Hi Furio,
may I ask you what kind of EQ and compression processing (plugins and parameters) you use on the Steinway? I have tried the Pianoteq Steinway when playing live with my band but feel I am not able to achieve a sound that works as well (cuts through the mix) like e.g. my Nord Stage (Bechstein) grand piano.
Thanks!
Nord stage is designed to cut through.
Do you have an analyzer to see how nord stage is EQed?
Feed the Nord into a spectral analyzer plugin to see exactly what itās doing. Also, most EQs display the incoming signal so you might be able to compare the Nord and Pianoteq
I use Mixbox by IK multimedia.
There was a preset named Acoustic Piano.
I cut something (saturation). I kept a 1176 type compression, and a SSL type equalizer, a simple room reverb, very soft.
If you want I can take a pic of the settings
I do have an analyser. However, even though I played with my EQ to make the Pianoteq sound more brilliant, this doesnāt do the trick completely. It seem to me that the Nords sample is processed in a way that, as you mentioned, is designed for live performance to cut through. I wonder if I am able to achieve the same result processing the Pianoteq sound using plugins.
Maybe they use some kind of multi compression.
Thanks for sharing. Since I do not have the Mixbox from IK multimedia I will try to recreate this using my DMG audio plugins. A picture of your settings would be great. To add saturation is not something that came to my mind. Maybe thatās the missing component. Thanks for your help.
That is very possible. I will try this as well. Currently do not own a multiband compressor, but this could be worth trying. Wonder how much latency a multi compressor add to the signal and if this is notable when playing. For dynamics I use the TrackComp 2 from DMG audio including a collection of analogue and digital compressors. The thing I like about this plugin is that it is very low on CPU and adds minimal latency.
Thanks. Thatās a good idea. Will try that.
You might also want to consider a dynamic EQ. The video is for a Studio One specific EQ, but Iāll add a link to a Top 10 Dynamic EQs article. One nice feature of SOās new (in v6) ProEQ3 is the ability to sweep the sidechain audio against the main audio to aid in identifying the target frequency band to EQ.
Top 10 Dynamic EQs (includes 3 free ones)
Thanks for the hint. Will have a look at this.
TDR Nova is a wonderful dynamic eq and it is free of chargeā¦
Yes, it is. It sounds āthinā, lifeless. Nothing like a good piano pedal noise. If you had the VSL imperial youād know what is a good pedal noise and that pianoteqās is not up to that (not yet at least).
On the studio imperial you know how to properly use a sustain pedal, it will (softly) āboomā if you release it too hard. When you release it softly, you will hear the stweaks very nicely and then how the mutes touch the strings. Thatās a good pedal noise.
the squeaks
Because I am curious:
What do you play so that the pedal noise is that important?
One trick Iāve used with getting, in particular, uprights to cut is combining a limiter (I use ToneBoosters Barricade), some dynamic EQ expansion around 2k, and cut some low end or low mids since live, especially, you donāt need it. I use TB EQ or waves F6 to achieve that.
Multi and compression can work, but you can wreck a sound very quickly by going overboard.
If youāre compressing too hard with too fast an attack, or too slow a release youāll also have trouble getting the piano up over a band. With super fast attacks and aggressive ratios no amount of makeup gain will helpā¦ although that is its own sound in modern pop music.
My favorite piano by far is the Grotrian. It is my main piano for gigging solo and in a band.
Mostly classical music on a piano. Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, etc
An beside the pedal noise, are you happy with the piano sound and the playing feeling? I personally like the sound when others play it, but I donāt like to play Pianoteq pianos myself even with a Pianoteq optimized controller curve (Kawai VPC1). But, I recognize they are the best modeled piano plugins I could test.
Yes, the piano themselves are sounding pretty good, pretty close to the best sample libraries. There are good and bad things with sample libraries (the best would be low CPU and possibly very high quality for good libraries use and worst thing being their large size and sometimes round-robin issues) just as there are good and bad things with modeled instruments (best would be its versatility and its non-linear interactivity and the worst would be higher CPU usage and limitations of the model).
Appart from the large selection of piano, with pianoteq you also have a lot of very interesting other intruments, all sound great (the harp can be pretty useful in itself) and very unique/old piano models. Really, that noise pedal is simply a turnoff for me as my main piano sound but that does not mean pianoteq sounds bad as a whole, Iām still using it for fun or for experiments, just not when I just want a true piano experience in which case I go back to VSL imperial which is for now my main one.