Topic by Jake Johnson

  • Avatar
  • Jake Johnson
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Atlanta
  • Registered: 04-05-2007
  • Posts: 4,491

Topic: A simple Bechstein edit that creates a good sound for many purposes

[EDIT: See my later post about this preset: other changes were needed and the fxp for this preset is now in the Files section of the forum. The name is Bechstein Sweet.]

For PianoTeq 2.1:  A quick edit that creates a sweet sounding, fairly close perspective Bechstein good for many types of playing. Pop-like if by pop I can mean a Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne type of solo piano sound. Classical players, please forgive me. Using the default Bechstein preset:


1.Turn off the Reverb.
2. Set the Output to two speakers, even if using headphones.
3. Move the Global Resonance slider all the way to the left, so it's turned off completely.
4. Do the same for the Quadratic effect.
5. Move the Sympathetic Resonance slider between them all the way to the right, so it's at +24.
6. Adjust the Dynamics slider to the left to around 39 or to your liking. Putting it around at 44 also works well, but pushes the sound back a little.
7. On the Options menu, turn off the Full sustain resonance.

That's it. You may also want to try turning the Full Sustain Resonance back on and then adjusting the sympathetic resonance some.

Adding reverb back in:
With reverb turned on, the wash of sounds created by Reverb + Sympathetic resonance may be too much. Try lowering the Sympathetic resonance slightly as you increase anything that creates or prolongs the wash of sound.

One possibility that sounds good:

Again, turn off both the Global resonance and the Quadratic effect entirely.
Keep Full Sustain Resonance off (Options menu at bottom of interface.)
Sympathetic Resonance: around +10
Dry\wet:     -13.6
Short\Long: +4.1
Small\large:  14 m
Lid: half open

Clearly, all I'm doing here is eliminating three sources of sound that can combine with others to create mush, and then raising the level of the others. But adding the Full Sustain Resonance back in can work with this sound, too, if the reverb is kept off. Try moving the Sympathetic resonance slider to left of center, too, with no reverb and the Full sustain resonance on--try it at around -7. Brings out the range from middle C to the top nicely.

These settings work for me, at least.

Last edited by Jake Johnson (13-12-2007 17:09)

Reply by Jake Johnson

  • Avatar
  • Jake Johnson
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Atlanta
  • Registered: 04-05-2007
  • Posts: 4,491

Re: A simple Bechstein edit that creates a good sound for many purposes

For a stronger, brighter response to velocity with these settings, try using EQ to raise the bass at around 78.6 up to +7.6 decibels, with an equal slope on each side so you get more or less an equilateral triangle,  and raising the treble at 8932.5 Hrz to about +10 or slightly more decibels.

I know these settings are excessive, but they do give you a brighter response to velocity, and create a greater range of timbres from soft to bright when used with the other settings. Playing really hard gives you a sound similar to a Yamaha C7 in the ranges just below and above middle C. The uppermost notes on the keyboard, however, don't sound quite as metallic at high velocities.

You may find that these eq settings, for reasons I don't understand, sound best for soft playing and loud playing. Somehow, the sound gets a little fuzzy if you play for long at middle velocities. (Is "fuzzy" the correct technical term?) Any way to get rid of this effect to create a warmer sound for middle velocity playing?

I wanted to post a screen-shot of the EQ settings, but couldn't find a way to do it. Is there a way to include a picture in a post in this forum? Would be nice to have--I know we can just post the presets we create, but being able to take screen shots would save us a lot of typing of parameters when we want to share ideas fast here.

Last edited by Jake Johnson (22-11-2007 07:31)

Reply by azrael4

  • Avatar
  • azrael4
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Salzburg
  • Registered: 17-09-2007
  • Posts: 200

Re: A simple Bechstein edit that creates a good sound for many purposes

Hey folks!

Why don´t you upload your presets at the file section in the forum so that we can download them. That would ease the procedure?

http://www.heinke-aussenegg.com/

azrael4's Website

Reply by Jake Johnson

  • Avatar
  • Jake Johnson
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Atlanta
  • Registered: 04-05-2007
  • Posts: 4,491

Re: A simple Bechstein edit that creates a good sound for many purposes

I know. But then the user has to search to find the edits. And I thought there were so few edits that a preset might not be needed. And I thought the general principle of completely obliterating some parameters and greatly accentuating others needed noting. And I like to talk...

Reply by Jake Johnson

  • Avatar
  • Jake Johnson
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Atlanta
  • Registered: 04-05-2007
  • Posts: 4,491

Re: A simple Bechstein edit that creates a good sound for many purposes

Yikes. I just tried this preset (which I created) and it sounded terrible--apparently I made other changes to the default Bechstein and hadn't realized it. (Changes in the hammer hardnesses, for one thing.) Works fine in Version 2.2.

I've uploaded the revised preset in the Files section of the forum as Bechstein Sweet for PianoTeq.

This preset sounds best from the octave below middle C up to two octaves above middle C.) You may like it more f you use the pedal a little more than you might usually use it.  I'm still trying to get it to sound a little more resonant with the pedal up, without getting too sloshy with the pedal down.

In the lower bass, it's not viable. Other problems:

I'm also having a problem getting it to respond to velocity in the way that I want--the timbre stays a little too much the same at high velocities, and the volume doesn't increase as much as I'd like. I don't want the sound to get extremely bright at high velocities, but I want it to get a little brighter. I think the volume problem is that the Dynamics setting raises the volume of low strikes, but for this preset, at least, reduces the volume of high strikes too much. In addition, one or two notes here and there seem a little thin: the C above middle C sometimes sounds unresponsive to velocity and a little thin. (If you reduce the Key Release Duration to the default of 1.0, this thinness becomes more evident.)

I wish someone had told me how bad the original edit sounded---something subtle along the lines of "You're deaf if you think this sounds like a piano" would have led me to review the preset...On the other hand, the basic principle of greatly reducing some of the parameters and increasing one of the others was still followed.

Last edited by Jake Johnson (13-12-2007 17:17)