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18 Software Pianos Compared (video) - amazing


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by propianistUK (video):

 

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1aE-x1vcJ2w

 

propianistUK writes:

 

"I rendered it eighteen times over with eighteen different piano sources, and burned them all to CDR for lots of listening, and then I decided to assemble a side by side comparison, using the Mozart, split naturally into its 29 repetitive eight bar sections (that's the beauty of it!) for instant comparison, without interrupting the musical flow."

 

 

http://dz3jeg.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p8-sImCc6KqiO1XbBqedavUbg19Mpn92-7FnayPyW6nErKEpuMRLFIFUilsW0xAzjGy7PUgCty_w/29%20sections.jpg

 

 

More comparisons by propianistUK (audio only):

 

http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/topic/6/5096.html

 

Harry Likas was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Find 700 of Harry’s piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and jazz piano tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas

 

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Amazing dedication to make that video/recording although don't bother listening on YouTube as all audio is mono - go to the link below

 

http://download180.mediafire.com/9zezz1tghrwg/ynmmzqewmua/Rondo+Alla+Turca__eighteen+pianos__propianist__movie.mpg

 

to download the full quality video. Really surprised he uploaded it to YouTube as it almost makes the experiment pointless (unless u wanna hear how bad Ivory sounds in mono ;)

 

Shame the Nord Stage didn't make an appearance alongside the other hardware ones slipped in, as for my tastes nothing even comes close!

 

Thanks again for the link

 

Pete

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Wow!

 

Thanks for this sir. Excellent chops. I could not access the better video/audio file, but will persist. I wish to see a bit more GEM stuff, as this was very good and seemingly predates some of the other offerings. I listen to the tonal/volume balance between hands to judge. Bt I thin as was pointed out you need to also listen to a high quality file on a good sound system. Regards, Musicale

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Not enough Pianoteq. A little too much Ivory. Those are my initial

impressions. Something about the sound of the Pianoteq intrigues me

every time I hear it. I am currently playing a Yamaha s90es so I am familiar with an impeccable piano sound and am happy with it. But there seems to be some kind of quirky "aliveness" to the Pianoteq, especially the second snippet(Erard).

The Kawai did nothing for me and really suffered in comparison to the others.

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The Pianotek bars were the most appealing to me also! It's modeling if I remember, I read the review in KM a few months ago!

 

I had the GEM Expander module for many years it Was very good! Had a wide sound image but I thought it responded sluggishly! I didn't care for the high registers on it, might have been my controller. That's a good choice for an RD700 series using that as a controller with all the velocity and key scaling options in the Roland interface. Still, it may be a dated sound in some respects.

lb

 CP-50, YC 73,  FP-80, PX5-S, NE-5d61, Kurzweil SP6, XK-3, CX-3, Hammond XK-3, Yamaha YUX Upright, '66 B3/Leslie 145/122

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The Pianotek bars were the most appealing to me also! It's modeling if I remember, I read the review in KM a few months ago!

 

 

Modeled it is. Pianotek and True Pianos are the future IMHO not the mega gig sample pianos. At this time I find the modeling too consistent in timbre and their tweaks for timbre a bit too artifical sounding in resonance. I don't have good ears for pitch but something about the timbre of pure digital and hybrid models really bothers me.

 

Compared to what Roland sold at the beginning of the decade in the repurposed JV/SRX Pianos everything in the above sampler is far better. Most anything released from 2005 onward is really good.

 

I think the next generation has to focus on nuance and character. Perfectly consistent (all too consistent) Steinways and Bosendorfers are becoming old hat.

 

Damn we're getting spoiled :). And I'm really OK wth that.

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I am in the process of putting a portable gigging / DAW laptop together, and I have tried both TruePianos and Pianoteq.

 

I really wanted to love both of these products, but neither seems to be "there" yet in terms of providing good tone for jazz playing. Neither provides smooth, even articulation and attack on legato jazz lines.

 

I could see myself maybe using TruePianos on a rock gig, but it sounds no better than a Yamaha ROMpler piano (I might as well use hardware and save a lot of trouble).

 

Hopefully, both of these products will release updates at NAMM; however, for now, I'll spend my $200.00 +/- on Garritan Steinway Standard, and load lite versions of the samples for live playing. I may also get Ivory Italian Grand for brighter stuff.

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I thought the Erard and Bluthner samples were really unique--they sounded like instruments with a different philosophy behind them.

 

Overall, it's just amazing how far this technology has come.

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In case you missed the recent audio comparisons in Stephen Fortner's great article, "Ultimate Software Pianos", here is the link:

 

http://www.keyboardmag.com/article/ultimate-software-pianos/oct-08/87255

 

 

Harry Likas was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Find 700 of Harry’s piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and jazz piano tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas

 

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