Quote:
Originally Posted by joelpatterson  Well, yeah, sorta and sorta not-- a real piano is one thing.
Getting a decent recording of a real piano that sounds anyway even halfway as clear and 'chiming' and 'tones hanging in midair and lush and beauteous' as a good electronical keyboard playing a fine sample architecture-- maybe not so automatic as one would wish.
For the human experience, anyone would rather play a real piano, but that doesn't mean the samples wouldn't make for a better recording. If you need another bitter, cruel irony. |
I think you've nailed it Joel.
Nothing beats a real grand piano, e.g. Steinway, Baldwin or Yamaha; 6' or larger. But it's pretty hard to get a good recording of a real piano in all but the best rooms. And fuhgettabout writing a new song at 2 AM.
Back in the 70s I was spoiled rotten. At school I had access to probably a dozen Steinway or Baldwin grands in good or better maintenance, mostly in the music school, campus recording studio and surprisingly in many of the dorms. I literally would pick a specific piano to play (at 2 AM) depending on my mood and which instrument I wanted to converse with.
Then I moved to LA, rented a small apartment along with everybody else and suffered serious piano withdrawal. The security guards had to kick me out of the UCLA student union more than once. So I bought a Yamaha CP30B, and later a KX88 + MKS20 + Proformance + various sample libraries but nothing was the same.
Still, I likely will never own a real piano again because my lifestyle will not support it. So perhaps the best word is "bittersweet". I'm reasonably content with a pair of 88-key controllers driving a variety of VIs.
Last year I re-recorded an old song written in 1976, with the goal of recreating the oppressive power of wailing on an open-lid Baldwin in a very small practice room, door closed, recording onto a portable cassette recorder with AGC ON. Again, not quite the same, but here it is:
Waiting For God the Producer
(RD600 controller driving NI Akoustik Piano / Steinway / Showcase with lots of compression and a bump in the mid-range.)
Sky