daposti
member
Joined: 11/03/03
Posts: 820
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The perfect piano sound?
#933735 - 11/08/11 07:56 PM
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I've been listening to alot of piano tracks and trying out some of my own. I'm just
wondering if anyone has any tips for what to look for. I've been quite successful with the
Piano sounds I have with emulator x and using the tremelator to make the sound more dub
like, works ok on chords. I was looking at getting something better though as the E.P's
can be a bit weak on most soft synths. I was thinking of Lounge Lizard and quite liked the
demo's on the site. Anyone using this already can give me some feedback. How would this
compare to say a real fender rhodes? Is there any alternatives? I see piano in all its
carnations as a very important part of music from garage to classical but getting the
ideal sound isn't easy.
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Bob Moose
Joined: 17/01/08
Posts: 885
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Re: The perfect piano sound?
[Re: daposti]
#933757 - 11/08/11 09:58 PM
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Quote daposti:
I was looking at
getting something better though as the E.P's can be a bit weak on most soft synths. I was
thinking of Lounge Lizard and quite liked the demo's on the site. Anyone using this
already can give me some feedback. How would this compare to say a real fender rhodes? Is
there any alternatives?
Due to
neighbourhood, lack of space, budget, need for bass-like low notes, etc I bought an actual
Rhodes piano though I am originally an acoustic piano player. All Rhodes are quite
different, especially because there have been many different models since the 60s. Mine is
a MK1 model from 1975, with the built-in Suitcase amplifier, so it has a rather low
frequency sound (not metallic / glockenspiel-like at all). Other Rhodes are bright and
metallic.
So it's a lot about which kind of Rhodes sound you are after (though and EQ
or an amplifier simulator can help a lot).
I tried nearly all the available
plugins and they sound completely different than my Rhodes. But some have an interesting
sound of course. Besides Lounge Lizard, you should try the various MrRay VSTs and the
Scarbee Classic Electric Piano (now Native Instruments), for example.
I am using
both the Scarbee sample bank and the first MrRay (which is free). They both have
advantages and drawbacks. The Scarbee is not 88-note and the highest notes are extremely
aggressive (I think), and I am not a big fan of the amplifier emulation. Also, the release
sound is really too clean compared to an actual old Rhodes, but it's probably not
important unless you want an exact VST clone (there are none anyway). Finally, you may
need to find a solution for editing the velocity curve (not possible unless you have the
full version of Kontakt). Besides this it's pretty good and quite inexpensive.
The
free MrRay has a more realistic release (if not exaggerated) but it sounds a bit like a
Wurlitzer. I find it cool actually.
-j
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MarcusH
Joined: 02/02/08
Posts: 442
Loc: Mumbai
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Re: The perfect piano sound?
[Re: daposti]
#933792 - 12/08/11 04:47 AM
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Try out True Pianos from 4front Technology. You can download and demo
before buying. There is also a an SOS review - and I think elsewhere, Mike Senior mentions
it in a Mix Rescue.
Finally - I can recommend it. 
Marcus
-------------------- You live. You learn.
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smash4686
Joined: 30/05/11
Posts: 64
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Re: The perfect piano sound?
[Re: MarcusH]
#933872 - 12/08/11 12:02 PM
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I second the 4front piano. Just tried it and it sounds great. Can't believe it's only
100MB compare to Ivory which is something like 32GB. Though not quite as good as Ivory it
isn't at all far off and I was having no CPU spikes like I do with Ivory. I also layered
it with my electric piano and it was sounding lush..
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Richie Royale
Joined: 12/09/06
Posts: 3456
Loc: Bristol, England.
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Re: The perfect piano sound?
[Re: daposti]
#933885 - 12/08/11 12:29 PM
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I have the AAS Lounge Lizard and a Rhodes 73. The LL does sound reasonably authentic, but
some notes do sound more synth like; but you do get lots of options, amp mods, wurlitzer
sounds and effects. The Rhodes is unique, it doesn't sound like another one and this is in
part due to many factors; the age of the tines, the position of the pick ups, the hammer
speed and your playing of it. I have thought about selling the Rhodes, but I'm still yet
to find a VST or Synth that captures the (bad and good)aspects of the real thing. Best EP emulation I have heard is on the Nord Electro.
