KVR Audio

DSjazz7 · Post by **DSjazz7** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 9:50 pm

Hi all,

I have a 2002 iMac that I'm using as a dual monitor for my main laptop for recording set up next to my controllers, but I'd like to have a piano sample library/VST on the iMac so I can just sit down and jam even if I don't have my laptop around. Given the specs – it's an 800MHz iMac with 1GB of RAM, running OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger) – what's the best possible piano I could get, in terms of realism/comprehensiveness of the sampling and a timbre(s) that work across any genre/style of playing? I have GarageBand on it, as well as Kontakt 3 installed, but I'm not concerned with downloading any kind of player or other software. Last time I updated the OS was like 2007, what pianos were all the rage back then? I don't mind spending money either, but obviously nothing over-the-top expensive – that said even I'm just curious to know what's out there even if there is an instrument that's ridiculously pricey. In that vein, do developers generally allow you to buy licenses for legacy instruments if you get in contact with them? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I own Alicia's Keys and have QL Pianos through EastWest's Composer Cloud, but I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume they're nowhere close to compatible. Also if there are any great electric pianos that fit the bill, I'd love to hear them as well!

Thanks so much!

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 9:53 pm

True Pianos. It's cheap, it's easy on the CPU, and the size is tiny. Yet, it is a great sounding piano (one of the best, IMO). If you are thinking it's too good to be true, the answer is simple: Hybrid sample/physical modelling technology.

You can listen (and watch) to several demos of True Pianos here: http://www.truepianos.com/demos.php

zenophilix · Post by **zenophilix** » Thu Dec 15, 2016 7:41 am

Personally, I'm a huge fan of MiniGrand, which came with my MIDI keyboard. Otherwise, i think it's around $100, so maybe that's not the best idea, but the sound is phenomenal, right down to the sound of the hammers hitting the strings. Sampletank Custom Shop is free, and comes with a solid piano sound, among other things. Apart from that, I haven't seen much of anything good in terms of free pianos, though checking out the aforementioned True Pianos ^^ would be a good idea - I haven't looked into free pianos since around June.

Musical Gym · Post by **Musical Gym** » Thu Dec 15, 2016 7:53 am

Maybe think about a new computer first if you can afford it. Options may increase then.
Youtube's a good resource for info about all sorts of music stuff.

sergiofrias · Post by **sergiofrias** » Thu Dec 15, 2016 8:28 am

Hello ,i created nostalgic piano to have the lowest size (only 100 mb,works great in any pc) with the great sound of a 2 gb piano library, to do this i had to create 12 velocity layers, and to reduce the size i had to use loop points (a very hard job) on every sample.

it's only 10€ !!

you can buy it here:

https://gumroad.com/l/sergiofrias

audio samples(lexicon reverb was used for this demonstration):
https://soundcloud.com/sergiofrias/nost ... ano-demo-1
https://soundcloud.com/sergiofrias/nost ... ano-demo-2
https://soundcloud.com/sergiofrias/nost ... ano-demo-3
https://soundcloud.com/sergiofrias/nost ... ano-demo-4
https://soundcloud.com/sergiofrias/nost ... ano-demo-5

p4tz3r · Post by **p4tz3r** » Mon Dec 26, 2016 8:57 pm

I really like the Pianoteq stuff. Very light on disk and CPU. Download the Stage demo and see what you think!

https://www.pianoteq.com/try

FrankDeee · Post by **FrankDeee** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 8:53 pm

AUTO-ADMIN: Non-MP3, WAV, OGG, SoundCloud, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter and Facebook links in this post have been protected automatically. Once the member reaches 5 posts the links will function as normal.

There a couple of light weight pianos at http://mda.smartelectronix.com/ (http://mda.smartelectronix.com/). They have AUs, not sure they will work with your flavor of Apple

Best Piano VST for an Older Computer?