Topic: L7 Natural (Jan 3 2026) FXP. New natural tuning (+/- cents), etc.
Version: January 3 2026. Change Log
Base Preset: NY Steinway Model D
https://forum.modartt.com/file/b9akecou
Demo: Fragment "Fast Piano & Stuff" included for demonstration was created by Misaka to testing.
L7 Natural [Jan 3]
https://forum.modartt.com/download.php?id=6443
Full Change Log (Dec 26) vs. NY Steinway Model D: https://forum.modartt.com/viewtopic.php?id=12899
Last Change Log (Dec 27) : https://forum.modartt.com/viewtopic.php?id=12902
NEW:
Mics & Mix
Mics 1 & 2 (player's perspective) replaced with a head configuration.
Compensation: Off (both)
Volume: −12 dB
Note: If you enable "Level" with Vol. set to −6 dB, you'll get the same output volume.
Why disable Compensation?
Disabling Compensation Level gives you a more natural sound, similar to the Bösendorfer and Kawai presets where both Compensation settings are usually off. In short, Compensation Level works like a limiter, and that's problematic because you end up with Level On + Limiter On (Pianoteq's stock effects), which results in a more synthesized sound.
Mixing without Pianoteq stock effects:
If you want to mix externally, enable Compensation Delay in the Mics & Mix settings, then add your own reverb, delay, or any effects you prefer in your DAW's effect chain. You'll notice that with Compensation Off, you get more of the room's natural feel. As a consequence, if you add reverb on top, you'll get a "reverb on reverb" effect that won't sit well in a mix.
Note-Off Velocity
It's important to calibrate your keyboard in Pianoteq. If your keyboard has a fixed velocity (e.g., 64), you should use:
Note-Off Velocity = [0, 127; 64, 64]For most keyboards with a velocity range of 10–127, the most basic and universal curve is:
Note-Off Velocity = [1, 127; 15, 127]This works better because some keyboards don't report correctly at x=0 or values below y=10 or 15.
Since there's no universal curve that works for every keyboard (from entry-level to high-end), I've left this setting at Modartt's default (fixed at 127):
Note-Off Velocity = [0, 127; 127, 127]While this should work for everyone by default, it's still very important to calibrate it to your actual velocity response.
Tuning
Instead of using Stretch: 1.18 [Nat] (default: 1.00), I replaced it with the following Detune values (compatible with both Standard and Pro versions):
Array Format (A0 to C8) . Formula by Railsback, O. L. (1938). "Scale Temperament as applied to piano tuning". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 9, 274.
IMPORTANT: IN FEW HOURS A MINI-RESEARCH WITH AFTER 2015 FORMULAS AND NEW FINDS (Better than Railsback [1938])
Detune = [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, -17, -17, -17, -13, -13, -9, -9, -8, -6, -4, -4, -3, -3, -3, -3, -2, -2, -2, -2, -2, -1, -1, -1, -1, 0, 0, 0, 0, +1, +1, +1, +1, +2, +2, +2, +3, 0, 0, 0, +1, +1, +1, +2, +2, +2, +3, +3, +3, +3, +3, +4, +5, +6, +6, +7, +8, +8, +9, +9, +10, +4, +4, +5, +5, +6, +6, +7, +8, +8, +9, +9, +10, +11, +12, +13, +15, +16, +17, +18, +20, +22, +25, +26, +29, +31, +34, +37, +40, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]Background: Steinway Model D Tuning Research
Here's the deal with the Steinway Model D tuning research I found:
The key discovery is that "perfect" mathematical tuning actually sounds bad on real pianos. The strings exhibit something called inharmonicity, their overtones aren't perfectly harmonic due to string stiffness. As a result, professional tuners have been stretching the tuning for centuries: bass notes go slightly flat, while treble notes go slightly sharp.
For the Steinway D specifically, we're looking at about 57 cents of total stretch, ranging from −17 cents at the lowest A to +40 cents at the top C. The sweet spot where everything sits at zero is around A2–A3, exactly where the strings have the least inharmonicity. Not a coincidence!
What's interesting is that both traditional ear tuners and modern electronic software arrive at essentially the same curve. The physics simply works out that way.
Basically, the math behind a Steinway Model D’s stretch tuning starts with Fletcher’s inharmonicity formula, and we convert that inharmonicity into cents with the factor 865.62 × B × n² (where B is the string’s inharmonicity constant and n is the partial number). Because concert grands like the Steinway Model D have very long bass strings (about 201 cm), their B values stay extremely low, roughly 0.0002–0.0006 through the midrange, so they need less stretch than smaller pianos.
We usually tune to a 4:2 octave standard (matching the 4th partial of the lower note to the 2nd partial of the upper). That approach produces roughly 2–4 cents of stretch per octave, which adds up to about 60–85 cents of accumulated stretch across the whole keyboard on a big grand.
Since 2015 there have been three useful advances that back up the physics approach: Giordano’s work on dissonance minimization, Hinrichsen’s entropy-based optimization, and Jaatinen’s subjective octave measurements. Together they show that physics-based stretch calculations not only predict measured tuning curves but also align with what listeners prefer.
Sources