freezeTAG Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Hey remixers, Long-time VGM arranger, first-time poster here, so please be kind. I'm just wondering what some of your favorite sample libraries are for solo piano. I'm particularly looking for something that can be expressive and gorgeous, yet get pretty ferocious with the higher velocity sounds. All I have at the moment is Ivory II American Grand D and the pianos that come with Komplete Ultimate 8. I like aspects of all of these, but none are quite "doing it" for me yet. Maybe it's got more to do with the mix? I'd love to get your thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 By far the best solo piano I've ever heard. I use it when I practice and it sounds like I'm actually playing on a Steinway. http://8dio.com/instrument/1969-steinway-piano/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezeTAG Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 Wow, that's beautiful. Thanks for the quick response. Have you personally used it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 (edited) Wow, that's beautiful. Thanks for the quick response.Have you personally used it? Yes. It's my favorite piano, blows the Komplete pianos out of the water. Most sample libraries don't really sound as good as their demos, but this one certainly does. It's got 6 mics and different patches, like a glockenspiel or string layer. One patch gives infinite sustain. If you want a sound like the demo, just turn the mid and bass knobs up a lot on the base patch in the small EQ section. It's got its own reverb convolution as well, so turn up the wetness on that and select your room style to get the best space. However in more upbeat, brighter settings like jazz/funk, I find NY Concert Grand and Upright Piano from Komplete to be more useful. There's no piano library that does it all, but if you already have Komplete and you got this, you'd not need anything more. Edited September 15, 2014 by Neblix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezeTAG Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 Thank you so much for such a detailed response! This is a great start to my OCR experience. I'm feeling pretty convinced, so I bet I'll end up having this library by the end of the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezeTAG Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 By far the best solo piano I've ever heard. I use it when I practice and it sounds like I'm actually playing on a Steinway.http://8dio.com/instrument/1969-steinway-piano/ Just realized I was totally oblivious to the second half of this post... you clearly said that you use it. Whoops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Just realized I was totally oblivious to the second half of this post... you clearly said that you use it. Whoops. I edited that in later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezeTAG Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 Ah! I'm learning. Good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Here's me doing pseudorandom improv. I just turned up the keyboard and ambient mic a little bit, and turned up the mid and bass. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15510436/File%20Sharing/randomkeys.wav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezeTAG Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 Awesome, thanks for this, Neblix! I went ahead and bit the bullet and got it yesterday. I'm loving it so far. I can't quite get it to sound the way you did, though. How much are you turning up the low and mid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 I can't quite get it to sound the way you did, though. How much are you turning up the low and mid? So listen to the demos, you'll notice it's got a very whole, rounded sound to it. Kinda reminds me of glass stones, if the imagery helps. Turn up the mid all the way. Turn the bass to maybe 3 o'clock. Turn down the highs to maybe 9 or 10 o'clock. Next, turn on the keyboard and ambient mics (there are tiny buttons under them to do that) and then use the sliders to bring them up a few notches. The keyboard mic gets you the sound of the keys themselves, so it adds some "thunk" to the key sounds. The ambient mic just gets some nice space. Next, you can turn up the wet knob on the reverb a tad to bring some more wide space in. That's a lot of things to keep track of, but as long as you know what each knob is doing and how you can use it to modify sound in certain ways, it's more a task of experimenting than of memorization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 This is what I like to use. Not actually a library, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neifion Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I use Alicia's Keys: https://soundcloud.com/kekopro/do-you-want-to-run-a-dungeon Great emotion and realism. They modeled harmonic resonance so that chord sustains are killer. You can also dial in pedal and key noises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezeTAG Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 (edited) Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I actually have Alicia's Keys; that's a nice sound for pop stuff, so I'll have to dive in a bit more with it... Here's an example of the results I've gotten from messing around with 8dio's 1969 Steinway a bit. I just took a pass at "Yearnings of the Wind" from Chrono Trigger: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4gy6ygyskh17z52/Chrono%20Trigger%20Test.mp3?dl=0 This is without any additional plugins, just the built-in parameters of the instrument. I'm generally loving the sound, but there's a sort of intimacy I'm still not quite getting. Upping the keyboard mic definitely helped by giving it that "thunk," but something is still missing. Also, in praise of the instrument, I should say that it's VERY playable. I only had to tweak the velocity of a handful of notes after the fact; almost all of it is exactly as played. Neblix, do you have any thoughts about getting a better sound out of it? P.S., another question for Neblix... when I post audio to DropBox and link it, the link takes me to a download page, but your audio you posted played in the browser (which seems preferable). Any idea what accounts for the difference? Edited September 17, 2014 by freezeTAG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Hakštok Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Just replace the "www" with "dl" in the link in order to make it play right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezeTAG Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 Just replace the "www" with "dl" in the link in order to make it play right away. Hmmm... I just tried that and it gave me a 404. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Hmmm... I just tried that and it gave me a 404. Make sure the link doesn't have ellipses on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I've been using TruePianos for a couple of years and I find it to be quite versatile and easy to use. I upgraded to Komplete 9 several months ago, and only just within the past month got around to trying out The Giant, and I think The Giant is amazing, nicely tweakable and has a great sound. Lots of great presets included, each with a very different feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezeTAG Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 Make sure the link doesn't have ellipses on it. You're brilliant. And I'm a doofus. Behold! https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/4gy6ygyskh17z52/Chrono%20Trigger%20Test.mp3?dl=0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freezeTAG Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 I've been using TruePianos for a couple of years and I find it to be quite versatile and easy to use. I upgraded to Komplete 9 several months ago, and only just within the past month got around to trying out The Giant, and I think The Giant is amazing, nicely tweakable and has a great sound. Lots of great presets included, each with a very different feel. Thanks for the tips, Chimpazilla! I love The Giant, as well. I don't think it would be my first choice for more expressive or romantic sounds, but I can't wait to try it out in a beefier orchestral context. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 (edited) Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I actually have Alicia's Keys; that's a nice sound for pop stuff, so I'll have to dive in a bit more with it...Here's an example of the results I've gotten from messing around with 8dio's 1969 Steinway a bit. I just took a pass at "Yearnings of the Wind" from Chrono Trigger: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4gy6ygyskh17z52/Chrono%20Trigger%20Test.mp3?dl=0 This is without any additional plugins, just the built-in parameters of the instrument. I'm generally loving the sound, but there's a sort of intimacy I'm still not quite getting. Upping the keyboard mic definitely helped by giving it that "thunk," but something is still missing. Also, in praise of the instrument, I should say that it's VERY playable. I only had to tweak the velocity of a handful of notes after the fact; almost all of it is exactly as played. Neblix, do you have any thoughts about getting a better sound out of it? P.S., another question for Neblix... when I post audio to DropBox and link it, the link takes me to a download page, but your audio you posted played in the browser (which seems preferable). Any idea what accounts for the difference? Try messing with the velocity curve. There's an "options" rectangle that will reveal it to you. Perhaps it may be a little too abrasive for you, you can make the curve lower in that case. Also, by personal taste, I lower the "high" knob a little more than you did. Unfortunately I can't help you without you being a little more specific. :/ Perhaps show me some examples of what you're after and I can help you then. Also, where did you get the sheet music for that? I'll have to add that to my list of songs to learn. Edited September 18, 2014 by Neblix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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