Interesting experience yesterday...

I totally agree, for practical reasons I had to gave up my old Yamaha g2 for pianotek and I do not regret it

I've heard a few real pianos that don't sound as good as Pianoteq and other software. The thing you get with the real thing is the fact that it's a real piano, the tactile and three-dimensional nature of the experience. So once you have the sound right in the software the next stage becomes the quest for the perfect hardware experience.

I use the Bechstein from th historic collection, to ensure I get grounded in a real acoustic, warts and all experience.  I was playing an acoustic grand in this piano shop; it had no velocity curve, nor equaliser.  If it had, I'd've used them both extensively.
We are spoiled!

Just keeping them tuned a couple times a year will indeed cost more than everything Pianoteq has for us... we are very fortunate indeed.

Agree with all about this. I feel sometimes embarrassed by the v-riches.

xinaes, the idea of positioning is pretty cool - result might not need to be super-great, for it to help with further suspension of disbelief. As a 'wearable' maybe a VR rig might be a put-off - that's probably just me though - the wild man in the dystopia aforementioned by _DJ_ but a mobile phone in front shirt pocket (app using gyro sensor maybe?) I might be able to live with that. Some movement, even if limited could at very least be a novel experiment with maybe some unexpectedly good results and if it's easy, cheap etc. could be big bang for buck. We move when playing, so absolutely we experience all the sound waves from changing angles. Really, would love to know if you decided to test something along those lines.

I know people who think nothing of an untuned old upright - character etc. And I do love playing some creaking old pianos too - nothing wrong with it but it's like magic to be able to tune any way you want instantly, for sure.

Hallelujah!  I recall a very similar concert experience while watching pianist Stephen Kovacevich playing music of Beethoven and Schubert on a Steinway Model D in Symphony Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA.  Seated in second row center, my listening position was essentially hearing the piano's sound emanate from the bottom of the instrument.  This particular piano had a horribly loud mechanical squeak when the Una Corda pedal was depressed and released.

During the intermission, as Mr. Kovacevich's piano technician adjusted the tuning on stage, I relayed to the technician just how loudly the Una Corda pedal was squeaking.  He shrugged his shoulders, indicating there was nothing he could do before the second half of the concert.  I asked if a different piano might be brought onstage; the answer was an adamant 'No!'

Needless to say, the rest of Mr. Kovacevich's piano concert was not enjoyed, as this annoying pedal squeak seemed to ruin the experience for me.

Reeling from this concert with an inferior Steinway D, I have never attended another live piano concert from this disadvantaged listening position.  Oh, if there had only been a slider to reduce the mechanical squeak in this acoustic Model D!

Cheers,

Joe

This thread gives me a lot of smiles. Thanks all for sharing these experiences. It's seems obvious that Pianoteq spoils us all in a great many ways.

David, IIRC your tuner fixed this in a few minutes (my squeak is still on the to-do list egad).

Joe, that's rather disappointing but highlights well how easy it is for us to make alterations to suit our very mood at a whim with Pianoteq.

Maybe, since a particularly squeaky pedal happens quite often IRL, it can be added to the ideas pile, for another debatable addition to Pianoteq

Very interesting points about gyro xinaes. I'd ponder programming assumptions about position, given speed of changes to orientation data. In a way, build a sub-virtual model inside the virtual model based on tangential data relating to an original fixed position - makes sense I hope Really would love to keep up with your experiments.

Guacamole of a certain heightened level of religiosity, that would be cool xinaes!

BTW re OP, lo134, I really hope your performance went well and you didn't keep stopping to look for a mouse/interface/slider

Reminds me of my old upright!

Had similar experiences with pianos in poor condition. Thankfully I'm not a performer.

About the head tracking, I was just thinking that the sensor could be mounted on the headphones, then I remember vaguely that I saw something like this and looked it up. There's a plugin (waves nx virtual mix room) that sells a package with a head tracker, or with a pair of Audeze Mobius 3d which apparently have a built-in headtracker and do their own processing as well and you can use a webcam to track head movement.
And apparently the headphones themselves have "built-in Waves Nx technology for 3D audio on headphones, complete with integrated high-precision head tracking", so I suppose they should work in stand-alone mode ("Integrated head tracking that tracks the tiniest movements of your head 1000 times a second", "Mobius integrates Waves Nx technology for real-time 3D processing in hardware").
Also, the plugin seems to work on its own, using a webcam for headtracking.

I'm not sure how something like this would work with Pianoteq and how low-latency it actually is, but it would certainly be interesting to try. They seem to be running a sale currently on the package and an extra 30% discount on an anniversary sale. I have quite limited time currently, but if I will find some time, I'll try getting the demo and see how it does with the webcam.

For anyone interested (and with more time on their hands) here's the sources to the info above:
https://www.waves.com/hardware/nx-virtu...ad-tracker
https://www.waves.com/hardware/audeze-m...tech-specs
https://www.audeze.com/products/mobius-...-headphone