Re: Instruments selection, different categories

Key Fumbler wrote:
BarbaraRB wrote:
Key Fumbler wrote:

What do you want from you K2 plus celesta?
A model blend?, both together?  on same MIDI channel or separate channels?
Accentuated stereo imaging - one further left, one for the right?

I like the celesta sound but that's one I haven't picked up yet.
You should experiment for yourself.  You can always go back, save multiple versions and so on.

I want what the demo had for Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, but I don't know what they did. It has the perfect, sparkling magical quality for that song. I guess I'll have to read the manual and watch some tutorials. I don't have any background sound mixing/engineering.

It's not as if you have to get into heavy mixing or sound design. You've got a couple of sounds to combine there.

I see, it's the first demo that was on the celesta page, gotcha.
Using K2 the piano should actually sound better than that as that demo is apparently with the earlier K1 piano.
Back then they didn't have that many options model wise. You could use absolutely any of the pianos. The U4 or Steinway B for instance.
The relative softness of the B model could give you a nice easy contrast with the crisp quality of the celesta without having to adjust the sound too much with EQ etc. That's very much going to depend on the preset chosen anyway.

Thanks for the he encouragement. The B would be nice with the celesta.Is it morphed or layered? Are the two instruments divided between the hands? This is totally new to me. I know you can't give me a crash course on this, but if you could listen to the demo and point me in the right direction, I'd be able to start my own learning process. There are tutorials, etc., if I have some idea of what I'm trying to do! It sounds to me as if the Celesta is mainly or entirely in the treble. But I'm not sure. The arrangement is different from my own, but that wouldn't matter. If this is a bother, I'll understand.

Re: Instruments selection, different categories

dazric wrote:

Just a thought, Barbara: did I see that you recently picked up Pro in the sale? If so, here's your chance to put it to good use! I'm guessing that your arrangement of Sugar Plum Fairy has the melody fairly high up, with some sort of broken-chord accompaniment lower down in the left hand. If so, you could create a 'split' instrument using the Layer feature.

First, prepare special versions of the celesta and K2 (or Steinway B, as you decide) as separate presets. For the celesta, use the Note Edit to set the Volume of all notes below the range of the RH to 0*. For the piano, set the general volume somewhat lower than that of the celesta, then Note Edit the volume of all notes above the LH range to 0. The next step is to layer the 2 presets, and you should have a nice custom-made preset for the Sugar Plum Fairy!

*Edit: just to clarify, I didn't mean 0dB for the volume, but as low as it will go, which is -31.5dB

Oh, that is a huge help! Conceptually, I understand. Now, if I take it step by step using the he manual and tutorials, I should be able to do it! I'm going to print our your notes. I'm also flagging @key fumbler.

I actually upgraded to studio, so I really should explore how to use the technology, not just play the different instruments. A million thanks!

Re: Instruments selection, different categories

Great, let us know how it works out!

Re: Instruments selection, different categories

BarbaraRB wrote:
Key Fumbler wrote:
BarbaraRB wrote:

I want what the demo had for Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, but I don't know what they did. It has the perfect, sparkling magical quality for that song. I guess I'll have to read the manual and watch some tutorials. I don't have any background sound mixing/engineering.

It's not as if you have to get into heavy mixing or sound design. You've got a couple of sounds to combine there.

I see, it's the first demo that was on the celesta page, gotcha.
Using K2 the piano should actually sound better than that as that demo is apparently with the earlier K1 piano.
Back then they didn't have that many options model wise. You could use absolutely any of the pianos. The U4 or Steinway B for instance.
The relative softness of the B model could give you a nice easy contrast with the crisp quality of the celesta without having to adjust the sound too much with EQ etc. That's very much going to depend on the preset chosen anyway.

Thanks for the he encouragement. The B would be nice with the celesta.Is it morphed or layered? Are the two instruments divided between the hands? This is totally new to me. I know you can't give me a crash course on this, but if you could listen to the demo and point me in the right direction, I'd be able to start my own learning process. There are tutorials, etc., if I have some idea of what I'm trying to do! It sounds to me as if the Celesta is mainly or entirely in the treble. But I'm not sure. The arrangement is different from my own, but that wouldn't matter. If this is a bother, I'll understand.

For now you want layering.

When that specific demo was created there was no layering in the program itself, if they were played together that layering had to be handled in a DAW. Or they were played separately and layered within a DAW. Most likely the latter - I haven't studied it carefully, just listened the once.

