silent sound

I only noticed residual velocity in historic add-ons. And the historic originals were this way, with no mute velocity.

I'm not quite sure to understand where is the problem: as Martin mentionned himself, it is easy to have silent notes: you just need to pull down the velocity curve until it touches the velocity axis, and you can have as many silent notes as you want, from velocities 0 to 50 if you want. Am I missing something?

If I understand right, it does not sound like this is a problem exactly, but perhaps more of a preference.  I have used Pianoteq 2.x and Pianoteq 3.xx and have been impressed with its realism compared to a real piano. 

I did notice something different, though between the two versions, which is the same basic idea the original starter of this post observed.  I could hit notes in Pianoteq 2.x and hear no sound if I did this carefully enough.  In Pianoteq 3.xx, I had to make the adjustment to the velocity curve as was posted. 

I think the request is about making the default Pianoteq 3.xx slightly more realistic like a real Piano.  The reason I care about this is because when I was learning the Pathetique Sonata by Beethoven (using Pianoteq 2.x), I wanted to get the same effect Andras Schiff is able to get when he plays the Grave section.  Specifically, the first chord and others like it are hit very strongly with the damper pedal, followed by quietly hitting the same notes 2-3 times with no sound while releasing and pressing the damper pedal.  Getting this effect requires careful coordination and results in a very sudden decresendo.  Andras Schiff explains how to do this in his lecture series, which I believe someone told the Pianoteq forum about (http://music.guardian.co.uk/classical/p...67,00.html).  The web site is quite excellent and Mr. Schiff is an eloquent speaker/musician.

At any rate, I was amazed and excited with Pianoteq 2.x when I found I could get this effect (no adjustments required) and found I can do the same in Pianoteq 3.xx, as long as I adjust the velocity curve so I do not hear the notes played again, although they can be played faintly enough to be perhaps unnoticeable.  So, my preference would be to have this capability as the default setting since it is more like a real piano.  However, I am also able to set the velocity curve myself, so it is not a critical problem to me, which is why I have not brought it up.  I guess this is a question of how perfectly can/should Pianoteq emulate a real piano in its factory state.  Since it has come up by another person, I thought I would share my thoughts.

I couldn't agree more, Glenn.  "Out-of-the-box" (or, more accurately, "installed-from-the-download"), Pianoteq 3 is an _amazing_ piece of software -- heck, it practically _transcends_ the very _concept_ of being software!  I immediately set upon the "Worn Out" C3 setting as my favourite, and as I tweak anything and everything (especially to give extra life and richness to sustained sounds), I've found that I've had to do very little work to arrive at a satisfactory (or, dare I say, outstanding) sound.  And I've had to do very little tweaking to arrive at a whole _host_ of original settings for the new vibraphone instruments (essentially, I just increase the impedance and play with the tuning).  The settings, as provided, are remarkably rock-solid;  everything else is just a matter of taste.

In fact, I'm just beginning to plumb the depths of the tuning possibilities.  WOW!!!  Everything that I had wanted to do with a piano (or, now, a vibraphone) 10 years ago is now possible.

At first, I was a little surprised that a light touch didn't produce that "zero sound," but one only needs to tweak the velocity curve (as mentioned before) to get this result.  I don't really see it as needing to be a "default" behaviour.  (Though I would like the ability to easily save velocity curves to their own dedicated menu, as well as the EQs, which would make jumping back and forth a bit more intuitive, rather than changing [or needing to save] the whole setting.  But I can live without it!  ;^)

Reading the reactions, I think I have to explain my point in more detail.

1. My posting was not meant as a bug report. Pianoteq does allow me to do what I want to do by editing the velocity curve.

2. The MIDI specification allows 128 velocity values. This has nothing to do with the attached keyboard or with the Pianoteq software. It is simply an industry standard. Pianoteq translates each of these values to dynamics and sound. Using the editing features the user can change the velocity curve to match his/her personal preference and keyboard characteristics. So far so good.

3. A midi note-on message with a velocity of 0 should not give any sound, and it does not give any sound. In fact, in the MIDI world it has become a habit to use note-on messages with velocity=0 as a replacement for note-off messages. The end user won't notice the difference in most cases. But a real note-off message allows to detect how fast a key is released. I don't know if Pianoteq can use such messages to control for example the amount of key-release noise ?

4. Back to the original subject. A midi note-on message with velocity=1 should, in my opinion, not give any sound either when using a piano sound. Maybe some key noise, but no hammer hitting the string. The fact is that the Pianoteq piano presets that I have tried so far, do make a very soft pppp sound when they receive a MIDI velocity value of 1. I think that is not the real-life behaviour of a piano. (A harpsichord is a different story).
I will put a little demo midi file on my website so that everyone can test this. The file plays 10 single notes with velocities ranging from 1 to 10.
You will find it here:

http://members.tele2.nl/m.tarenskeen/tm...locity.mid

5. There should be no discussion about point 4. I think I'm correct ;-)
What remains a matter of taste and discussion is : what about a velocity value of 2, 3, 4, or 5. When should the hammer start hitting the string ?

--

Martin