-------------------- http://soundcloud.com/richie-royale
http://www.mixcrate.com/richieroyale
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Dave B
Joined: 03/04/03
Posts: 5384
Loc: Maidenhead
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Re: The perfect piano sound?
[Re: daposti]
#933970 - 12/08/11 08:13 PM
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Have you considered Modartt Pianoteq? Have a listen to the demos - they also do electric
piano versions. Only limit is your CPU which these days should be pretty nifty. The cheap
version is on my shopping list...
--------------------
Veni, Vidi, Aesculi
(I came, I saw, I conkered)
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DaveFry
Joined: 28/07/10
Posts: 160
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Re: The perfect piano sound?
[Re: daposti]
#933980 - 12/08/11 08:47 PM
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I'm very impressed with ; MOTU Electric Keys , and Steinberg's The Grand ( both
64bit now ). In 1982 I bought a brand new Fender Rhodes 73 Mk II Suitcase .
After a year I moved every pickup closer to each tine for a slightly overdriven funky
sound and ran it through a compressor . After 3 years of gigging with it six nights a week
I gave it away because it was worn out ! -Wish I'd kept it now...  
-------------------- Music is it's own reward .
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Sam Holloway
Joined: 13/08/11
Posts: 3
Loc: VIC
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Re: The perfect piano sound?
[Re: DaveFry]
#934027 - 13/08/11 06:41 AM
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I would have to say Pianissimo is the best i've come across. I've tried them
all and Ivory2 comes close but this fits into any mix so well and is great live. http://www.acoustica.com/pianissimo/
-------------------- www.samholloway.com.au
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ef37a
Joined: 29/05/06
Posts: 5669
Loc: northampton uk
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Re: The perfect piano sound?
[Re: daposti]
#934028 - 13/08/11 07:05 AM
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I would like to give another vote to Pianoteq.
Not only does my fussy son like
the sound but they are also very nice people to deal with and make installation and
activation very painless.
We have the 64bit version of Play installed on a
modest 2 core Ath' 2.7G, 2G ram pc and it works glitch free grabbing just 7-8% of CPU.
Dave
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Bob Moose
Joined: 17/01/08
Posts: 885
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Re: The perfect piano sound?
[Re: Sam Holloway]
#934073 - 13/08/11 12:34 PM
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Quote Sam Holloway:
I would have
to say Pianissimo is the best i've come across.
I've tried them all and Ivory2
comes close but this fits into any mix so well and is great live.
http://www.acoustica.com/pianissimo/
I just tried it, and I think it has a pleasing
sound indeed. For the price it is really good. But why is there no half-pedal? They should
really add it. Even an ADSR envelope on which the release time can be controlled by MIDI
is better than nothing, and it is really simple to program.
For piano I use
Ivory 2 Italian Grand (I do not have the full Ivory sample banks). When it comes to
acoustic piano sound I personally prefer Steinway to Fazioli, but this VST is really good,
the only thing I dislike is the upper octave that sounds bright and aggressive even when
playing softly. I hate this, and lots of acoustic pianos are actually voiced that way
today. For me it has to be bright and aggressive only when playing fortissimo.
I also
tried Galaxy Vintage D, which is great too, but the upper octave is still voiced too
bright compared to the remaining. More importantly, there is a problem with the half-pedal
that I cannot fix, making it impossible to play in practice.
Sadly, I would say my
old Yamaha P-250 controller is still hard to beat in terms of sonic balance across the
*whole* range, but of course VSTs have a way better, more expressive sound (albeit with
some minor nasty problems).
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mchabot
Joined: 16/10/10
Posts: 4
Loc: Ottawa, ON Canada
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Re: The perfect piano sound?
[Re: daposti]
#934702 - 16/08/11 04:05 PM
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I really have to second (third?, fourth?) the Mr Ray VSTs. They are very good. There a
DSK Rhodes VST as well that is quite good, its name escapes me just now.
For
straight piano sounds, I quite like NI's Akoustik Piano. With some tweaking of the
existing settings you can get some great sounding piano sounds.
I often find
that layering multiple instances of the track using different instruments (VST or natural,
although easier to do with VSTs) yields some results otherwise not possible with just one
instrument. I've had good luck layering Mr Ray 73 with that DSK one. I guess you have to
tweak things to get the best of the instruments and accentuate that on each track.
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