Morphed literally means a hybrid of the two models. Neither one nor the other, more like the child of the two.

Layered is as it sounds. You can assign them to the same controller, or you can use different keyboards per sound. The latter is simplest.

On one MIDI assigned number layer you can still play them at the same time over all the keys. Alternatively you can go into each individual layer and reduce the volume down to nothing on the keys where you do not want a specific layer to make a sound (one or both sounds):
Right click on the volume control>note edit>stay in "volume" and drag it down to the bottom for the keys you don't want to hear.

Maybe I'm doing this in a clumsy way as I just use separate keyboards with different MIDI channels myself. I should RTFM for this but I didn't need to for the set up here
Other synth programs you can simply tell them which keys you want to play for each layer with a number. Maybe that's available here and I just haven't noticed?
Either way the right click note edit will get you there.

EDIT:I should add since you can control the output level per note so this Pianoteq system is strictly speaking actually more sophisticated than simply assigning a key number from which a specific layer is triggered (and one where a layer stops)  as you can have different levels per key, even fade in levels if you liked.

I could be overcomplicating things at this point.

Last edited by Key Fumbler (21-08-2022 19:04)

Re: Instruments selection, different categories

Key Fumbler wrote:
BarbaraRB wrote:
Key Fumbler wrote:

It's not as if you have to get into heavy mixing or sound design. You've got a couple of sounds to combine there.

I see, it's the first demo that was on the celesta page, gotcha.
Using K2 the piano should actually sound better than that as that demo is apparently with the earlier K1 piano.
Back then they didn't have that many options model wise. You could use absolutely any of the pianos. The U4 or Steinway B for instance.
The relative softness of the B model could give you a nice easy contrast with the crisp quality of the celesta without having to adjust the sound too much with EQ etc. That's very much going to depend on the preset chosen anyway.

Thanks for the he encouragement. The B would be nice with the celesta.Is it morphed or layered? Are the two instruments divided between the hands? This is totally new to me. I know you can't give me a crash course on this, but if you could listen to the demo and point me in the right direction, I'd be able to start my own learning process. There are tutorials, etc., if I have some idea of what I'm trying to do! It sounds to me as if the Celesta is mainly or entirely in the treble. But I'm not sure. The arrangement is different from my own, but that wouldn't matter. If this is a bother, I'll understand.

For now you want layering.

When that specific demo was created there was no layering in the program itself, if they were played together that layering had to be handled in a DAW. Or they were played separately and layered within a DAW. Most likely the latter - I haven't studied it carefully, just listened the once.

Morphed literally means a hybrid of the two models. Neither one nor the other, more like the child of the two.

Layered is as it sounds. You can assign them to the same controller, or you can use different keyboards per sound. The latter is simplest.

On one MIDI assigned number layer you can still play them at the same time over all the keys. Alternatively you can go into each individual layer and reduce the volume down to nothing on the keys where you do not want a specific layer to make a sound (one or both sounds):
Right click on the volume control>note edit>stay in "volume" and drag it down to the bottom for the keys you don't want to hear.

Maybe I'm doing this in a clumsy way as I just use separate keyboards with different MIDI channels myself. I should RTFM for this but I didn't need to for the set up here
Other synth programs you can simply tell them which keys you want to play for each layer with a number. Maybe that's available here and I just haven't noticed?
Either way the right click note edit will get you there.

EDIT:I should add since you can control the output level per note so this Pianoteq system is strictly speaking actually more sophisticated than simply assigning a key number from which a specific layer is triggered (and one where a layer stops)  as you can have different levels per key, even fade in levels if you liked.

I could be overcomplicating things at this point.

That's very helpful, and similar to what Dazric wrote.  I use my Roland RP501 as a midi controller, so I'll do it as you and Dazric described.  I found the video for layering on Pianoteq - https://youtu.be/aMabJYzhzCE - and will also read the manual and learn more about modifying basic settings.  Meanwhile, I can learn to play the piece as written on my sheet music, which is a necessary step!

Thanks so much for this guidance.

Re: Instruments selection, different categories

No problem.
Maybe this has brought up a feature request.

I think they could have made things easier by adding to the initial layering window (as seen in your video link)  two visible (not right click to see) boxes per instrument layer in which you could simply choose the top and bottom keys you would like the layer to work within.

