| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Piano Module/ software question (mono) | |
| time to talk -- 09/04/2007, 04:19:48 -- #36788 | |
| Hi All.. I think this issue has been done to death here before on LJP, but I'd like some fresh ideas from you guys (&gals) that have used or currentlyl using piano-modules/software programs.. I have a yamaha p90, sounds brilliant through the headphones, but sounds awful (phasey)when hooked up to my yamaha monitor speakers. I have sinces learned that this is due to the samples being in stereo and there is very little i can do about this. my question is; for those of you who have experienced this problem.. what alternatives in the way of modules or software have you used, if any, to get a 'non-phasey/hollow' piano sound when using a p/a or speaker system? I've heard of software programs such as Ivory Piano, Pianoteq,Truepianos. As far as Piano modules go I know I need to actually go into a store to check them out but it would be nice to know what's out there first. sorry this was so long.... | |
| Jazz+ -- 09/04/2007, 18:48:27 -- #36788 | |
| Roland has new module coming any day now called Sonic Cell that features their best piano samples and best Rhodes. I would wait for it. Roland is the only company that samples every single note for piano, the others sample a note and transpose it (crossfade) is across several neighboring keys. I always play with a stereo rig: Roland FP4 digital piano with a pair of EV SXa360 powered speakers. | |
| time to talk -- 09/05/2007, 02:54:40 -- #36788 | |
| thanks for the advice jazz+ I'll take a look at the roland module.. as I'm not really after another piano at the moment | |
| Jazz+ -- 09/05/2007, 10:15:30 -- #36788 | |
| Kurzweil has a fairly old module still on the market and so does GEM. | |
| alhaynes -- 09/06/2007, 09:11:19 -- #36788 | |
| 1. Get a stereo amp. It sounds like you already have 2 speakers. 2. Spend time adjusting the P90 thru your stereo speakers with the internal speakers (if any) off. 3. I get good results layering a little Ivory on top of my Yamaha P250. It took a lot of creative button pushing, but my P250 thru Klipsch speakers sounds fairly close to real thing. | |
| kensuguro -- 09/08/2007, 00:46:27 -- #36788 | |
| Roland may be the only company in the hardware world that samples all keys of the piano, but most software based synths have a much more detailed sampling interval. All notes, plus sometimes up to 16 different velocity layers, different sustain samples, release samples, convolution reverb, and also algorithms that simulate sympathetic resonance. Fuctionality wise, software samplers are ages ahead of hardware rom playback synths. (because soft samplers use quite a bit of PC power) Of course, samples for hardware synths are sampled by extremely experienced vendors, so they're also very good, but functionality is limited by the resources available on the hardware keyboard unit. Not to discredit what you said Jazz, but to supplement it. For software pianos, it's basically Ivory Piano vs Akoustic from Native Instruments. I have Akoustic, and like its brighter sound. Many people choose Ivory over Akoustic because Ivory samples all keys, and Akoustic is every other key. For me, I just simply like the sound of Akoustic's piano set (boesendorfer, bechstein, steinway, and a beat up upright) And because of Akoustic samples every other key, it's very light. (but still uses a fair amount of resources) The problem with the softsynths is that you need a fairly powerful laptop with external 7200rpm drive to use it with any sort of stability, meaning no clicks and pops. And if you're already going to have your P90 that weights a ton, you might not want to add more to your setup. Especially considering the price, and break-ability of the notebook and xp/softsampler. | |
| kensuguro -- 09/08/2007, 00:58:41 -- #36788 | |
| btw, I completely agree with jazz about Roland's Superior Grand samples being the best on the hardware market. Has most of the functionality that Ivory and Akoustic has, but just with less samples. You have to remember, with sampling, it's not necessarily quality = quantity. I've heard plenty of 40GB piano libraries sound worse than my p250 which probably has less than 100MB of samples. Alot of it is how the responds, and how it "plays".. which is exactly where the hardware vendors are a step a head since they've been doing it for so long. Many mega sampled soft sampler DVDs are produced by big time producers, engineers, etc. Not necessarily instrument making professionals, so sometimes they completely miss the mark, and produce a "awesomely done piano recording", and not an "awesome to play piano". | |
| alhaynes -- 09/11/2007, 10:20:15 -- #36788 | |
| While Ivory does a very good job of rendering piano midi files, it seems a little "distant" when used as a performance instrument. However, when I layer it with the P250 the result is better than the P250 alone. Ivory's hardware requirements do make it troublesome to set up - I have to use an external Firewire 800 drive. I've just received an internal 7200 rpm drive, but haven't installed it yet. If I could run Ivory on the laptop alone it would be a little less of a pita to set up. | |
| kensuguro -- 09/12/2007, 20:11:46 -- #36788 | |
| seems that's the main problem with these PC / notebook setups.. The hardware requirements are so steep, compounded with the expenses of the PA system required to bring out the minute nuances of the superfluously fine recordings make it quite inpractical for a live situation. And if you're recording in a studio, well, portability isn't an issue. | |
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