Topic by newbert

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Topic: Pianoteq "Stage" Questions

Today I decided to finally download some piano software to see what it's all about. I decided to try the trial for  "PianoTeq Stage". I got it to load and run and am quite impressed with it.

I have a number of questions about the full version of Stage, though:

1. Do all of the different piano "voices" that are in the trial come with the full version (ie - "D4 Honky Tonk", "Jazz", etc)? I can't figure out what's included and what would need to be an "add-on" to purchase.

2. Just out of curiousity -- Why does the "D4 Super Tonk" play about 1/2 tone (pitch-wise) lower than the other "voices"?

3. Does anyone here use PianoTeq Stage with a Yamaha DGX640? If so, would you care to share some of your settings?

4. Does Pianoteq ever run sales where their products (in particular "Stage") are offered at discounted prices?

Thanks!

Reply by delt

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Re: Pianoteq "Stage" Questions

Hello, i also bought the Stage version recently.

From what i can tell, different presets belonging to the same instrument are all included if the instrument is included.

For the acoustic pianos, the ones that are still "demo" after buying PT Stage are Blüthner, YC1, and U4 (upright). Most other stuff like steel pans, electric pianos etc. are still demo. There's also a bunch of free add-ons for a few other decent pianos, harpsichords, and the like: http://www.pianoteq.com/free_addons

http://soundcloud.com/delt01
Pianoteq 5 STD+blüthner, Renoise 3 • Roland FP-4F + M-Audio Keystation 88es
Intel i5@3.4GHz, 16GB • Linux Mint xfce 64bit

Reply by newbert

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Re: Pianoteq "Stage" Questions

Thank you for the reply.

Well, that's a bit disappointing.  By being "still demo", do you mean that ALL of the Bluthner, YC1 and U4 instruments are still subject to the 20 minute time limit and disabling of a number of keys?  Or are any of the presets for these instruments "fully" available?  (If so, would it be possible to list the ones that are fully available?)

Thanks again!

Reply by jcfelice88keys

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Re: Pianoteq "Stage" Questions

newbert wrote:

2. Just out of curiousity -- Why does the "D4 Super Tonk" play about 1/2 tone (pitch-wise) lower than the other "voices"?

Thanks!


Hello Newbert,

As the person who created the Super Tonk preset, came up with the name 'Super Tonk', and as a person who tunes and services real pianos as a profession, I purposely lowered its pitch in order to simulate a badly abused and non-serviced piano.  Drawing from firsthand experience, no piano can be that "bad" sounding in terms of the three strings per note being out of tune from each other (high Unison Width in Pianoteq-speak) WITHOUT having dropped in pitch by at least a semitone! 

Since there had already existed a 'Honky Tonk' present (whose sounds were still set to A440Hz), I had gone to work and created a piano that sounded like what I had heard in the field, hence the name 'Super Tonk.'

Cheers,

Joe

Reply by delt

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Re: Pianoteq "Stage" Questions

newbert wrote:

By being "still demo", do you mean that ALL of the Bluthner, YC1 and U4 instruments are still subject to the 20 minute time limit and disabling of a number of keys?

Yeah, unfortunately :(

Well, that's a bit disappointing.

agreed :/ TBH for the amount of money i paid for this software, i would have expected more actually useable sounds and functionality out of it. Anyway, i'm still happy i did get it.

Last edited by delt (15-07-2013 15:52)
http://soundcloud.com/delt01
Pianoteq 5 STD+blüthner, Renoise 3 • Roland FP-4F + M-Audio Keystation 88es
Intel i5@3.4GHz, 16GB • Linux Mint xfce 64bit

Reply by newbert

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Re: Pianoteq "Stage" Questions

jcfelice88keys wrote:
newbert wrote:

2. Just out of curiousity -- Why does the "D4 Super Tonk" play about 1/2 tone (pitch-wise) lower than the other "voices"?

Thanks!


Hello Newbert,

As the person who created the Super Tonk preset, came up with the name 'Super Tonk', and as a person who tunes and services real pianos as a profession, I purposely lowered its pitch in order to simulate a badly abused and non-serviced piano.  Drawing from firsthand experience, no piano can be that "bad" sounding in terms of the three strings per note being out of tune from each other (high Unison Width in Pianoteq-speak) WITHOUT having dropped in pitch by at least a semitone! 

Since there had already existed a 'Honky Tonk' present (whose sounds were still set to A440Hz), I had gone to work and created a piano that sounded like what I had heard in the field, hence the name 'Super Tonk.'

Cheers,

Joe

Thanks for that explanation, Joe.  Very interesting!  ...and it sounds great!

Reply by newbert

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Re: Pianoteq "Stage" Questions

delt wrote:

......agreed TBH for the amount of money i paid for this software, i would have expected more actually useable sounds and functionality out of it. Anyway, i'm still happy i did get it.

Thanks for that info and your overall assessment, Delt.  I'm still thinking of making the purchase, and perhaps adding on one of the add-ons.

Reply by Jake Johnson

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Re: Pianoteq "Stage" Questions

delt wrote:
newbert wrote:

By being "still demo", do you mean that ALL of the Bluthner, YC1 and U4 instruments are still subject to the 20 minute time limit and disabling of a number of keys?

Yeah, unfortunately

Well, that's a bit disappointing.

agreed TBH for the amount of money i paid for this software, i would have expected more actually useable sounds and functionality out of it. Anyway, i'm still happy i did get it.

Does this version include the older M and C instruments? With these and the D4, and all of its presets, there are quite a few pianos included.

Have you downloaded the set of older instruments from the User area|Downloads tab? The Erard may be of the most immediate interest, since it sounds a bit more like an older but modern piano.

Last edited by Jake Johnson (15-07-2013 17:10)

Reply by mabry

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Re: Pianoteq "Stage" Questions

delt wrote:

TBH for the amount of money i paid for this software, i would have expected more actually useable sounds and functionality out of it. Anyway, i'm still happy i did get it.

Delt, you bought the Stage version, right? For about $129 according to the current price listed on the site? I don't know if this will make you feel better, but if you were to also buy the Bluthner and Upright add-ons then you would have spent $250 total. Ivory II, Pianoteq's closet rival IMHO, would cost about $400 for its basic version - with only 3 instruments, none of them being uprights. And if you want more functionality, the Standard version of Pianoteq with the Bluthner and uprights would have been $440, still competitive with Ivory.

So it's not like Pianoteq is overpriced in the market, especially for those of us who prefer it to the Synthogy product line.

Last edited by mabry (15-07-2013 21:18)

Reply by delt

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Re: Pianoteq "Stage" Questions

marby: yeah i guess you're right.... maybe i'm spoiled in the software department from using linux and free open-source software for so many years. (plus the fact that i'm not exactly swimming in money.....)

http://soundcloud.com/delt01
Pianoteq 5 STD+blüthner, Renoise 3 • Roland FP-4F + M-Audio Keystation 88es
Intel i5@3.4GHz, 16GB • Linux Mint xfce 64bit