This in addition to the method previously described, which I suggest is a little fiddly and is mainly designed for note per note adjustments. It's less intuitive than it needs to be.

Re: Instruments selection, different categories

I agree, the layering procedure could be improved. Some users have created hybrid pianos (for example top half NY Steinway D, lower half HB Steinway D - I would call that a New York Hamburger ). This is even more fiddly because the mid point has to be carefully cross-faded for a smooth transition. There are some layered hybrid pianos in FXP Corner, but I'm not sure which ones they are. It's not always clear from the description whether the presets have been morphed or layered - but I remember downloading at least one layered hybrid piano. If I can find the name of the preset and the author, I'll update this post.

Edit: that's weird, I checked my 'downloaded fxps' folder for that layered hybrid and I can't find it. I'm sure I didn't imagine it!

Last edited by dazric (22-08-2022 12:20)

Re: Instruments selection, different categories

Key Fumbler wrote:

No problem.
Maybe this has brought up a feature request.

I think they could have made things easier by adding to the initial layering window (as seen in your video link)  two visible (not right click to see) boxes per instrument layer in which you could simply choose the top and bottom keys you would like the layer to work within.

This in addition to the method previously described, which I suggest is a little fiddly and is mainly designed for note per note adjustments. It's less intuitive than it needs to be.

I've been listening to some of the morphed and layered demos and it really is dazzling to see what can be done with Pianoteq. Worth the investment of time to learn to do these things. First, I'll learn how to download, save, and use those that have been shared!

I loved some of your own blenders, as well as hearing you play. Wish you had included more demos with your many other blends!

We have some incredibly talented people participating in the Forum. Very inspiring.

Re: Instruments selection, different categories

BarbaraRB wrote:
Key Fumbler wrote:

No problem.
Maybe this has brought up a feature request.

I think they could have made things easier by adding to the initial layering window (as seen in your video link)  two visible (not right click to see) boxes per instrument layer in which you could simply choose the top and bottom keys you would like the layer to work within.

This in addition to the method previously described, which I suggest is a little fiddly and is mainly designed for note per note adjustments. It's less intuitive than it needs to be.

I've been listening to some of the morphed and layered demos and it really is dazzling to see what can be done with Pianoteq. Worth the investment of time to learn to do these things. First, I'll learn how to download, save, and use those that have been shared!

I loved some of your own blenders, as well as hearing you play. Wish you had included more demos with your many other blends!

We have some incredibly talented people participating in the Forum. Very inspiring.

I haven't performed any of the MIDI tracks with the FXP on this website so far,  that's just piano MIDI files off free websites.

Glad you liked the presets though.

Re: Instruments selection, different categories

BarbaraRB wrote:
Key Fumbler wrote:

No problem.
Maybe this has brought up a feature request.

I think they could have made things easier by adding to the initial layering window (as seen in your video link)  two visible (not right click to see) boxes per instrument layer in which you could simply choose the top and bottom keys you would like the layer to work within.

This in addition to the method previously described, which I suggest is a little fiddly and is mainly designed for note per note adjustments. It's less intuitive than it needs to be.

I've been listening to some of the morphed and layered demos and it really is dazzling to see what can be done with Pianoteq. Worth the investment of time to learn to do these things. First, I'll learn how to download, save, and use those that have been shared!

I loved some of your own blenders, as well as hearing you play. Wish you had included more demos with your many other blends!

We have some incredibly talented people participating in the Forum. Very inspiring.

I tried to morph Bechstein and Bluethner, and it was quite interesting. I didn't like layering because I can somehow hear two pianos. But morphing didn't give me that impression, it felt like one.

Re: Instruments selection, different categories

srodrigo wrote:

..
I tried to morph Bechstein and Bluethner, and it was quite interesting. I didn't like layering because I can somehow hear two pianos. But morphing didn't give me that impression, it felt like one.

Woah, totally sick sounding piano dude!!!
The "Bluechstein" a piano for chunderous applause!

Onomatopoeia in action!

Re: Instruments selection, different categories

Key Fumbler wrote:
srodrigo wrote:

..
I tried to morph Bechstein and Bluethner, and it was quite interesting. I didn't like layering because I can somehow hear two pianos. But morphing didn't give me that impression, it felt like one.

Woah, totally sick sounding piano dude!!!
The "Bluechstein" a piano for chunderous applause!

Onomatopoeia in action!

Love it! The Bleuchstein!