New piano VSTs Recommendations?

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kitbenz51
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New piano VSTs Recommendations?

Post by kitbenz51 » Fri Oct 02, 2020 2:02 pm

Hello everyone!
Apparently I need a new piano plugin. My East West Pianos gold has a lot of noise problems. So much so I got a return because of it.

Any recommendations? I have Kontakt so anything good there?

Thanks,
Kit

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Re: New piano VSTs Recommendations?

Post by steveprobst » Fri Oct 02, 2020 10:06 pm

kitbenz51 wrote:
Fri Oct 02, 2020 2:02 pm
Hello everyone!
Apparently I need a new piano plugin. My East West Pianos gold has a lot of noise problems. So much so I got a return because of it.

Any recommendations? I have Kontakt so anything good there?

Thanks,
Kit
Hi Kit. Hmmm. I just got some forwards recently on orchestral based tracks using EastWest Piano. Are you trying to get too much high end of them?
I don't do a whole lot of eq.
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Re: New piano VSTs Recommendations?

Post by hummingbird » Sat Oct 03, 2020 12:37 am

I used the EW Gold Pianos for a long time, but last year I got Noire from NI and it's my go-to now.

You can check it out here
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/p ... eys/noire/
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Re: New piano VSTs Recommendations?

Post by RPaul » Mon Oct 05, 2020 4:57 pm

If you've got Kontakt, at least in a Komplete bundle (I just upgraded from Komplete 12 to Komplete 13 yesterday), you've already got a number of very usable pianos. I've used The Grandeur (a Steinway, I think) more than the others, but I've also used others when I'm looking for different flavors, including The Gentleman (an upright), The Giant (a huge, and quite different, piano with sound design features), and probably others. I was just playing with Noire, which is new to me, last night. I think it's based on a Yamaha grand, and there are two models, one "pure" and one with a layer of felt added, and both versions also have sound design features. I suspect I'll end up using that a fair bit, too. I've also got Alicia's Keys, which is a Yamaha, and I've used that on some recordings.

Other pianos I've used a lot include the Galaxy Steinway (which also runs in Kontakt) and the Garritan Steinway Basic (I don't think that is available anymore, though) -- I do tend to prefer Steinways for most of my normal stuff. There is just something about the way playing translates to dynamics that I prefer (in real life, too) compared to Yamahas, where I usually feel like it's more of a loud or soft thing, but tougher to get smooth gradations in between. (My own piano is a 1940-something Story & Clark spinet, so perhaps my preference in action is based on that since I've played it nearly every day for over 55 years now -- started when I was 4 and just turned 60.) I also have the East West Boesendorfer 290, but I don't think I've ever used it on a recording to date. I've also used Arturia's Piano V2 on some recent recordings. It is physically modeled, rather than sampled, and it can emulate a number of different types of pianos (including both American and German Steinways). Guess sampled pianos for me are like the equivalent of guitars for guitarists -- you can never have enough of them. :)

I should note that my music tends toward pop, rock, country, etc., not classical, and only occasional hints of jazz and other styles. These days I'm playing the sampled pianos with a Roland A-88 controller.

If you do have Komplete (not sure what comes in Kontakt outside of the Komplete bundles), I recommend just trying all the pianos in that to see which ones you like for what types of music. If you have Arturia's V Collection, their Piano V2 is included in that.

Rick

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Re: New piano VSTs Recommendations?

Post by kitbenz51 » Wed Oct 07, 2020 10:59 am

PDebik wrote:
Sat Oct 03, 2020 12:59 am
kitbenz51 wrote:
Fri Oct 02, 2020 2:02 pm
My East West Pianos gold has a lot of noise problems.
I have not heard any noise on it. Can you give more details which of the pianos in what key range and what type of noise?
Here is a link to a track that was recently returned because of noise.

https://www.taxi.com/my/artist/songs/CJ ... moving-on
It's like a white noise. Somehow activated by the pedal. It could be too much boost in the high end but i don't think so. It's apparent even without eq. It's really annoying. There is a listing right now i want to submit to but I hesitate because of this.

Thanks for the recommendations i will check these out.

Cheers,
Kit

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Re: New piano VSTs Recommendations?

Post by RPaul » Wed Oct 07, 2020 12:47 pm

kitbenz51 wrote:
Wed Oct 07, 2020 10:59 am
Here is a link to a track that was recently returned because of noise.

https://www.taxi.com/my/artist/songs/CJ ... moving-on
It's like a white noise. Somehow activated by the pedal. It could be too much boost in the high end but i don't think so. It's apparent even without eq. It's really annoying. There is a listing right now i want to submit to but I hesitate because of this.
I get a 404 error on the link. I'm not familiar with that specific piano, but many piano VSTi's have the ability to turn off or turn down things like pedal noise. For example, I found that some of the NI NOIRE patches had objectionably loud pedal noises, and sometimes also other mechanical noises. But they also have the ability to turn those off altogether or turn them way down. Maybe the piano you're using has a similar capability?

Rick

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Re: New piano VSTs Recommendations?

Post by dannyrichardson » Wed Nov 25, 2020 8:57 am

There are a bunch of new great options. I would recommend the Ravenscroft 275 or Pianoteq. I personally used Addictive Keys & Keyscape for years and I now use Ravenscroft the most.

Here's a write up on some solid options that I found:

https://keyboardkraze.com/best-piano-vst-plugins/

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Re: New piano VSTs Recommendations?

Post by Ted » Wed Nov 25, 2020 5:09 pm

Kit, in which genres of music are you using your pianos?

I have several NI pianos and I tend to like Alicia's Keys a lot for some reason. I don't have Noire yet but it's on my list.

My default piano for a straight up basic grand piano has become Waves Grand Rhapsody. I freakin' love that one. I think it was sampled on the piano used on Adele's hits (I don't care for Adele, but still). It's priced really nice and you can get a free trial of it and see if you like it.

I also really dig IK Multimedia's Alan Parsons piano and their Brandenburg piano for Sample Tank-- I got these and some others in the Total Studio 2 Max sale (which is a steal, and this sale has been extended).

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