within 72 hours. You don't need to sign up.
Claim this page to make it yours: verify with your Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, keep what's right, drop what isn't, and add your own.
Claim this page
