Modartt user forum - Which is the acoustic grand - part two

Re: Which is the acoustic grand - part two

2010-04-02T00:05:12Z

Glenn NK wrote:

Gilles:
I'm not aware that normalizing accentuates any particular level or frequency - and no other effect was applied to the Schiff snippet.
Glenn

It's just that a low level snippet extracted and normalized to 0dB will show hiss that is not heard when the whole thing is heard at the original level. See for example these low level portions of the "Moonlight Sonata" the first one at the original recorded level, the second one normalized to 0dB. Hiss is clearly more audible on the second one.

http://www.forum-pianoteq.com/uploads.php?file=sch1.mp3
http://www.forum-pianoteq.com/uploads.php?file=sch2.mp3

Re: Which is the acoustic grand - part two

2010-04-01T22:48:35Z

Gilles:

I did an A/B comparision between the original and the normalized snippest; raising the volume on the original (with the volume slider on my soundcard) to the same output level as the original so as to compare the hiss, I didn't notice any difference.

I'm not aware that normalizing accentuates any particular level or frequency - and no other effect was applied to the Schiff snippet.

In any event, the similarity between the K1 Close Mic Contrast and the original Bosendorfer sound is surprising I think.

Maybe the K1 should be called the B1?

I agree about Schiff - and he has a great sense of humour. He was demonstrating how the "Moonlight" has always been played too fast. While playing it at the usual tempo (almost in the largo range), he said, "the audience can go for breakfast, and lunch, and dinner, and the poor pianist is still playing".

Glenn

Re: Which is the acoustic grand - part two

2010-04-01T20:36:48Z

This is too easy, hiss and heavy breathing give away Andras Schiff in the second snippet. What an incredibly articulate and intelligent pianist though, I recommend this entire series to everybody, even people who don't particularly like classical piano or Beethoven.

Schiff has an incredible memory and can play related pieces from all over the repertoire transposing them as he talks.

There is not that much hiss in the original mp3 files I downloaded from the site months ago...they sound much cleaner to my ears. Maybe too much normalization of the original for this snippet. Normalizing to 0dB will bring out a lot of hiss...

Re: Which is the acoustic grand - part two

2010-04-01T19:40:46Z

I've posted a modified mp3 which I think is better.

Appassioniata snippets 2nd movement (redo).

Also available is a version using the K1 Close Mic Contrast (which I like better).

http://www.box.net/shared/4ka848d94i

Glenn

modified wave/mp3 file.

Re: Which is the acoustic grand - part two

2010-04-01T18:50:20Z

(Heavy breathing modulated by velocity? Starting to sound like a porn vst.)

Which is the acoustic grand - part two

2010-04-01T18:14:02Z

This time it's much easier - because I can't get the pianist's breathing into the Pianoteq rendered snippet - which is something that Modartt should seriously consider adding.

Probably the hardest part of modeling a piano is in the bass as the number of partials is highest. In this case, PT is up against a Bosendorfer which is renowned for it bass clarity. Even then, I think PT does very well.

Again, two different pianists; Andras Schiff on a Bosie, and a MIDI by Pianoteq.

See: Appassionata snippets 2nd movement, and let's hear some opinions.

Glenn