pdlstl
New member
Check out this thread at the SONAR forum
This looks very interesting!
Listen to the audio samples at the TruePianos website.
This looks very interesting!
Listen to the audio samples at the TruePianos website.
TruePianos
- Thread starter pdlstl
- Start date
Toddskins
Member
so-so
The Christmas Time track was the best of the lot.
Here's what to pay attention to, when judging:
1) Fast notey pieces, such as the Chopin etude, do NOT do piano sample assessment justice. Fast notey pieces, do NOT allow for the depth of intonation that we pianists listen acutely for. On fast pieces, almost any keyboard sound sounds very similar to any other. Get the idea? So, do slow!
2) Look for chords played in all registers, and allow them to sustain and die out. First one, let it ring and die, then another. Then do the same things with added bass octaves or jazz voicings. Occasional diminished chords, and a few slow jazz progressions, demonstrate sound dynamics that we listen for.
3) Do the above, again, this time with sustain pedal added and removed, deliberately, to allow us to hear how it sounds.
4) Pieces with other instruments do NOTHING but distract from the judgment. We are evaluating the Piano sound, not the recording/production of a song or ensemble. So why do companies do this?
In my own assessment, mostly from Christmas Time, so-so. I listen for depth, string dynamics between various velocities, and some type of sounding board beyond simple & plain.
Maybe this is a good sample for VST, I dunno. But as far as Piano samples that I am used to (pro gear hardware and keyboards), nothing to write home about.
My 2 cents.
The Christmas Time track was the best of the lot.
Here's what to pay attention to, when judging:
1) Fast notey pieces, such as the Chopin etude, do NOT do piano sample assessment justice. Fast notey pieces, do NOT allow for the depth of intonation that we pianists listen acutely for. On fast pieces, almost any keyboard sound sounds very similar to any other. Get the idea? So, do slow!
2) Look for chords played in all registers, and allow them to sustain and die out. First one, let it ring and die, then another. Then do the same things with added bass octaves or jazz voicings. Occasional diminished chords, and a few slow jazz progressions, demonstrate sound dynamics that we listen for.
3) Do the above, again, this time with sustain pedal added and removed, deliberately, to allow us to hear how it sounds.
4) Pieces with other instruments do NOTHING but distract from the judgment. We are evaluating the Piano sound, not the recording/production of a song or ensemble. So why do companies do this?
In my own assessment, mostly from Christmas Time, so-so. I listen for depth, string dynamics between various velocities, and some type of sounding board beyond simple & plain.
Maybe this is a good sample for VST, I dunno. But as far as Piano samples that I am used to (pro gear hardware and keyboards), nothing to write home about.
My 2 cents.
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Good analysis Toddskins, I'll pay you back your 2 cents if you've similar comments about the standard keyboards you've tried (although it would be going off topic slightly, i accept PMs !)
I know it's all subjective but I've been majorly disappointed by all the piano sounds from the major players out there (mainly distorted megaphone style midrange) until I played the Fantom X8, but as a workstation it's too big to gig so I got the Fantom XR rack unit, but it hasn't got exactly the same piano on
but there's also these 'hand made' samples I could load into the XR
http://www.williamcoakley.com/
but I'm kinda put off by his "absolutely no money back" small print!
I know it's all subjective but I've been majorly disappointed by all the piano sounds from the major players out there (mainly distorted megaphone style midrange) until I played the Fantom X8, but as a workstation it's too big to gig so I got the Fantom XR rack unit, but it hasn't got exactly the same piano on
but there's also these 'hand made' samples I could load into the XR
http://www.williamcoakley.com/
but I'm kinda put off by his "absolutely no money back" small print!
Toddskins
Member
William Coakley
Hey Cazzbar,
I had never heard of this guy before, and am quite impressed with what he personally wrote about his attitude and how he went about doing his projects. He is exactly right on. I feel as though he was writing words I would have written.
His writing about the sound of the piano vs. "realism", was on target.
Doing more with less, again on target.
I wrote in this forum many months ago, that the samples I play through my Kurzweil K2500XS with only 16MB and also 64MB samples, far exceed all the hoopla that gigapiano and other companies etc. rave about, including Roland, Yamaha, and Korg keyboard stocks.
So, I was stoked to see this guy Coakley write in an authoritative way what backed up my position, having never heard or read this guy before.
Thanks for that link!
Todd
Hey Cazzbar,
I had never heard of this guy before, and am quite impressed with what he personally wrote about his attitude and how he went about doing his projects. He is exactly right on. I feel as though he was writing words I would have written.
His writing about the sound of the piano vs. "realism", was on target.
Doing more with less, again on target.
I wrote in this forum many months ago, that the samples I play through my Kurzweil K2500XS with only 16MB and also 64MB samples, far exceed all the hoopla that gigapiano and other companies etc. rave about, including Roland, Yamaha, and Korg keyboard stocks.
So, I was stoked to see this guy Coakley write in an authoritative way what backed up my position, having never heard or read this guy before.
Thanks for that link!
Todd