Topic: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

Hi,
Generally Im liking the sound of V5, including the extra brightness at the high end.
However, im finding for some instruments (in particular the YC5), it seems to be a bit over done.
Is is possible to dial it back a bit?

Ive got 'standard' and tried a few things in voicing and design, but didn't really find a way to do it successfully.
(changing velocity helped a bit on many instruments, but not as much on the YC5)

Anyone else finding same? have some tips?

Im hoping Modartt might refine over time, or perhaps someone might produce an improved fxp
( I assume we will get a v5 fxp section in fxp corner soon)

Last edited by TheTechnobear (22-05-2014 13:26)

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

You can try tweaking the treble with the EQ in Pianoteq.

Hard work and guts!

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

A part velocity and EQ, you can also reduce the hammer hardness.

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

Thanks, these work nicely... as you say its a of combination.

Today, Im also finding with 'fresh ears' Im liking the YC5 much more - for me, much better than V4.
(added to that the improved D4, K2 and Bluethner, V5 is big step up .. Congrats to Modartt on a great job)

Last edited by TheTechnobear (22-05-2014 15:32)

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

And still another way...

Press O to open the microphones window, click the microphone buttons 1, 2... , select "R84". Results will vary depending on actual microphone position for the preset, but in most cases the sound should be noticeably less bright.

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

hyper.real wrote:

And still another way...

Press O to open the microphones window, click the microphone buttons 1, 2... , select "R84". Results will vary depending on actual microphone position for the preset, but in most cases the sound should be noticeably less bright.

  That works quite nicely!  Thanks!
-Perry-

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

... but my preferred, first, simplest, often effective, go-to adjustment for brightness/harshness is to see if experimentally reducing the 7th overtone in the Voicing panel by anything between 2dB and 6dB will do the trick.

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

Thanks, yeah Ive been looking at the microphones too,
but I don't really know the characteristics of the microphones, might be nice to have in the user guide, a brief description of each, for those like me, who have never used these microphones in real life

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

I was just wondering about hammer weight.  Not necessaryly a request, and far from be any kind of complain.

It's that I would like to know hiow a alteration of hammer weight would alter the tone. Would a hevier hammer it just behave like a higher velocity or lie a harder hammer ?

Just thoughts...


Yesterday I found a aticle (in portuguese) about vintage pianos, and they mentioned straight strings had some few advanteges in relation to crossed strings, despite the qualities of crossed strings in other terms.
I wondered if pianoteq, and his ability to do some impossible things, could create a crossed string preserving the advantages of straight strings.

Last edited by Beto-Music (23-05-2014 18:48)

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

TheTechnobear wrote:

Thanks, yeah Ive been looking at the microphones too,
but I don't really know the characteristics of the microphones, might be nice to have in the user guide, a brief description of each, for those like me, who have never used these microphones in real life

I think it's easier to just try the models out (without moving the mics), later move them around a bit, and see which you like the sound of.  I found some I liked instantly, and some I don't like at all (even in combination with others).  The differences are mostly fairly subtle though, but it's a nice way to add an extra bit of style to your sound.

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

hyper.real wrote:

... but my preferred, first, simplest, often effective, go-to adjustment for brightness/harshness is to see if experimentally reducing the 7th overtone in the Voicing panel by anything between 2dB and 6dB will do the trick.

Thanks for this tip. I tried it and it works well.

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

Yeah, did anyone else also have to adjust their velocity curves a couple of notches down? With the same settings, v5 sounds way higher in velocity... at least for me, i can really hear those strings gettin murdered!!

Last edited by delt (24-05-2014 04:57)
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

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

delt wrote:

Yeah, did anyone else also have to adjust their velocity curves a couple of notches down? With the same settings, v5 sounds way higher in velocity... at least for me, i can really hear those strings gettin murdered!!

Yes, I never used curve for v4, but after upgrade do. In my opinion, basic velocity curve in v5 is not balanced and unsuitable for lyrical pieces, only for bright virtuoso playing.

About mics!) It would be great, if Modartt make some little description about different types of mics and how they influence sound. For those, who are not sound engineers And it's a pity that there are no basic presets in mics board. I would be happy to have numerous standard positions and combinations, proved by professional soundmen. There are some techniques in manual, but presets would be convenient.

Last edited by Kridlatec (24-05-2014 07:17)
Pianoteq 6 Pro (D4, K2, Blüthner, Model B, Grotrian, Ant.Petrof)
Studiologic SL88Grand, Steinberg UR22mkII

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

Kridlatec wrote:

And it's a pity that there are no basic presets in mics board. I would be happy to have numerous standard positions and combinations, proved by professional soundmen. There are some techniques in manual, but presets would be convenient.

Yeah, i agree. This is a formal request for microphone preset files !!!

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

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

Believe me, I've asked for lots of mic position presets during beta testing... Official statement was that "one mic position preset might sound great with one model but bad on most others, because of <various reasons stated>..."

While I can see the point in that, I still think it wouldn't have hurt to include some basic mic setups, at least.

Hard work and guts!

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

What about crazy requests, like simulate mic interaction with wind, and be able to set wind direction and wind speed.

Just in case someone likes to play and record piano in open air:



PunBB bbcode test



I was kidding....

Last edited by Beto-Music (25-05-2014 01:52)

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

EvilDragon wrote:

Believe me, I've asked for lots of mic position presets during beta testing... Official statement was that "one mic position preset might sound great with one model but bad on most others, because of <various reasons stated>..."

While I can see the point in that, I still think it wouldn't have hurt to include some basic mic setups, at least.

but it would still be nice to have it as a starting point, rather than to have to manually replicate it.

perhaps cut n paste of setup for is purpose, as suggested elsewhere

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

TheTechnobear wrote:

but it would still be nice to have it as a starting point, rather than to have to manually replicate it.

That was EXACTLY my reasoning. Oh well...

Hard work and guts!

Re: Pianoteq v5 - adjust brightness?

EvilDragon wrote:
TheTechnobear wrote:

but it would still be nice to have it as a starting point, rather than to have to manually replicate it.

That was EXACTLY my reasoning. Oh well...

Not exactly what you are discussing--having pre-existing presets, but: As Gilles pointed out in another thread, remember that you do not have to manually recreate a mic setup. Once you arrange the mics in a way that you like, you can save the settings and reuse them on a different instrument:

1. Create the desired setup in the mics page.
2. Exit the mics page.
3. Click on the Sound Recording button and click on Save as...
4. The presets you save will then appear on the drop-down that appears when you click the Sound Recording button and on the Preset Management page.
5. When you open a new instrument, apply the mic preset, and probably change the mic settings slightly, you must of course remember to save the new mic preset with a new name and\or save the instrument fxp, which will include the mic fxp, if you like the sound so much that you know that you will use it often with that instrument.

But yeah, predesigned setups would be nice. I can see that they might have taken weeks to create, however, since each instrument would have to have its own set. Say at least 3 setups per instrument, with over ten instruments, including the Kremsegg collections, with each setup adjusted because of the realities of each piano, and the release might have delayed another month? At least we can create our own and share them. I think. Can we upload mic fxp's to the "Other files" page?