Piano sounds and weighted keys

[Mezzo]

I'm a owner of a Yamaha p80, and what I especially like about it, is the action. The Pianosounds works at home, connected to the stereo, or through a nice pair of headset. What bugs me about it, is the "live sound" through a PA system. I've worked with our soundguy to produce more body to it, and still keep the typical Yamaha crispy clear sound, in which we haven't succeeded (This guy is one of the best in Norway). I think it sounds cheap (yes, I know the price of the p80 is cheap :-)).

 

So at this point I'm looking for a module + maybe other controllers.

I have played Kurzweill pc88, Roland A-90 + xv88, Kawaii mp9000, and none of these got to me when it comes to the pianos.

 

What I need is a good piano action, and expressive, full bodied piano sounds, as I'm a member of a highly acclaimed country-rock-pop band playing music of the late Nashville tradition.

 

I'm curious about a few products: Yamaha kx-88 (the action), Yamaha p100 (I don't like the p200 that much), Yamaha p50m, Oberheim minigrand, GEM realpiano, GEM pro2 (I've heard these are great for classical pieces....how about pop&rock).

 

Any comments, suggestions, recommendations??

 

I'm not a fan of Roland pianos.

[Dan Worley]

This may be too obvious -- but have you tried turning off the onboard effects. That's the first thing to go when I'm recording or playing live.

 

I'm glad you like the action of the P80. I'm thinking abut getting a P200.

 

Regards,

 

Dan Worley

[Guest]

Hey Mezzo :

Let me know what you find. What about the 64 MB Roland Piano card ? I haven't heard it yet but.....

I know what you mean. Both Roland and Yamaha have excellent actions and

dynamics that respond not only with volume but timbre also. But with Roland stuff, the sound isn't quite there yet (with the digitals I've worked with). Kurzweil had a nice start with the PC88 but no timbre changes with respect to velocity. If only someone would come out with a digital with, lets say,

3 exquisite multi-samples at 3 velocities and then use some sort of filter technology to bridge the gap between those velocities. Roland or Yamaha true hammer action. True sympathetic resonance (sustain pedal) and a sweet soft pedal. And just sell that. No bass, strings, harpsichord or tine piano samples. I have other gear that do those sounds way better anyway.

[Mezzo]

Originally posted by d-dmusic@home.com:

Let me know what you find. What about the 64 MB Roland Piano card ? I haven't heard it yet but.....

B]

 

The Roland Piano card was installed in my xv-88, and I wasn't really happy with that either. It sounds beautiful when you play ballads with a soft touch, but as you play harder you find a big gap between the four sample layers.

[guestuserguestuser.com]

Originally posted by d-dmusic@home.com:

[bKurzweil had a nice start with the PC88 but no timbre changes with respect to velocity. If only someone would come out with a digital with, lets say, 3 exquisite multi-samples at 3 velocities and then use some sort of filter technology to bridge the gap between those velocities.

[/b]

 

Have you checked out the Kurzweil PC2? Its piano sound has 3 velocity layers. I haven't played one for a couple of months, but as I remember it, you can hear the velocity switching if you really listen for it, but it's reasonably well-masked. Moreso on the acoustic piano patches, less so on the electric piano. Worth checking out. They also make a module version.

[coyote]

This is why I think the ultimate synth solution for emulating natural instruments will be "physical modeling". Why play a recording of a struck string w/ all the inherent limitations when you can have virtual strings? The Hammond emulations took a major step forward when tonewheel modeling became the technology of choice. So you model three strings per key across 88 keys. You model the detuning to provide richness. You model the curve of light-to-heavy playing against both timbre and attack. You model the resonance of the other strings, and of the soundboard. And you do it in MONO. A piano, after all, has only one soundboard. And I guess you must also model the tonal variance produced by opening the cover...

 

Originally posted by d-dmusic@home.com:

Hey Mezzo :

If only someone would come out with a digital with, lets say,

3 exquisite multi-samples at 3 velocities and then use some sort of filter technology to bridge the gap between those velocities. Roland or Yamaha true hammer action. True sympathetic resonance (sustain pedal) and a sweet soft pedal. And just sell that. No bass, strings, harpsichord or tine piano samples. I have other gear that do those sounds way better anyway.

 

 

 

This message has been edited by coyote on 06-19-2001 at 10:01 AM

[mreddyson]

I have yet to see a keyboardist with a band using their laptop onstage live as their main digital piano sample or for Rhodes (Emagic Plug in).

They all seem to be still using digital pianos by Roland, Kurzweil or Yamaha. Why is that?

Is the nuance so subtle that in a live band setting that it's not worth the hassle? The hassle of what?

 

If one wants to use a Gigasampler on a laptop live, for example with East West's Stienway B sample, and ALSO be able to switch to Emagic's Computer Plug in Rhodes, wouldn't that require opening and closing back and forth between Gigasampler and Logic? That would be very time consuming, wouldn't it?

 

Check this out. Purgatory Creek did a Digital Piano Shoot out using the the same MIDI file, they made an MP3 for each digital piano. You can hear for yourself the difference between a real Steinway, Gigasampler, P80, PC2x, Xv-88 AND the SRX-02.http://www.purgatorycreek.com/pianocompare.html