I hope that we can persuade the guys from Modartt to include user defineable velocity curves. If they'd be willing to do that we might be able to make up settings for a lot of different keyboards out there. That way we can all have some basic settings to lead to predictable results... ofcourse the choice to use such a 'preset' curve is always up to you...
Please reply your type of keyboard underneath.
I use a CME UF-80 in combination with the CME GPP-3 sustain-pedal
I have a Kurzweil MIDIboard. It is a very early serial number and thus has a pretty "stiff" keyboard action (they changed board design later in the product run)
K2500 (studio), Alesis Fusion (stage and studio) and Alesis QS8 (stage), depending on the situation. The K2500 suits me the best, but I think it's a very personal affair, a matter of taste above all.
i have a kawai mp4. play pianoteq without changed velocity curves.
Yamaha P90
Yamaha DX7
E-MU X-BOARD 49
Alesis QS8 (mark I)
Roland JV-80
Yamaha P-90
I am using Kawai CA91 in the living room and Kawai MP8 upstairs in the computer room. I have the most trouble keeping the bass under control. It can easily overpower the sound using powered speakers
Access Virus TI.
Also use it as a synth, obviously, but it makes a great keyboard, too.
A Korg N1 (notM1) 88key.
Great action. Main reason for this choice, has aftertouch.
Korg Oasys and a Roland A-80
Ensoniq TS12 and Novation X-Station
I use a Roland F-90 digital piano, but to allow the bether dynamic range, with hard strike be understandable as FF and not FF, I need to set Roland F-90 sensibility to heavy.
Adjusted this way I get the FF maximun strikes in Pianoteq just with real hard strikes from my hands. But about Pianoteq I use to complain that, by looking the velocity display on pianoteq, the FF and FFF have the same loudness, and even the F to FF the loudness difference it's small.
Kawai MP9000 digital stage piano on "Normal" velocity curve. Seems to work well with Pianoteq without having to tweak Pianoteq's velocity curve.
Greg.
Kurzweil MIDIboard. I'm sometimes troubled with controlling the rather bouncy keys (what about you, feline1?) but otherwise excellent.
When I leave home I use an x-station 49, which is silly but it's what I've got.
They are quite heavy and have quite a rebound, yes -
but then again, my piano playing is pretty meat-fisted, I learnt to play on a really stiff-actioned battered upright, and my problem is more that I hammer the keys too hard and have difficultly triggering with v less that 80 on any MIDI keyboard! ;0)
They are quite heavy and have quite a rebound, yes -
but then again, my piano playing is pretty meat-fisted, I learnt to play on a really stiff-actioned battered upright, and my problem is more that I hammer the keys too hard and have difficultly triggering with v less that 80 on any MIDI keyboard! ;0)
Ah. I would be the opposite--very light-fingered (though not especially accurate, sigh). My current upright (1912) has enough damp resistance that I can outspeed it, which is crazy-making. It was a real revelation to find how much faster I could play on the MIDIboard. I think I'm going to ask my piano technician for advice on the bounce next time he visits.
Yamaha CP33, really nice
Does anyone have an opinion on whether for exclusive use with PQ, the extra cost of the PRO II wooden action in the Kawai MP8 II is worth it over the "newer" AHA4-F action of the MP5? I am considering a high quality controller and have ruled out the Fatar Numa given problems variously reported with inconsistency/failure of Fatar keybeds.
I've narrowed my choices down to the Yamaha CP33, Kawai MP5 and MP8 II. If anyone is aware of Yamaha still having problems with stress fractures on the back portions of keys I would like to know since this happened on several Clavinovas I played in the mid 90s and I've read of similar problems with modern units quite recently.
Kind regards
Neil
Edit: What I meant was, any additional features of the MP8II compared with the MP5 are irrelevant since I'll only be using it as a controller.
Does anyone have an opinion on whether for exclusive use with PQ, the extra cost of the PRO II wooden action in the Kawai MP8 II is worth it over the "newer" AHA4-F action of the MP5?
Neil
I tried both the MP8 II and the MP5. I must say that the MP8 action is REALLY nice. You notice the real swinging hammers when the keys rebound, etc; definitely better than the AHA4-F. In the end, I still found the MP8 too expensive for my purposes. I bought the cheapest Kawai with AHA4 action, the non-portable CL25. Although not as good as MP8, I like the action still better than Yamaha P140. It is rather light. Caveat with the CL25: no continuous pedal, no usb.
Nils
Hello All
Well, Eventually I decided to buy the Yamaha KX8 as I really didn't want Fatar/Studiologic due to the erratic velocity sensing mentioned here. Little did I know that the FC3 pedal isn't supported; it doesn't explicitly say this on the Yamaha website and Dolphin Music didn't flag the error in my order, ho hum. I was quite annoyed when I plugged it in and nothing whatsoever happened.
Fortunately, I have a MIDI encoder board which has continuous control inputs on it and it was a very simple exercise to *cringe* cut off the jack plug of the FC3 and wire it into this board. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the FC3 has the full 0-127 MIDI output range, which I did not expect from the potentiometer.
The KX8 has a very nice feel although it has more mechanical "clatter" than the much more expensive Numa. This is a bit distracting when playing quietly through open-back headphones, but for £390 I can't really complain.
As far as the feel goes, I don't think the Numa justifies the expense. I've now played PTQ for about 8 hours through both the KX8 and my brother's Numa and I find it easier to play consistent dynamics in the ppp-mf range on the KX8 than on the Numa. The comment by another poster some time ago that the more you play it, the more it becomes "your" piano is very true; I'm getting to really like the Erard now and concentrating on the tiniest nuances in performance rather than "what's wrong with this sample-set?". Certainly pitting my new keyboard and PTQ against the badly-regulated bottom-of-the-range Yamaha upright we have at school, I know which I'd rather play, both mechanically and sonically.
Eagerly awaiting the forthcoming update,
Best//Neil
The comment by another poster some time ago that the more you play it, the more it becomes "your" piano is very true; I'm getting to really like the Erard now and concentrating on the tiniest nuances in performance rather than "what's wrong with this sample-set?".
Best//Neil
Using our ears and experience, we unwittingly make adjustments in our playing. That's happened to me with six pianos.
Oops, sorry, Pianoteq is the seventh.
Glenn
feline1 wrote:They are quite heavy and have quite a rebound, yes -
but then again, my piano playing is pretty meat-fisted, I learnt to play on a really stiff-actioned battered upright, and my problem is more that I hammer the keys too hard and have difficultly triggering with v less that 80 on any MIDI keyboard! ;0)Ah. I would be the opposite--very light-fingered (though not especially accurate, sigh). My current upright (1912) has enough damp resistance that I can outspeed it, which is crazy-making. It was a real revelation to find how much faster I could play on the MIDIboard. I think I'm going to ask my piano technician for advice on the bounce next time he visits.
No wooden keys, no hammers, no sophisticated weighted response here - I just like using my good old DX7-IID... I like how it feels and I like its velocity curve. The only bitter restriction is it only has 61 keys...
Yamaha KX-88 at home
Kawai MP9000 at studio
Roland JV90 at studio (for synths)
Kawai MP5 for gigs
Yamaha P120S Stage piano.
Perfect for my playing style.
Only problem ever noticed was sticking keys i.e. hard to depress.
Apart from that, the action feels good, good repetition.
Also no escapement nor graded hammer effect so even touch throught the whole register.
Had thought of upgrading to MP8 II, but after much thought realised that the P120 is already plenty good enough!
Casio PX-310