Hi, new at the forum. Best settings for Rock&pop stuff?

Hi Gustavo!, that's a really good question. I rarely use the exact same piano preset twice - mainly because, to me, any performance of a part (esp. rock/pop) can be treated very individually. In other notable genres, like classical there may be more requirement to keep things 'real' whereas with rock and pop and other contemporary styles of music, the 'mix' can be much more plastic in various ways.

Some things to consider.. in rock/pop, compared to classical styles, the pianos may have very close mic perspective, more compression (with heavier makeup gain). Also.. if mixing, perhaps you can avoid a lot of hassle by not trying to fit a huge full spectrum piano into an already crowded mix (with a kick drum and a fat bass guitar etc.).

There are a vast many ideas about mixing for rock/pop etc.. and there's no one perfect correct things to do - but the thing which adds up to a lot can be the bravery of trying things out - so I definitely want to encourage you to keep seeking pianos/presets which get you towards your ideals - and to learn some things, like your idea about EQ. It is true, you can scoop some zones and possibly push others - esp. in a mix. Often in rock/pop, the piano is arranged throughout, like it may swim up to prominence and be panned wide and in a glorious way during a chorus but kind of fall back to mousy quiet in verses - to oversimplify this. But certainly, check out ways pianos are mixed into well known pop music and you can get a handle on this idea that, you may not be aiming at the right thing, if you are trying to EQ the piano to seem 'big'.. often it's absolutely about the production values, which kind of magnify instrument parts in ways.. I think one of the most critical issues with pianists learning about production is that part, where you might have to consider that in a rock/pop song, the listeners don't want to hear you playing full on all the way through.. and the mix end of things can be all about alternately hiding and peaking moments of piano.. giving listeners a 'feeling' that the piano is big, or 'there all the time' - but it's often not. Unless talking about Elton John or Billy Joel or an artist where piano is the next instrument along from the vocals.. but usually, it's personal and differences abound out there - but I'd definitely encourage anyone to try and seek info about how things were done in the old studio era. Plugins have been honing that stuff - and honestly these days, the choices of plugins/ecosystems etc. make the old days seem like dinosaur times

Things not often mentioned re thinking about how a pop or rock piano might 'come across' to listeners can seem weird or exotic - and is often just down to the aesthetic choices along the way. But definitely, you want to have some things adding up - like.. in some rock the idea is to 'be loud' or seem loud.. there may be saturation and other studio grit in the whole final piano track (along with special EQ or compressions/reverb etc.).. so in that specific kind of case, you may not want to cut the mids too much.. or maybe roll off the lows and tops.. seems horrible.. like, why would you do that to a lovely piano? And the answer is, you're not making a lovely recording here.. you're in rock and roll, right?

The simple way to see this kind of thing, is not straight forward maybe - but.. things like Fletcher Munchen curve means that if you want something to 'seem' louder than it is (esp. when played back at a low volume), the human ear expects a certain kind of EQ which is mid tone focussed.

The opposite of that is an EQ curve rich in bass below 150kHz and medium throughout until around 4 or 5kHz which may be boosted - CAN give your piano or other instruments a 'sound of not being as loud as they seem'. This isn't a bad thing - and can be something done 'at mastering'.. but at recording stage, and mixing stage.. certainly you can treat the piano alone for 'vibe' or 'hype' etc.. but later on, in mastering, the seriously grating edges might be 'settled'. This is stuff which is not often disucussed I guess - it's arcane I suppose. But - I don't often think of 'a track' as something finished. It gets treated to fit into the context of a mix - THEN - the mix gets treated (think glued together in various ways) - and even at home with a DAW, you can work on a 'last pass' like a full 'mastering process' too. Each stage can bring out something unique to that process. People new to recording often think "It's all just one thing - plug this in - play - set levels - output it - done". And that's absolutely fine - but if getting ready to get zooming in on specific tricks you know exist in the recording world, I encourage that kind of thinking.

SO - sometimes, new recordists may persist doing kind of the opposite things which might actually help their mixes to work. Like for sure, one of the most common errors in contemporary music mixing can be to try to make an elephant sized piano with a very wide stereo image fit into a gritty rock piece.. why? It's not a classical concert where you're supposed to hear all nuances and a full spectrum piano - often the goal of a rock song is to glue a mix together with roaring or soaring instruments

A mid tone focus on a piano can be the one thing missing in mixes. It may seem silly, that a huge piano sound can 'hide' the thing in a mix. But a mix is about 'making certain things rise and fall' in obvious and non-obvious ways I guess artfully overall.

Also - definitely be mindful of dynamics.. it can help the 'feel' of kind of ramping up the emotional energy of a piano mix, if you raise the dynamic slider a little, so you can push into the keys more to 'reach' higher velocities. The 'tension' of 'belting it out' compared to patting the keys conveys much emotional quotient for some music.. to fit though, the same things don't work universally. It's often the case with new recordists, that they have dynamics low thought (for consistency in playing the part without too much vatiation in level - which itself can be good - and if it works, further mix treatment may be the better way at times, to add emotional content to it), it may have bright and bassy EQ, too much compression from the bass pushing the needle into the red.. and then on top, they may put too much reverb on, to compensate for how big and in-your-face the piano is. All that can add up to a wishy-washy load of bass-heavy weight which if turned up in a mix overrides everything else.. or if too low.. is lost completely like a ghost of itself. Definitely consider just for one example... electric guitar cuts through in a mix.. and if piano is the focus (maybe after vocals).. why not make it 'cut through?' Worth experimenting with "Amp" in Pianoteq to sort of cheaply emulated a little saturation from a mixing console.. adjust the 3 tones of saturation there - and you can re-create some actually classy sounding basic desk grit.

But - for sure some rock/pop will work with the opposite stuff I suggest too - so - whatever works for your styles and goals is the ultimate answer - and to get to that, it's great to ask for assistance here - and also to keep at it - the enjoyment never ends in all honesty if you love music