But the jazz album changed matters considerably for me regarding piano needs. This had never been an issue for me with Pianoteq in small chamber music settings, rock music, and even some Broadway style arrangements.

Oh, and to amplify what Steve Nathan said earlier, I was at what I thought was final mix stage on this album when I began to notice how hard it was to get the pianos to slate in the mix.

Pianoteq still comes out at #2 or #3 in handling those challenges - and I haven't yet re-tried with the brand-new v5.5 update from this week - but True Keys in particular (and Ravenscroft) avoided any muddiness or muddled notes (especially in the mid-range). In these particular works, there is a LOT of pedaling, staccato playing, note repetition, and other challenges. I'm trying to finish up a jazz album at the moment, and switching to their Fazioli library (with a couple of exceptions for Ravenscroft) really opened up the dynamics and clarity in all of the pieces. True Keys has blown me away in its articulateness, pedal handling, phrasing, dynamics, timbre, and mic flexibility. Very warm and bright compared to most American D models. Vintage D is now my favorite Steinway source, due to the piano itself, which is the one Keith Jarrett used in most of his ECM recordings. Galaxy's Vintage D is not the same Steinway that is in the triple library - though that set is pretty good too. Fantastic products! They've finally convinced me to move away from Pianoteq as my sole piano source. Once I got a handle on every aspect of what makes a piano VI sound the way it does, it suddenly started sounding much better!Īround the holidays, I finally bought Galaxy and True Keys. Then of course you get on a gig, the music starts pumping and you unconsciously hit the keys harder – hence once again making the piano sound 'bright' or 'harsh.'īack on topic – don't ask me to recommend a library because the one I use and like is old, discontinued, and, in my experience seeing posts related to the issue, not well-regarded: the NI 'New York' piano. I've even adjusted the layer boundary points. Next, I adjust the velocity curve to account for how I change dynamics from p to fff and where the velocities cross sample layer boundaries. If you're playing what you consider 'p' and the velocities are >~30 or so, the piano will probably sound bright and harsh. First your controller should be sending velocities that correlate with your actual playing dynamics. I find it useful to 'set up' my piano VI, akin to a bass player adjusting truss rod, intonation, string height, etc. The velocities you send to a piano VI can affect your perception of them.

Ravenscroft 275 vs galaxy vintage d