The Sound Board

tack wrote: ↑Oct 02, 2024 8:40 pm I keep buying VI Steinways (and others), and I keep going back to Vintage D. Probably by now a couple thousand dollars worth of pianos collected in my VI graveyard, and I'm sure that's light compared to many here.

As Luke said, your endorsement counts for a lot here, Piet. I may yet buckle before the weekend.

How does the pedaling feel, Piet? This is always my number one irritation with sampled pianos -- catch-pedaling often dodgy if it exists at all, full-to-half-then-back-to-full pedaling as a way to blend is typically all kinds of wrong. In the walkthrough, catch-pedaling is clearly demonstrated, but although full-to-half transition wasn't shown, he did say that was possible, so I have some hope.

Vintage D is by no means perfect, but for a VI coming up on nearly 15 years old now, it still manages to run circles around new offerings.

tack wrote: ↑Oct 02, 2024 8:40 pm (...) How does the pedaling feel, Piet? (...)

Guy Rowland wrote: ↑Oct 05, 2024 10:41 amI should mention that I am utterly hopeless when it comes to keyboard skills, so my opinion genuinely is pretty worthless here.

Linos wrote: ↑Oct 05, 2024 11:52 amJason, not you too... This library must be great. Maybe the makers of the demos and I don't share the same taste.

Piet De Ridder wrote: ↑Oct 05, 2024 5:37 pm I’m having some trouble with SPAT v3 since a few weeks. I’m not sure what started it, some update or other I guess — I have a strong feeling it’s Sonoma (the latest version of Logic + Sonoma is without a doubt the most bug-ridden, unreliable software contraption I’ve ever had to deal with) — but the thing is: SPAT v3 still loads (in NUGEN’s SigMod), but all its parameters are greyed out. Useless, in other words.

So, I fired up … SPAT Revolution. (Talk about contraptions.) It’s been months since I’ve visited it last, and it took some time (and a bit of reading) to get reacquainted, but — phew — I got it working in the end.

All this to say that there wasn’t much time left — between reading Linos’ request for a ModernD-in-SPAT demo, and posting this post (before going to bed) — to improvise and record some music. So please, take it as it comes and don’t be put off too much by the many weaknesses (pianistically, timbrally, sonically, whateverally).

Also keep in mind what I said earlier: I would NEVER do a solo recital with the Modern D. Or with any other virtual piano, for that matter. They’re not good enough for that and, as the audio example illustrates in places, they can’t withstand long solo exposure and sustained close scrutiny. And there are *always* a handful of notes sprinkled across the keyboard and the dynamic layers that aren't sampled as well as they should be.

That said: tomorrow morning, listening back to this hurried late-night effort, I might think very differently (and bury my head in my hands with embarrassment and shame), but right now, it seems to me that the good moments certainly equal the less successful ones. There are certain things that don’t come off very well with this piano (in this particular music and setting), absolutely, but at other times, I think it does rather well.

I can fully understand anyone, like Frank, who isn’t taken by the sound of this instrument. After all, that is a personal thing. Me, I deeply-deeply-deeply dislike the sound of the Synchrons, which so many people rave about.

Anyway, I’ve said it already quite a few times, but I’m going to say it again: I do think the Modern D is a very good virtualization of a certain vision of what a Steinway can be. (The important thing here, in my view, is to understand and accept what a virtual piano is and what it is not. And also understand that we’re talking about a single, inevitably narrow interpretation of that most complex of instrumental and acoustic realities: a grand piano. It is within that frame that things need to be judged, it seems to me.)
Sure, the Modern D is not perfect. Nor is it the best choice in every possible situation. (Yesterday, I replaced the Chocolate Audio C7 -- another favourite of mine -- with the Modern D in a piece I did earlier this week and it didn't work at all.) And yes, it's prone to causing ear-fatigue and to outstaying its welcome, like every other sampled instrument. All very true. But considering what it can do, what it’s good at, and already dreaming about what I will be using it for, I am enormously pleased with the purchase.

Oh, before I forget: there's no EQ or other processing on that audio example, except some limiting (TC MD4 HD) at the Stereo Out. I did raise the Tone-parameter (on the library's GUI) a bit though for increased clarity and definition.

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Piet De Ridder wrote: ↑Oct 06, 2024 7:00 am Thanks very, very much, Luke, Guy, srkrishnan and Linos!
Glad it’s been informative.
(After breakfast, I listened to it again with fresh ears, and it all sounds pretty much like it did sound yesterday evening, so that’s good.)

srkrishnan, if I had to start all over again, from scratch, one of the first libraries I would certainly buy again is the Galaxy Vintage D. It’s got its problems (see below), it does pose challenges (which increase substantially when you want to use it orchestrally, because it’s got a very dry and close-up sound), but it can also be one of the loveliest and nicest-sounding virtual pianos to play — when I think of the Vintage D, the first word that always comes to mind is ‘gentle’ — and it has a couple of qualities which I have never heard bettered, not even in much more recent and much bigger libraries which are far more deeply sampled and have a far more sophisticated engine. The way it has captured the impact of the hammers on the strings, to give just one example, is, to my ears, unparalled, and its sustains at low and medium dynamics can also be quite gorgeous.
Less appealing: at high velocities, it will get a bit clangy, spikey and harsh, there’s occasionally a hint of a sort of glassy/plastic-y quality in the sound at levels above mezzoforte, and also: things tend to become a bit boomy (or at least: quite bulky in the low mids) when the left hand gets busy, and it’s got a few notes which begin to jump out (in a distracting way) when played repeatedly. Most of this emerges at higher dynamics though, at lower and medium dynamics the instrument acts and sounds simply wonderfully. All of that — both the good and the bad — is, I hope, demonstrated here.

Most importantly though: I happen to find it a very inspiring instrument to play. Much of what I composed and recorded in the past 10-15 years wouldn’t have happened in quite the same way if it wasn’t for the VintageD and several of my favourite pieces were born while playing that instrument. (Playing Pianoteq and the Ivory AmericanD also trigger nice things, I’ve found — I do dislike the new Ivory III though — and, in sharp contrast, I’ve never ever ended up with anything worth keeping playing any of the Synchrons. Strange how these things — connecting with an instrument, or not — work, isn't it?)

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playz123 wrote: ↑Oct 07, 2024 6:46 pm In spite of its few flaws, and the fact that I am guessing most others will have dissenting opinions , my vote goes to...the Vintage D. I find it warmer and more soothing, especially in the lower registers, and certainly better suited, for example, for ballads or 'Midnight Jazz'. I would hazard a guess that the Modern D would better fit in the mixr when used with classical music or orchestral arrangements though. In any case, just my opinion and overall preference. Both have merit though. Thank you so much Piet for your wonderful demos and superb playing. Covering the full keyboard and utilizing various playing techniques was very informative, and quite honestly your 'demos' are as good or better than most of the the others I've heard. Hope they help you too, Larry!