shawn912
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piano synths
Are there any decent grand piano synths available that are fairly inexpensive (or better yet, free)? I have synths with piano patches but none of them sound very authentic.
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uncleswede
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RE: piano synths
2008/10/22 19:32:58
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Check out TruePianos. You can get 30% off if you're a Sonar 6 or 7 user (it comes with 8). Also, although the on-line offer doesn't work for Sonar Home Studio serial #s, if you email them they will give you the discount via an online coupon (that's what I did). Nicest sounding pianos I have for £70 all in.
--------------------------------------------------------- How to fly - throw yourself at the ground and miss S8.5PE, i7-920 (XP), 6Gb RAM, Phonic Helix 12, Axiom 61 controller, JM VC3Q and mic, plus more...
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Guitarhacker
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RE: piano synths
2008/10/22 20:25:26
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Sound Fonts are the answer... they are sampled instruments, and they sound so real because they are real. You need to move to SFZ. It's a free soundfont player... In addition, you can get the piano soundfonts for free. Get SFZ here: http://www.project5.com/products/instruments/sfz_player/default.asp google "free piano sound fonts" and you'll find lots of good fonts.... I have 3 I use alot, they sound good, and are all free. In addition, you can get most other instruments including bass, as a font and it plays in SFZ. On my website www.herbhartley.com I have some links to fonts and some tips on setting up SFZ & using it. BTW: the fonts are generally zipped and may require a special unzipper to open them.....also generally speaking, the bigger the files the better they normally sound... my pianos vary from 20MB to 75MB zipped..... but they sound good when played.... Listen to my soundclick songs....all the bass & pianos are fonts played with SFZ.
post edited by Guitarhacker - 2008/10/22 20:34:03
My website & music: www.herbhartley.com MC4/5/6/X1e.c, on a Custom DAW Focusrite Firewire Saffire Interface BMI/NSAI "Just as the blade chooses the warrior, so too, the song chooses the writer "
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soundchaser59
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RE: piano synths
2008/10/22 21:12:48
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If you save up some extra $$$$$ to burn, you can try Pianoteq. It's a piano modeller, so it takes almost no memory, but it is cpu intensive because it calculates the piano sound in real time as you play. Nothing else sounds or feels like it, especially for a trained piano player.
The demos are free, and they will give you an idea of the sound. No offense to any samples, but it beats samples all the way to down under and back.....
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kwgm
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RE: piano synths
2008/10/22 23:04:37
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Just in case you discover a rich uncle has died and left you a fortune......
The very best VST piano I've used to date is Synthology Ivory, and I get to play them all. The basic package (V. 1.6) is excellent alone, with a Steinway D, Japanese grand (probably Yamaha) and something else. The Fazoli extention package (called Italian Grand), is out of this world!
Something to put on your Xmas list, at least.
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shawn912
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RE: piano synths
2008/10/23 12:34:58
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Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll stick with soundfonts for now, since they're free and the ones I've found sound pretty damn good--much better than I expected to get for nothing. :)
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Legion
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RE: piano synths
2008/10/23 16:03:18
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Also decent and free are:
MDA-piano (modeled)
DSK-Piano
4front Piano
I think Sampletank 2 free has an pretty goof piano as well but don't use it anymore since I bought my new DAW and didn't have time for the hassle with challenge/response...
Sadly very reduced studio equipment as it is... ASUS G750J, 8 gb RAM, Win8, Roland Quad Capture.
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DerGeist
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RE: piano synths
2008/10/24 10:49:27
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Not a synth so probably not what you are looking for but I really love the Galaxy II pianos collection. The Bosendorfer is excellent and so is the Steinway. I don't really care for the Bluthner very much but I don't really like the Bluther sound very much anyway.
I have Truepianos and honestly don't like it very much. To be fair I havn't spent much time tweaking it. Still, I'm always a little surpised that people love it so much.
I find the Galaxy II collection every bit as playable as both pianoteq and and truepianos and it sounds much nicer. Of course, everyone has their own perfectly valid opinions.
That said my Yamaha U5 upright arrived last week so the virtual pianos have been getting a lot less use.
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lightninrick
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RE: piano synths
2008/10/24 16:22:00
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mungocherry33
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RE: piano synths
2008/10/26 07:32:04
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ORIGINAL: shawn912
Are there any decent grand piano synths available that are fairly inexpensive (or better yet, free)? I have synths with piano patches but none of them sound very authentic.
I have Truepianos, discount applied after purchase of Jamstix. I like it quite a bit. Here's a newly released one from KVR Audio site news: http://www.hgsounds.com/
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