Topic: Pianoteq modified Steinway B vs Garritan CFX grand piano
I experienced today a recording with the Steinway B based on a demo of the Garritan Yamaha CFX.
I only modified the strings length of the Model B to achieve a comparable level of inharmonicity, and the recording venue chosen is a simulation of the famous Abbey Road Studio 1. This is precisely where Garritan's CFX was recorded for sampling.
I'm not a fan of sampled pianos, but I found this comparison interesting, because this Garritan demo is one of the most realistic I've ever heard.
https://soundcloud.com/garritan/leave-m...-studios-1
https://soundcloud.com/modelling-audio-...ng-test-v1
https://soundcloud.com/modelling-audio-...st-edit-v2
HIGH-QUALITY AUDIO FILES CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE: http://modelling-audio-expert.com/stein...roduction/
The first point is the natural sound aspect of the Garritan recording.
Many people think wrongly that a realistic piano recording is a brilliant, bright and perfect recording with ‘‘stars in the sky’’, but it's all the opposite. It is only in post-production that producers decide, or not, to sublimate it.
On the other hand, Garritan's major shortcomings (like sampled instruments in general) are notably in the dynamics and interaction between the notes. The piano sounds good, but there is absolutely no life.
The piece chosen is interesting because it is composed with repeated chords until the end, which allows to highlight this.
As you can hear, Pianoteq is more natural and behaves exactly like a '' real '' instrument, when you use the tuning and voicing parameters correctly.
Another thing I notice (a bit like a reversing trend) is that sampled instruments become more and more 'enjoyable' to listen to.
There is not this aggressiveness that can be found in the vast majority of recordings made with Pianoteq. That said, many of them sounds very well, but they are impossible to listen to more than twice without damaging your ears.
There are many acoustic parameters to know and understand to correct this. Most often it takes time to properly place the microphones. It is also possible to use an eq, or more radically a compressor.
Today, sampled instruments such as Garritan, Ivory, Galaxy and the others still do not come close to Pianoteq, but you can listen to them for hours without tiring your ears.
It is the world upside down.
The only advice I can give when making a recording with Pianoteq is to always keep in mind that your recordings should be able to be listened to over time. By listening well, you should be able to improve your recordings.
Let me know if you hear the nuances ...
