Pianoteq - Modelled Pianos ?

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Ron H
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Pianoteq - Modelled Pianos ?

Post by Ron H »

Has anyone had experience playing the pianoteq modelled piano? Its only 8mb. The website has a free trial download of it.

[http://www.pianoteq.com/]




Theres some comparison between several pianos here, including the pianoteq. The poll has it ranked above william coakleys piano and synthogy ivory.

[http://www.playivorys.com/modules.php?n ... no_compare]
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Artemiy
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Re: Pianoteq - Modelled Pianos ?

Post by Artemiy »

Moved to "Computers and Software". For your information, "Sound Libraries" if for Roland-related discussions only.

BTW, Pianoteq plugin sounds very interesting as to me, I listened to demos last month and was pretty impressed.
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SammyJames
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Re: Pianoteq - Modelled Pianos ?

Post by SammyJames »

Ron:

MY GOD. THAT is unreal. I mean that it really IS UNREAL!!! And it sounds really, really cool. In fact, what is strange is that the sound is highly reminiscent of Lyle Mays's sound from the early 1980s.

I'm pretty much sold on the idea. I will probably wait until someone buys me a copy for my birthday, but I look forward to trying this thing out. It sounds as though it is probably more fun to play than most sampled pianos, and I enjoyed listening to the texture. I guess that this module comes with some free add-ons as well, which is nice.

Thanks for posting this.

- Sammy

Good night, and good luck.
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stevie
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Re: Pianoteq - Modelled Pianos ?

Post by stevie »

Yep they're good, and now there's modelled orchestras too. http://www.synful.com/

Steve
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Artemiy
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Re: Pianoteq - Modelled Pianos ?

Post by Artemiy »

I finally dedicated some time to check Pianoteq out today. Here are my conclusions.

It does a pretty great job at modeling in general, very nice for a first serious piano modeling plugin. A lot of things to adjust the tone and you can get lots of different grands and pianos and even some marimba type sounds.

However... It can't touch sampled pianos so far, because:
- It sounds way too pure, weak and "simple"
- Very, very poor mid and low range
- It doesn't have any kind of "sparkle"

For example, the Fantom-X grand beats this one to dust with just one key. Even the Juno-G grand piano sounds more rich across all keys. So nothing to worry about yet - though I am looking forward at the progress of this technology.
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SammyJames
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Okay, now I've had it...

Post by SammyJames »

Wow. That Synful thing is GREAT. I am not QUITE ready to junk my Stradivari violin, but I am thinking that perhaps within the next one year to five years, we will see as most "sampled libraries" are replaced by products like this.

The piano, I agree with Artemio on. I think that it is possible that the modelled piano technology may in fact overtake the sampling, especially because it is so good and requires so little memory. Right now it is true that the sampled pianos are more abundant and have more power. I suspect that this will change, although I could be wrong. When you digitize something though, there is a good chance that you can replicate it without having to record it first. If you can put it into your computer, you can probably create it with the same computer.

I would love to run some of these as plug ins and see how much more headroom I get in memory usage. I could imagine running WAY more effects and have really giant track counts and so on.

Anyway, food for thought...

- Sammy

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SammyJames
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And on the subject of Pianoteq...

Post by SammyJames »

By the way, I had another listen tonight. It strikes me that what Artemio wrote is true -- that is, the Pianoteq instrument is NOT that powerful. But it sounds, to me, a lot like the pianos that I grew up with -- the REAL pianos -- and in particular the ones that I played in college.

At universtiy, we had several big Baldwins. (I graduated from music school, in case anyone cares) and I got to play some really nice keyboards. The Falcone, the Steinway, and the Baldwin were all wonderful to play.

The Pianoteq sound, at least the one in the demos, sounds a lot like those concert grands. It has a really warm and ROUND sound, much warmer and more pleasant to my ears than a lot of the sampled pianos out there. I guess if you are trying to blow the audience out the back wall, then yeah, you might prefer a Roland piano. But for my tastes, I prefer the subtler complexities of the Pianoteq version.

Just my opinion.

- Sammy

Good night, and good luck.
http://www.sammyjames.com
stevie
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Re: Pianoteq - Modelled Pianos ?

Post by stevie »

What are you trying to emulate - a real piano or a sampled piano? Real pianos don't really sparkle and we're now in real danger of turning this into a piano thread but here's my problem with sampled pianos - whether it be a roland or the giga grands;

Each note you play doesn't seem to come from the same instrument, they are not connected. For me, this is the real lack of playablity. For example, you can hold down the sustain pedal and max out of you poly and you still won't have a (real) muddy sound - try this on a real piano and it quickly becomes an incoherrent aural mess forcing you to release the sustain pedal if you want to hear the last note you played. I would actually never recommend a digital piano for anyone wanting to learn - it won't teach you how to use the pedals. The sound coming from a 'real' paino is entirely different.

I haven't got my fingers round a modelled piano yet but would love the chance if I ever see it on demo somewhere - they are supposed to be better with respect to the discussion above. I'll reserve judgement until I've tickled it's ivories.

Steve
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SammyJames
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Um... Steve?!

Post by SammyJames »

Yo dude:

You should definitely check out the demo at pianoteq.com. (It is also earlier in this thread.) I'm not being difficult, I'm just saying that even *I* haven't yet downloaded the playable demo there. But I have heard enough of the .mp3 files there to know that I want one.

:)

Anyway, check it out and let us know what you think. Too, I agree with you, and that is pretty much what I was saying in my last post -- that the Pianoteq sound is way closer to real pianos that I've played. I think that the sampled pianos that Artemio and others have described are good for certain applications, in particular when playing with real rock bands in live situations. For recording, I would prefer the Pianoteq sound.

I'll let you know when I've bought the product, maybe later this week.

- Sammy

Good night, and good luck.
http://www.sammyjames.com
stevie
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Re: Pianoteq - Modelled Pianos ?

Post by stevie »

Sammy, you keep saying your difficult, give it a rest ;¬)

Will give it a listen on the MP3 but I'm NEVER convinced by listening to MP3 for various reasons, but primarly in terms of playability you can't gauge dynamic response (how it feels under your fingers) which gives you the pleasure in playing it. Will check it out, but I got too much stuff already and want to avoid gear lust....

Actually, since you're already on a 'puter, can you check out the downloadable synful demo - like to know what you think about the modelled orchestra. I know it sounds impressive at first, but you gotta play about to know what it's all about.

Steve
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SammyJames
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Re: Pianoteq - Modelled Pianos ?

Post by SammyJames »

Steve:

Yeah, I downloaded the demo. I am happy that I didn't just buy it. It sounds only okay. You can read my review in "Computers and Software" here on RC.

- Sammy

Good night, and good luck.
http://www.sammyjames.com
stevie
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Re: Pianoteq - Modelled Pianos ?

Post by stevie »

Yep - my opinion is there too!
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