Topic: New release using Pianoteq

Greeting, all.

Forgive me for the blatant plug, but we have a new release
"Shannon Avenue", available at CDBaby, iTunes, etc., and
also at our website, www.minimumblue.com, which we're
very proud of -- especially because all of the piano across
the entire CD was done with Pianoteq.

In working on this release, we tried quite a few different piano
implementations, from NI's Akoustik to Reason Pianos, to B&W,
and on.  None of them came close to Pianoteq, and it was really
a pleasure to work with throughout the production of this release.

One of the things that I truly loved about Pianoteq is it's versatility
and ease with which we were able to get it clearly into a mix -- we
were able to use it in a wide variety of treatments without it stamping
our material with a particular "sound" (a problem that we had with NI's
Akoustik -- it always *sounded* like Akoustik).

Take a listen to "Awkward Jazz" on this release (all songs off of the
release are available to stream fully at the website in my signature
below) -- it's the most piano-heavy selection, and is an example of
how we were able to use Pianoteq to good effect (*we* think, at least).

Anyway, forgive me for plugging the release here, but I felt that perhaps
other Pianoteq users would find something of interest in the release from
a technical point of view.

Best to all --

==========
Tom Hunt
Minimum Blue Studios
Hear our new release "Shannon Avenue" at
http://www.minimumblue.com/releases.html

Re: New release using Pianoteq

Very nice Tom! I like the tune quite a lot.

According to Propellerheads, Reason Piano's differentiator is its ability to "fit in the mix". Would you care to elaborate on how worked Pianoteq into the mix? Compared to other virtual pianos, did you find you had to work differently with Pianoteq than others?

Best regards and congrats on the new release!

/Kris

Re: New release using Pianoteq

rented -

Thanks very much for listening to it, and for your kind words.

We actually have the Reason Pianos refill, and did use it early on a
couple of tunes -- Two Sisters, for example, is a RP upright patch
layered with Pianoteq's C2.

The biggest issue with RP, though, is the same issue that we had
with all of the sample-based implementations: realism.  RP, for
example, has only 4 velocity layers.  I do have to say, though,
that RP is quite handy for quick 'n dirty sketches, and it does sit
fairly nicely in a mix.

And it's precisely the issue that we did *not* have with Pianoteq.
Due to its realism and playability, it sits in the mix quite naturally without
much effort on the part of the engineer beyond a little EQ adjustment.

I hope that this isn't too vague, but to answer your question about
working with Pianoteq compared to others, that's just it: we didn't
have to work with it much at all -- for the most part, aside from a
few minor adjustments to suit our particular tastes and goals for
Shannon Avenue, Pianoteq stood in the mix just as it was recorded.

Cheers, and thanks again for listening!


Tom Hunt
Minimum Blue Studios