Piano Software Synths?

[brianh]

Hi Everyone,I've been a member of TAXI for many years, but this is my first post. I just received a critique from TAXI, saying that my piano sounded too much like a MIDI keyboard. This was disappointing because it was the first song I recorded with my new Ivory Software from Synthogy, and I thought it sounded very realistic. However, I've never owned a real piano, so maybe I just don't know. What piano software do you use and recommend?Thank you!Brian

[allends]

Quote:Hi Everyone,I've been a member of TAXI for many years, but this is my first post. Welcome to the forum Brian!!Quote:I just received a critique from TAXI, saying that my piano sounded too much like a MIDI keyboard. This was disappointing because it was the first song I recorded with my new Ivory Software from Synthogy...Maybe it's not the software: Did you perform your sequence or did you type it in? Did you quantize your tracks? Did you add a touch of high-quality reverb for more room ambience or was it mixed dry?Others could help you better than I can, but even they could help you more if you could post a link to your song.Cheers,Allen

[sgs4u]

Without hearing your track, it's impossible to guess what the screener meant I'd be willing to bet that the screener means the piano sounds like the timing is too stiff. Like it's been quantized too hard. Because there are a lot of people getting forwards with piano samples that don't pack nearly the sound quality punch that Ivory does. an old song title comes to mind... It Ain't the Meat It's the Motion - or, how you play, matters as much or more than the instrument you play it with. . Quote:Hi Everyone,I've been a member of TAXI for many years, but this is my first post. I just received a critique from TAXI, saying that my piano sounded too much like a MIDI keyboard. This was disappointing because it was the first song I recorded with my new Ivory Software from Synthogy, and I thought it sounded very realistic. However, I've never owned a real piano, so maybe I just don't know. What piano software do you use and recommend?Thank you!Brian

[steini]

http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?b ... page=1This post made me start looking for Ivory for my piano and I mostly use piano for my pieces. So it must be something other than the sample U are using.

[stick]

Quote:http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?b ... page=1This post made me start looking for Ivory for my piano and I mostly use piano for my pieces. So it must be something other than the sample U are using.Hey, thanks for the referral! Yeah, Ivory is nice. For those I used the Steinway sample. And a nice reverb from TLSpace... which is a convolution reverb, and sounds pretty great. I find I rarely use the Bosendorfer... I've got another big sample for that that I like better. But for rock tracks, the Yamaha in Ivory is great. Punchy and bright with plenty of vibe. For for solo piano, the Steinway is the best of the stock sounds. I have yet to check out the Italian Grand... I've got too many other sounds to get before I need another piano, while the Steinway works very well.

[brianh]

Hi Everyone,Thank you for all the helpful advice. Since I'm new to Ivory, I'm still learning to tweak the settings for the best sound. In the past few days, I've discovered some Ivory settings that sound much better. I still thought the first piano sounded good and realistic, though. Looking at the review again, I'm guessing the bad string samples cast the piano in a bad light -- guilt by association, so to speak! Here was the review I got:Brian,thanks for submitting this piece, it is very well written and creates just the right mood for this listing, however, the producers are very picky and reject anything that sounds synthetic or MIDI generated, which your strings do, also the piano sounds very digital (you might get away with that, but not with strings). Check out better sample libraries like Sonivox and Vienna Instruments, also think about adding live players to your production, even one player can add a lot of realism and make a huge difference. I would like to forward you next time. Good luck!Thanks again, everyone!Brian