Had a quick session with Pianoteq. First impression is that modeling really does make a difference with pianos too, even compared to extremely deep sampled libraries.
The dynamic range is HUGE, and the changes in timbre through the dynamic range are much more pronounced and detailed, but still (of course) completely seamless. Who needs a soft piano when you can just close mic a Model D and play it really softly?
Also, all the modeling of hitting vibrating strings, various sort of sympathetic resonances and all that is not blatantly obvious (compared to sampled instruments that try to cover some of it), but it’s clearly there, and it makes the instrument feel alive - and unlike with samples, the illusion never seems to collapse.
I’m wondering if you couldn’t literally feed external audio into the model, and have it sing along in an entirely realistic fashion…
Anyway enough of me ranting on the MIDI Standard being so slow to be updated haha. Did you get anything more than piano and organ, harp seems interesting too?
Hey, I’m trying hard to not just buy everything right away…!
Will certainly check out the other stuff, but right now, I just need to decide on three pianos for my immediate projects. Will have to go Standard (for the mic controls, which is the main reason I started looking into this right now), so three pianos. Leaning towards Model D, U4 Upright, and one of Bechstein, Model B, and Petrof 275. Logically, I “should” grab the Model B, as the others are concert grands, like Model D - but the “big ones” all sound amazing in their own particular ways…
Update: I compared the Stage and Standard versions, and while the four “hardwired” mixes in Stage have less severe mono/stereo/spatial issues than the Ravenscroft 275 stereo mics, and I managed to get acceptable results with that and Precedence/Breeze (one “source” per channel), there still are phasing issues, and you need to dial in a good source/listener distance relation to avoid problems.
Meanwhile, Standard allows you to set up a number of mics of selectable types, that you can move around, rotate and whatnot, and there’s also a simulated wall, intended for upright pianos. This makes all the difference in the world, and with that, I can even position the piano pretty well directly in Pianoteq, without using Precedence/Breeze. I managed to get a nice and transparent sounding “mid stage piano” mix just by placing an X/Y pair of cardioid mics at some distance from the piano, with the same general piano/listener relation as I intend for the stage placement, and feeding that through a mid-stage IR in Spaces II. It’s kind of like “cheating” by just mic’ing the piano in situ, and slapping that on your mix. Perfect!
