Topic: The unproficient's plea for toys and gusto.
I post here with no small amount of trepidation. The lot of you guys are actual, real musicians, and you make the best of something like Pianoteq.
Me, I just - around.
I can only play a few notes at once. Especially on the left hand. But I play them with gusto. For the time being, it works for me.
When I discovered Pianoteq, I was very excited about it. I had no idea the technology of simulating the physics of the instrument had progressed to the point that a lightweight consumer product can do it this perfectly. (I'm mad jealous of the developers who get to program that thing, too. It's like, "Guys, what if we made the exact sound of beauty with the power of our algorithms?" And bam, they do it, while the rest of us don't.)
So I grabbed the trial version, plugged in my keyboard, and boy, did I - around. For 20 minutes at a time.
And now I'm leering at the Stage version. It's barely glancing back at me. It knows I'm not worthy. "Does that guy even know what damper resonance is?", I can tell it's thinking. (I do. It was documented on the Pianoteq site. But I understand its misgivings.)
See, I really only just - around. My keyboard's native pianos are plenty good. The basses lack a little oomph and the upper range lacks a little warmth, but really, given my skill level, that's good enough for me. I don't need Pianoteq. Some have the ability to use it for beauty. In my hands it would only be a toy. Especially in my left hand.
I'm a responsible adult. They let me raise children. A responsible adult can't just throw 99 bucks at a toy that he doesn't really need.
But. Real-time and near perfect simulation of a beautiful instrument at the tip of your fingers.
That, and Pianoteq's Linux support is perfect -- if you're not one of us loonies you cannot know how much that means to us -- and I believe in giving money to companies that cater to me.
To cut it short, I wonder if there would be a market for an inexpensive, limited version of Pianoteq that's good for the unproficient to - around with.
No need for advanced effects, no need for the integrated MIDI player, tuning, transpose, and a good half of those pedals could probably go. Just a nice simple piano, for just a few dozen bucks.
I can't promise to play it well. But I can promise to play it with gusto.
