KVR Audio

tee boy · Post by **tee boy** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:40 am

Lol, I know where is probably no good answer to this question (which begs why I ask it

), but none the less, I am on the hunt for a piano library.

I will be using this almost entirely for filmscore type projects, so Im thinking that a grand with well sampled dynamics might be important.

Any recommendations?

Cheers,

TB

dougsyo · Post by **dougsyo** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:56 am

I like the VintAudio C7, although I thought it was overwhelming for my needs (as Ivory would be - since I'm not using it as a solo instrument). I'm using SR pianos pretty-much exclusively right now - good bang-for-buck, mix well, and reasonable size for what they sound like.

Doug

Yossarian · Post by **Yossarian** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:12 am

Check out www.sampletekk.com and www.postpiano.com , they've both cut their prices drastically lately and now offer direct downloads. Both companies specialize in pianos and their products are top shelf.

www.vintaudio.com and www.artvista.net are also worth a look.

/Yoss

dougsyo · Post by **dougsyo** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:05 am

I just took a listen to "Hybrid piano 1" demos at postpiano - that is NICE (especially for $50!) I have their Baroque Organ and it's outstanding.

Doug

beej · Post by **beej** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:38 am

I want the Malsmjo. I want it...

lowercase · Post by **lowercase** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:00 pm

One thing I will say... I have a music composition class for school, and a lot of stuff I write at school on their upright pianos (the song I'm writing for the class right now uses a lot of accidentals) sounds really good at school and when I come home to try to work on the music, even running the song through nice synth sounds or whatever, samplers etc... sounds -terrible-. There seems to me to be a harmonic interaction on the real piano that isn't accounted for in synths etc. I've seen that Hermode tuning thing... z3ta+ uses it, but it's not a sampler... I wonder if it would sound good....

enarmonico · Post by **enarmonico** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:30 pm

I've been using Sampletekk "White grand" for some time and I must say I'm completely satisfied. I use it just for pop music, but I think that also also for film music it's ok.
I bought it (downlable version) at the time of the group buy at an incredible price, but even now at 119usd it is correctly priced.
However, I would look carefully at PMI website, they have dramatically dropped the prices.

gabri

tee boy · Post by **tee boy** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:44 pm

[quote="Yossarian

their products are top shelf.

[/quote]

Hmmm, maybe we should reserve that stuff for another forum...

Cheers for the suggestions lads!

Enarmonico,

Yeah, I know what you mean and this is what Id like to avoid if possible. The stuff I'll be using it for shouldnt be to demanding musically (Im not planning on trying to reproduce Rach concertos or anything!), but I would like a nice tone never the less.

I love the piano stuff in scores like 'Mothman Prophecies', 'Donnie Darko' and pretty much everything by Thomas Newman. This is the kind of sound Id like to have a crack at achieving.

Probably the best thing is to download some demo tracks and go from there.

Tell you what, Iv always been surprised that VSL never did a grand library (assuming they havent since I last checked!).

TB

beej · Post by **beej** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:22 pm

The Malmsjo is very Thomas Newmann, if you want that quiet, sensitive movie type thing (which is, incidentally, *exactly* what I want it for as well).

enarmonico · Post by **enarmonico** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:27 pm

tee boy wrote:The stuff I'll be using it for shouldnt be to demanding musically (Im not planning on trying to reproduce Rach concertos or anything!), but I would like a nice tone never the less.

Ok, that's the reason why I suggested the "white grand". It is a library with a special defined sound that really cut through a full mix. In fact, it is not a library dedicated to classic, jazz or piano solo.
But,if you are looking for even cheaper solutions, that's another story.
I used for a long time the pianos supplied with "Sonicsynth" and I found that sounds excellent until I moved to piano dedicated libraries.
Now, I have PMI B290 (plugin version), Sampletekk TSO and White Grand.
Honestly, for a sound reason, I'm not able anymore to go back to the Sonicsynth pianos, if not just for sketching. And, admitelly, I have a hardware that can manage in a brilliant way those big libraries.

gabri

jplanet · Post by **jplanet** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:38 pm

I've had the opportunity to compare:

Steinberg The Grand
Malmsjo
Artvista VGP
PMI B290

For solo piano, out of all of them, the Grand shines like no other. I'm so surprised that people don't rave about it more often. It's the only one that sounds open and full, all of the rest sound like they have been pre-eq'd, with too much accent on the attack, making it sound too 'plinky' for lush-sounding solo work.

Agreed, it's harder to get the Grand to work in a very full mix. But for solo piano, it only takes a few bars ofplaying any other piano library before I switch back to The Grand.

drde · Post by **drde** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 1:33 am

When I was recently looking for a software setup for piano some folks on these listerves helped me greatly, so I thought I would return the favor and share my experiences. Sampletek's White Grand sounds very good, especially mixed, but on its own is too thin for my taste. I did not care for white sister. I bought the four piano, PMI Hybrid collection. Pianos 1,2 and 4 are all respectable in their own right, but I loved #3. It is very "ballsy" with a powerful, harmonic overloaded base. I am having great fun playing it solo, especially for songwriting since it carries such extreme dynamics and power. I have not tried it in a mix yet, though I would guess things would get muddy quickly. PMI Hybrid's #2 is a nice, Steinway sounding piano. The collection gives you a great range! Very reasonably priced at this time as well. They also load with less hard drive space than others such as White Grand and seemingly, better ram usage. They do require Kontakt 2 or Gigastudio I believe. (One warning; instructions for loading the pianos as well as the NEED for downloaded, internet upgrades for them to function, is very poorly explained).

I am no VST instrument expert and am just sharing my subjective opinions.
Hope the above is helpful. Dave

egarrard · Post by **egarrard** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:30 am

jplanet wrote:For solo piano, out of all of them, the Grand shines like no other. It only takes a few bars ofplaying any other piano library before I switch back to The Grand.

I'm with you. The Grand (first version) smokes them all. It's got some quirks, but running 48kHz/24-bit, the sound is hard to beat.

zumbido · Post by **zumbido** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 1:26 am

I got the three disk Vintaudio group buy that included TWO upright pianos.

I'm SOOOOO tired of grand pianos!

This library is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

And it also included a C7 grand when I need it to go with the already too many grands that I already have.

If you need good uprights, go here: vintaudio.com

matto · Post by **matto** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:03 am

For what you're describing I would recommend Post "The Emperor" and Sampletekk "Black Grand".
I do a lot of underscore type music which features the piano or is solo piano, and I find these two to be the most playable and most inspiring sound-wise.

matto

The Impossible Q - Good Piano Libraries?