This is indeed a very funny and stimulating scene. I'm not sure, but I am guessing that Salieri's "original" was composed for the film as a suitable foil for Mozart's "elaboration" which is, of course, the music for Figaro's Act 1 aria "Non più andrai" from "The Marriage of Figaro". It would be easy to find a few bars of music like this in most composers' output from that period, if in fact Salieri's 'primitive' version is real Salieri.
It would not be a big deal to transcribe the music by ear, if anyone was interested.
Can't wait to save the required funds for the historic add-ons, I'm enjoying the trial version meanwhile (but avoiding keys like Eb major!)
What must be stressed is the astonishing playability of this software. My own violin (I play with the local symphony) is not an expensive instrument, my 2nd violin even less so. Yet, after an exclusive Schubert dinner concert where I played several pieces with piano accompaniment—on my student-grade 2nd violin due to repairs on my 1st— I was complimented by knowledgable music-lovers on the tone of the instrument which "must be very expensive". The trick here (and no way on earth that poor $600 violin can compete in any way with a 'proper' concert instrument in direct comparison) is that it is, after all, a REAL violin, and can therefore be played 'properly' by a real violinist. Pianoteq has this 'playability' and encourages a return to musical expression, quite independent of considerations of 'wood', 'inharmonicity' etc. How many repetiteurs just 'put up' with whatever piano comes along, no matter how poorly regulated or tuned? Never mind the often abominable acoustics of typical practice rooms. In this case, the ear adapts and is satisfied MAINLY because the instrument—being a real instrument—is PLAYABLE.
This can be taken too far naturally. On tour in North Queensland some years back, we were forced to revert to the travelling Roland digital instrument, as the town of Richmond's piano had lost several of its black key tops which, in addition to many other symptoms of extreme neglect, made this miserable instrument practically UNplayable. At another venue we decided the upright was a better bet than the house grand which, too, was suffering from the indignity of chronic neglect.
Quite possibly the infusion of RANDOM tuning effects on a key by key basis would be a great boost to the subjective realism of the modelling. Also the regrettable but unavoidable TEMPORAL drift of tuning stability in the course of a heavy recital or concerto eg. Brahms Concerto No.1. I have heard Steinway Ds reduced to quite comic effect in the slow movement, as the tuning has drifted out of all reason. Recording an outstanding young pianist's recital at our local Conservatorium, I winced as he attempted a Bach encore following heavy Prokofiev and Ligeti pieces (this on a super-duper Shigeru Kawai 9 foot). If ever we can create a modelling instrument with the appropriate hardware and sound characteristics, soloists will welcome it with open arms (so to speak), if only for that reason.
Sorry, I've rambled off the thread, but you see how stimulating the software is to someone like myself who has been chasing a playable virtual piano literally for decades! I truly believe this project is on the right track. Full marks.
Cheers,
Stephen.
