Topic by alexis

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Topic: Newbie to acoustic "Middle Pedal" - can I dial that sound in?

Hi -

I've played piano for decades, but only an upright with two pedals.

We now have a piano with three pedals, and I've been playing with the middle pedal locked/engaged, and loving the muted sound.

I use the Steinberg D Grand Piano in Cubase for my MIDI piano sounds, which I love, but now I'm wondering ... can I somehow apply the "middle piano" muted sound from within PianoTeq to that?

I have the least advanced method of the latest version of PianoTeq ...

Thank you for any help!

Alexis

Reply by stamkorg

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Re: Newbie to acoustic "Middle Pedal" - can I dial that sound in?

alexis wrote:

Hi -

I've played piano for decades, but only an upright with two pedals.

We now have a piano with three pedals, and I've been playing with the middle pedal locked/engaged, and loving the muted sound.

I use the Steinberg D Grand Piano in Cubase for my MIDI piano sounds, which I love, but now I'm wondering ... can I somehow apply the "middle piano" muted sound from within PianoTeq to that?

I have the least advanced method of the latest version of PianoTeq ...

Thank you for any help!

Alexis

Right click on the pedal and choose "celeste" or something like that. And left click to engage the pedal

Last edited by stamkorg (15-10-2022 07:01)

Reply by Gaston

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Re: Newbie to acoustic "Middle Pedal" - can I dial that sound in?

alexis wrote:

Hi -

I've played piano for decades, but only an upright with two pedals.

We now have a piano with three pedals, and I've been playing with the middle pedal locked/engaged, and loving the muted sound.

I use the Steinberg D Grand Piano in Cubase for my MIDI piano sounds, which I love, but now I'm wondering ... can I somehow apply the "middle piano" muted sound from within PianoTeq to that?

I have the least advanced method of the latest version of PianoTeq ...

Thank you for any help!

Alexis

Hi Alexis,
the function of the three pedals is well explained here :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_pedals

About the middle one :

" It is common to find uprights and even grand pianos that lack a middle pedal. Even if a piano has a middle pedal, one cannot assume it is a true sostenuto, for there are many other functions a middle pedal can have other than that of sostenuto. Often an upright's middle pedal is another half-blow pedal, like the one on the left, except that the middle pedal slides into a groove to stay engaged. Sometimes, the middle pedal may only operate the bass dampers.
The middle pedal may sometimes lower a muffler rail of felt between the hammers and the strings to mute and significantly soften the sound, so that one can practice quietly (also known as a "Practice Rail"). True sostenuto is rare on uprights, except for more expensive models such as those from Steinway and Bechstein. They are more common on digital pianos as the effect is straightforward to mimic in software. "

My Yamaha U1 H upright features this muffler rail.

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Reply by alexis

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Re: Newbie to acoustic "Middle Pedal" - can I dial that sound in?

Thank you for your replies!

Gaston wrote:

Hi Alexis,
the function of the three pedals is well explained here :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_pedals

About the middle one :

...
The middle pedal may sometimes lower a muffler rail of felt between the hammers and the strings to mute and significantly soften the sound, so that one can practice quietly (also known as a "Practice Rail").  "

Yes, from your description I have a "Practice Rail".

It does more than just make it softer though ... I am not skilled enough to describe what I'm hearing, but the Practice Rail pedal somehow changes the tone, almost as if there are less overtones, using it makes it somehow less vibrant and clear.

The thing is, I have a MIDI piano recording that I'd like to use that Practice Rail sound on!

I guess Practice Rail sounds vary from piano to piano, and so there would be no way I can ask the community how to mimic what mine sounds like (I'm not set up to record acoustic piano well at home, I don't actually have a studio).

Given all that ... I was thinking maybe applying a high pass/low pass filter might help ... ?

Would anyone have any other off-hand suggestions by any chance?

Thank you!

Reply by Gaston

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Re: Newbie to acoustic "Middle Pedal" - can I dial that sound in?

alexis wrote:

Yes, from your description I have a "Practice Rail".

It does more than just make it softer though ... I am not skilled enough to describe what I'm hearing, but the Practice Rail pedal somehow changes the tone, almost as if there are less overtones, using it makes it somehow less vibrant and clear.

The thing is, I have a MIDI piano recording that I'd like to use that Practice Rail sound on!

I guess Practice Rail sounds vary from piano to piano, and so there would be no way I can ask the community how to mimic what mine sounds like (I'm not set up to record acoustic piano well at home, I don't actually have a studio).

Given all that ... I was thinking maybe applying a high pass/low pass filter might help ... ?

Would anyone have any other off-hand suggestions by any chance?

Thank you!

Pianoteq's felt presets should be the answer to your request. Have you tested the U4 Felt 1?

Gérard Delassus
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Reply by alexis

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Re: Newbie to acoustic "Middle Pedal" - can I dial that sound in?

Gaston wrote:

...
Pianoteq's felt presets should be the answer to your request. Have you tested the U4 Felt 1?

Yessir, that will do *very* nicely. Felt 2 is nice also.

Thank you very much, Gaston!

Alexis

Reply by Gaston

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Re: Newbie to acoustic "Middle Pedal" - can I dial that sound in?

alexis wrote:

Yessir, that will do *very* nicely. Felt 2 is nice also.

Thank you very much, Gaston!

Alexis

Glad I could help you !
I just finished a little demo with this U4 Felt 1 preset :

https://hearthis.at/xnwdv7yv/feltitudes-ligeriennes/

Gérard Delassus
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Reply by alexis

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Re: Newbie to acoustic "Middle Pedal" - can I dial that sound in?

Gaston wrote:
alexis wrote:

Yessir, that will do *very* nicely. Felt 2 is nice also.

Thank you very much, Gaston!

Alexis

Glad I could help you !
I just finished a little demo with this U4 Felt 1 preset :

https://hearthis.at/xnwdv7yv/feltitudes-ligeriennes/

Very nice, thank you for posting, Gaston!

I am envisioning a song with an intro that uses the U4 Felt (guess I have to buy that one now!), a telephone EQ, an old 78 rpm vinyl effect and mono ... we'll see how that all goes, the U4 Felt is the most important part!