Topic: Note edit - volume question

I am still using Pianoteq 6. When I chose Bechstein DG D 282, click on Note edit, chose Volume, all notes have the same volume, 0 dB. This makes total sense to me - if I play evenly, all notes will be just as loud. But when I chose another Bechstein, the notes have irregular volumes. For instance, on Bechstein DG Cinematic, D4 has +4dB and D#4 -2dB. Now if I try to play these two notes evenly, doesn't that make D be a bit louder than D#?

Is my reasoning correct? And if yes, why did Pianoteq do this?

Re: Note edit - volume question

maybe to perfect just doesn't feel right ... I also tend to slide the condition a bit to the right. So I would say: to add realism - do you prefer to play it with the line? Can you (or anyone) even play two notes exactly the same? (sounds buddhistic=)

why not use the ptq 7 --- I found there was even a big step from 7 to 7.5 ...

Last edited by sadhö (19-06-2022 10:48)

Re: Note edit - volume question

sadhö wrote:

Can you (or anyone) even play two notes exactly the same? (sounds buddhistic=)

No I cannot, but why add extra unevenness?

sadhö wrote:

why not use the ptq 7 --- I found there was even a big step from 7 to 7.5 ...

Long story, not relevant for my question.

Re: Note edit - volume question

The reason why most presets have Note Edit (NE) volume variations is because during the preset design stage they have been normalized to produce equal volume. Indeed, the flat curve is not necessarily appropriate when changing the microphones position.

Imagine you are recording a piano note by note in the real world, what would happen, would all notes have the same volume? No, some notes would be louder, some other would be quieter. Even if playing with a high regularity (constant velocity). This comes from irregularities of the acoustic field. So you would adjust the volume note by note if you want a regular volume.

The same happens in Pianoteq: there is no "under the hood" volume normalization when you change the parameters (the microphone position being very sensitive for this matter), hence you can see the effective normalization in the NE panel. Your eyes may tell you +2dB or -3dB for this or that note, but your ears will tell you "same volume".

Re: Note edit - volume question

Thank you, that was very interesting!