Master this solo piano

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StarOcean27

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Hey guys, I have a solo piano that need some mastering. The piano alone sound good as it is, but volume is a bit too low. I did try to bring some dynamic up but that completely killed the emotion. Was wondering if anyone of you can take a chance on it. I have attached the unmaster and master versions so you can hear the difference.

Thanks. It would greatly appreciate.
 
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here's my go at it: I used MS EQ to cut some of the bass from the sides and used parallel compression and some limiting, oh and some maag eq boosted at 40kHz 8dB

View attachment 91745
 
Thank you all for giving this insight. You all did great!

I have found one that is similar to what I was looking for so I'm ending this thread. So until next time have a good one.
 
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I have some questions relating to digital recording. All of my piano solo are recorded using third party plugins. I was wondering how can I make my recording to have more color and up to par with the industry or commercial ones. For example, I like the style of Jim Brickman and have been a huge fan of his record, but Jim uses a real grand which I could never own one in my lifetime. So I was wondering how can I achieve the same result as his record. Does anybody know anything about what equipment they run through? Hardware wise. All of my digital recording are run through a low audio interface only. I'm not that satisfy with my quality. For example here's a track that has a solo piano in it. This piano sound like it's coming from the Nord Lead. Nord Lead has virtual analog pianos that just sound amazing. The Motifs are beautiful as well, I used to own 2 of them. But still, the quality is still not up to par with other records I've heard. Any other recommendation or hardware I should run them through? I don't own any outboard gears but I know in my heart it got to be something that I lack. Thanks for advice.
 
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Start with a good source. I use a Kawai CE 220 and the piano tones it generates are superb. The feel of the keys and the action are premier. The pedals act extremely realistically.
You mentioned NORD, but their keyboards usually run in the $5000 range, and do not have realistic (not any) pedals. They sound FABULOUS, but there are things you can't do with them.
Bringing me to the second point: If you want to sound like you're playing a grand piano, you must learn the techniques and skills it requires to play one well. There are touch and pedal techniques that can alter the way the piano sounds minimally, or even drastically. Playing a simple 1-4-5 progression can sound simple and simplistic, but can sound full and dynamic with the right hands playing...
 
You know when you first tuned into a piano or a song, that first gut feeling you have that you thought sounds really good can go away pretty quickly, and after a few listen it started to sound boring. That's me right there. What do you guys think about this and how would you sustain that feeling all the way through the entire song.
 
BroKen_H said:
Start with a good source. I use a Kawai CE 220 and the piano tones it generates are superb. The feel of the keys and the action are premier. The pedals act extremely realistically.
You mentioned NORD, but their keyboards usually run in the $5000 range, and do not have realistic (not any) pedals. They sound FABULOUS, but there are things you can't do with them.
Bringing me to the second point: If you want to sound like you're playing a grand piano, you must learn the techniques and skills it requires to play one well. There are touch and pedal techniques that can alter the way the piano sounds minimally, or even drastically. Playing a simple 1-4-5 progression can sound simple and simplistic, but can sound full and dynamic with the right hands playing...
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Great. Thanks for the info. Is there anything else (hardware) you run them through to generate a superb tone or is that all in the piano itself? I mean the piano might sound good but if you are recording directly into an audio interface wouldn't that just decrease the sound once it come out?
 
Yes, and no. There's no special outboard that I use. Just straight out of the trs outs into my US-1800 interface. From there into Reason. I've used the stock reverb in Reason. I've used several compressors to tighten up the dynamics if they didn't sound right. The piano and organ in THIS SONG were recorded direct with absolutely no tweaking/processing/etc. Just me playing and a little comp from the Selig Limiter. THIS ONE was not even comped. Just a notch in the eq to make it play well with the guitars. If you're working in band environment, you sometimes have to play with stuff to make it all sound well together, but solo piano should just be a matter of getting a good tone in. Keeping the attention comes from playing something interesting and well as much as the tone of the piano, but good tones don't hurt!
 
StarOcean27 said:
Thank you all for giving me a chance. You all did great!

I have found one that I like so I'm ending this thread. So until next time have a good one.
Click to expand...

so which one did you like the most? at least tell us
 
Btyre2013 said:
so which one did you like the most? at least tell us
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Sorry for the late reply. Yours sound really good and very convincing. I have nothing to complain about. Yes I like yours the most. :)
 
I could have told you that, Ben, you've got great ears...think I've mentioned that a few times.
 
Nvm.. I'll make a new post on another site.
 
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