steinway d samples thanks matt!!!

[coolmandude]

[mazz]

So what library of Steinway D samples did matto recommend? We wanna know too!! Mazz

[matto]

I'm moving...I haven't posted on the forum in several days...I have no idea why he's thanking me, cause I didn't recommend anything .I was talking more in general terms in the video...to make a point...but the piano sample I was thinking about when I said what I said was Sampletekk's Black Grand.Which I think is stunning. But there's plenty other HQ piano sample libraries on the market these days, I'm not saying this one's the BEST.Anyway back to moving... matto

[kevinmathie]

Speaking of piano samples, has anyone tried VSL's Bosendorfer Imperial yet? I'm interested in it, what with all the prepared piano stuff. So, I'm hoping someone has tried it out and can weigh in on it. I like Bosendorfers. I don't know that I like them better than Steinways; they just have a different sound, which I want sometimes.

[zink]

Quote:I like Bosendorfers. I don't know that I like them better than Steinways; they just have a different sound, which I want sometimes.Yeah, they're a nice midpoint between Steinways and Bechsteins

[mazz]

I have the EW/PMI Bosendorfer library and it's fine. I've yet to find a sample that feels like a real piano but I haven't played all the sampled ones out there. I have a Steinway library as well but I don't use it as much. The new EW grand is many gigabytes of samples, I haven't heard it yet but it'll probably be pretty nice.Mazz

[matto]

Kevin, I'm also partial to the Boesendorfer sound. I don't have the VSL one as I don't care too much for the sound of the demos...I know it's not really fair to judge it by just the demos but I'm not really up for a $345 leap of faith , particularly since I already have a lot of great piano samples.My Boesendorfer of choice is "The Emperor" by Post, now distributed by Sampletekk (not to be confused with the EW/PMI Boesendorfer mazz mentioned). Its sound is the most like what I remember the real thing sounding like. Very clear and brilliant. A muscular and very versatile sound. With 12 dynamic layers for both pedal up and pedal down it is also quite expressive, and the K2 resonace script improves the realism further. No "prepared" samples though.I also have NI Acoustik Piano but I don't care for its Boesendorfer, nor its Steinway for that matter. The Bechstein is okay.I've tried the demos of the modelled instruments (Truepiano and Pianoteq), they feel great and are very expressive, however they don't sound "real" to me when I want a true, natural grand piano sound. They sound somewhat "synthy" to my ears.I also frequently use Sampletekks "Seven Seas Grand", which is a mellowish Yamaha C7. It's a 31 layer monster though and not for the faint of RAM. I mostly use it for solo stuff.matto

[mazz]

Kevin,I have an older collection (Akai format) of prepared piano that I think is really good. It's the Post Prepared Piano. Last I knew a company called Soundengine was selling it. Kontakt or most other modern soft samplers could convert it. It has some pianos prepared per John Cage's instructions for some of his compositions and also some other preparations. I haven't used it a lot but I used it for one cue for a film score a few years ago and it really made a great atmosphere, it ended up having a very "that music sounds kind of Asian/Gamelan but then again not really" vibe to it.I think prepared piano can work without being sampled at a gazillion velocity layers, etc., because it's an exotic sound anyway and a little goes a long way. If it were me, unless the normal piano was just awesome, I wouldn't buy a piano library solely on the strength of it's prepared piano.Here's the piece that uses the prepared piano if you're interested: http://www.johnmazzei.com/album/14The piece is called Seduction and the prepared piano comes in aroun 45 seconds.Have fun,Mazz