I tried out GP yesterday with the band, testing two keyboards through a stage PA and FOH. Setup: MacBook Pro 2015, Pianoteq 8 Stage (Steinway Hamburg D Jazz Recording patch) with Spitfire Epic Strings just a touch in the background to fill. I’m very fond of the Pianoteq, possibly my favourite piano sound. Laptop’s own soundcard (using the mini TRS out frm the laptop to avoid introducing latency or sound changes).
Keyboard 1: Arturia Keylab 61 (NOT the Essential, so should be a reasonable keybed, even if it feels crappy.)
Keyboard 2: StudioLogic SL88 Grand (my current studio keybed - really lovely touch)
So everything the same EXCEPT the keyboard.
Result:
With the Arturia, the sound was like a ‘toy’ piano. In fact, it was so bad that our sound guy made a dreadful face. And there was very slight latency on the Arturia.
With the SL88, the sound was rich, smooth, and nuanced! No discernable latency
But nothing had changed apart from the midi-signals being created by the keyboard - triggered by my playing.
Could the keybed really make that much difference?
I suspected it might be my crappy laptop, so repeated the test in my studio using my studio mac computer. Whilst the Arturia didn’t sound quite as bad if I played carefully, the sound was still very sub-optimal. But the SL88 was, as always, rich and smooth.
So the problem wasn’t GP (no latency on the SL88, but still slight on the Arturia), nor the laptop. Had to be the key bed. I’ve concluded that it has to be something about the speed the midi signal goes from 0 to, say, 85, creating an almost ‘on/off’ effect - and likewise on the key out, robbing the sounds of the low middle midi numbers.
I can’t be lugging the heavy SL88 to gigs, so need to find a keybed that is light enough, but good enough.
Anyone any suggestions?
I like the S88 MKII from Native Instruments very much, cannot say anything about S88 MK3.
I would think the big difference is a weighted piano-style keyboard versus a non-weighted synth keyboard. If you are playing a piano sound I could see how that would make a huge difference.
If you put a lot of time into mapping the velocity of the Arturia, maybe the sound would be closer.
Well, you could adjust the velocity curve for your MIID IN block
By the way, I schlep my SL88 to gigs —
This is essential to get Pianoteq to respond properly. As a shortcut, I’ve also used the Pianoteq velocity presets, but it’s worth it to calibrate each controller and save that preset in Pianoteq so you can customize it based on what controller you’re using.
The dynamics slider can also be good to fine tune the response as well