What's wrong with me? (D4 vs. Blüthner musings)

Hello DDD,

Please feel free to use whichever piano suits your playing style and touch.

I happen to enjoy using the Blüthner Concert Recording AB preset, but that's just me.  In reality, it doesn't matter which brand name of piano I happen to use; rather, I choose the one(s) that have the most playability for my own playing style and touch.

Some people enjoy the emulation of the piano as you sit at the bench, whereas I enjoy the sound of the piano as it is heard from sitting at the side of the instrument.  True, this isn't what one hears when playing the piano, but I still like the side perspective, just the same.

Other people may argue that one given piano preset sounds too dry, or too wet, or too ... whatever.  That's the beauty of being able to select from any number of instruments, and from within their vast array of presets -- and then to go in and make further adjustments to your own liking.

One of the faults I have found with the sampled piano libraries (EWQL and Synthogy) was that I had to basically be happy with whatever perspective the software manufacturer thought was in my best interest.  Two of the things that have bothered me were the tuning (or lack of tuning on a given note in a certain note-on velocity range, and good tuning at lesser and greater velocities for the same note!); the other problem I had to deal with was the sometimes highly differing sounds in the same note, when I would pass from, say, 85 and below note-on velocity, and then getting slammed when the note-on velocity for the same note was 86.

Enough of my rambling.

Cheers,

Joe

Good points, all, Joe.  I agree completely with your observations about the profound versatility of Pianoteq compared to sample-based instruments.  The continuous response across the full range of midi data is wonderful -- 128 "sample layers" beat 16 (or 4, or 1) any day!

Thinking about it, you are also correct in identifying bench vs. piano-side perspectives as being at the crux of my preference.  I suppose that I tend to prefer a preset with the sonic immediacy that one gets while sitting and playing an acoustic piano.  But yes, many of the other presets are remarkably good representations of what you'd get with a well mic-ed piano in a studio or a nice, ambient hall, and might be preferable for purposes of, for example, recording a classical piece.

@Beto: Yes, you are right -- it does largely depend on a preference for the sound "color" of one piano/brand over another.  I've tried all of the Blüthner presets, and have spent a fair amount of time tweaking the parameters.  It is a fine piano, just not my favorite.  While the slightly "buzzy" bass notes can be interesting and the treble notes are very vibrant, I find the mid-range to be "flatter" (in terms of complexity, not pitch) as compared to my favorite D4 FXP.  Because it really comes down to preference, my original topic ("What's wrong with me?") was intended as a joke.  Vive la différence!

And speaking of Blüthner parameter tweaking, one of the things I found that I liked (in the "Dynamic Blüthner" fxp) was adding a single, very quick (10 ms) mallet bounce.  While it's so close in time that it isn't perceptible as a separate impulse, it "fattens" the sound of the hammer strike.  While for some purposes it might decrease the tight precision of the sound, I like the punch that it adds.  You can toggle that parameter on and off and see what you think.

Duggadugdug,

I'm diggadigging your preset :-)

Enjoying the dynamic 3 mic for d4  a lot indeed. Next to the daily practice , its' the one I will use. Thanks and keep up the good work.