KVR Audio

Lagrange · Post by **Lagrange** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 12:34 am

Im having a hard time mixing a piano track for my single release. Heres the thing, the original is more of a jazzy sounding song so the smooth pianos sound perfect. On the remix the bass is more electric sounding and the jazzy pianos dont go.. Is there a plugin to give pianos an electrifing feel? I've heard some cool saturation effects but dont know the names. Please help me as I'm right on the edge of my deadline..

C

Lagrange · Post by **Lagrange** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 12:35 am

And thanks in advance for any help..

C

Stupid American Pig · Thu Feb 02, 2006 12:40 am

heavy limiting, some very subtle chorus, some tube saturation may help. EQ is also yer friend and can radically change the timbre of a piano

Watto · Post by **Watto** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 12:59 am

I'd probably add that there is a BIG difference between a piano and a rhodes - which is it??

Mr. Tunes · Post by **Mr. Tunes** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:09 am

If you're dealing with Rhodes then you'll play with a combination of tremelo, a light slow chorus, phaser, delay, verb etc.

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:27 am

Oops, I just saw piano mentioned there.

But yes- Mr Tunes is right on for a rhodes. Modulation efx were made for the rhodes. For my rhodes I use a combination of my Johnson J-station for amp/speaker sim,(and the rotory speaker sim is pretty good) and then take it to the Voxengo Analog Flux suite and Kjaerhus GMO-1 for more modulation goodness. Izotope trash also does a wurlitzer or rhodes some good stuff.

friteuse · Post by **friteuse** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:31 am

For Rhodes, my favorite is Scarbee Vintage Keyboard FX (VKFX). Everything you need in there, very flexible and stunning sound...

AndrewSimon · Post by **AndrewSimon** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:46 am

On Rhodes you can add almost anything, especially any guitar effects.
Piano is much harder, mainly compression.
If your track is loud rock make sure you use bright piano samples like Yamaha C7 it will help a lot to cut through

Jafo · Post by **Jafo** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:02 am

Anything you can do to a guitar, you can do to a Rhodes, although metal distortion is not really the best idea. Modulations (for complexity) and amp sims (for a bit more bark) are probably your best bet. Take one track of Mr Ray 73, send it through Simulanalog's Univibe then Twin sims, and you've got some sweet sounds. Instant Billy Joel, too, so go play "Just the Way You Are."

The acoustic piano is another thing altogether. Its sound is so rich, complex, and responsive that you normally want to be gentle with the effects -- but really, anything goes. A little compression, some EQ, and definitely some sort of echo effect, and you should be fine. The best thing, however, is to start with a good sound source. The piano patches on most synths and soundfonts are sadly deficient, mere caricatures of the piano's capabilities. A real piano responds to playing, its tone varying with attack, but most synth and sampled pianos don't. It's a crime.

Lagrange · Post by **Lagrange** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:11 am

1st my pianos are already laid down and I would not like to re-record them again..
Lets just say that the original piano section is extremely subtle. I will try Scarbee Vintage Keyboard (man gotta fork out $199 arrrrg). I do own tremelo chorus compressor overdrive effects so I will try those 1st.. I'm looking to apply sine waves that overlap and play with the piano session. Almost like a resythesis/morphing plugin that will enhance the sound BUT is crafted for pianos..

thanks again everyone.

Watto · Post by **Watto** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:15 am

And you're not going to tell us whether they are acoustic or electric pianos...?

Lagrange · Post by **Lagrange** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:18 am

My bad.. yea there acoustic pianos..

C

yemski · Post by **yemski** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:20 am

If you have access to one, mic'ing a real amp, even a guitar amp works the best. Add a bit of drive (not to much), try and borrow your guitar playing friend's autowah/wah and whatever pedals they may have. It bring a "depth" to the sound that even the best plugins, still, can't quite match. I was able to fool a goood few knowledgeable people that an EVP88 treated in this way was in fact, a real Rhodes. Izotope trash is a good alternative for gritting up Rhodes types sound, if you're into tweaking. I often using in combination with fabfilter volcano, and mehlohman for a quick and easy funky retro vibe. I have'nt tried Scarbee yet but I hear good things.

Watto · Post by **Watto** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:22 am

Ah, in that case, it depends how wacky you want to get...

I'm not a big fan of bright pianos, and I often run my piano through my wah pedal (yes, that's right) - I choose a point on the sweep which is sufficiently muffled and spooky sounding, and add some reverb...

You could use filters to do the same thing, or run it through a lofi effect such as Izotope Vinyl.

Other suggestions listed above would work well, too. And delays!

yemski · Post by **yemski** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:23 am

OOps, just read the rest of the thread. Everything I said totally irrelevant.

Best effects for pianos and rhodes..