Software Eighty-Eights

Oct 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Charlie Otwell, Marshall Otwell, and Len Sasso

Ivory

Ivory was produced at Synthogy by Joe Ierardi, a pioneer of both piano sampling and sound design, and is marketed by Ilio. Its 40 GB sample library fills ten DVDs, and its custom graphical user interface puts performance settings at your fingertips (see Fig. 1). Its preset structure, with separate screens and files for Velocity, effects, and sampler settings, is a bit awkward, but on the upside, you can tweak every conceivable parameter until the piano plays exactly right for you. For example, you can adjust the level of the sustain resonance, release samples, and key noise, you can change the stereo width and orientation (performer or audience), and you can switch between stretch or equal-tempered tuning. Stretch tuning is an especially nice option for solo performance.

Each of Ivory's three pianos was sampled at semitone intervals with several Velocity-layer setups. The Bösendorfer and Steinway come in 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-layer versions, whereas the Yamaha comes in 4-, 5-, 6-, and 8-layer versions. Each version comes in two Velocity-switch-points configurations, the second of which favors softer playing. We preferred the second configuration.

Ivory's sampling strategy holds two surprises: it is the only library offering separately recorded samples with the soft (una corda) pedal down, and it uses DSP rather than separate samples for sustain (damper) pedal-down resonance. Using separate soft-pedal samples produces a considerably more realistic effect than filtering. We found it surprising that the soft pedal did not lower the level as well as affect the timbre of the note, but according to Synthogy, that is indeed the case with these perfectly maintained concert grand pianos. The six DSP algorithms for sustain resonance seemed every bit as realistic as using separate samples.

Ierardi also went to great lengths in recording Ivory's release samples. He not only recorded release samples for different Velocity strikes, but he also recorded separate samples for different note durations. Ivory's playback engine tracks both Velocity and duration in order to trigger the correct release sample.

We started with the Yamaha C7, which was, as expected, the brightest of Ivory's three pianos (see Web Clip 1). Both Charlie and Marshall felt that there was something “not quite real” about the middle range, but that the high end was very nice for a bright, hard-hammered piano. There was a slight but disconcerting buzz or artifact in the A0 to D1 range, with C1 being the worst offender. (We refer to middle C as C3 throughout.)

We switched several times between the 6- and 8-Velocity-layer versions as well as between the Level I and Level II configurations. There was a slight preference for the 8-layer versions and a strong preference for the Level II configuration. Both Charlie and Marshall found the Level II dynamics easier to control. Charlie could sense the Velocity switching with Level I, and Marshall found it harder to play overall. Those impressions carried over to the other pianos, and we spent most of our time with the highest number of Velocity layers in the Level II configuration.

We moved from the Yamaha C7 to the Steinway D and spent the major part of the session comparing that to the Bösendorfer 290 (see Web Clips 2 and 3). Marshall clearly preferred the Steinway, saying, “I bet I'd wind up playing the Steinway a lot.” Charlie said he thought he'd be playing the Bösendorfer. The Steinway stood out for Latin and gospel and handled classical well. The Bösendorfer was nice for gospel and great for classical. Marshall thought the Steinway was more like a real piano, whereas the Bösendorfer was like “a piano on steroids.” And that's not a bad description of the difference between the real pianos. The Bösendorfer is provided in 88- and 97-key versions, the latter including the 9 extra notes at the bottom of the Bösendorfer 290 keyboard.

One thing we realized during this session, which applied to all the pianos we tested, was that you could and would spend a lot of time tweaking the settings once you settled on a basic instrument and preset. With a little time invested, you could make any of the pianos fit your playing style, and that would greatly enhance the playing experience.

Virtual Grand Piano

We moved from Ivory to Art Vista Virtual Grand Piano (VGP), the least expensive and least ambitious of the models we covered. We did that out of curiosity about the contrast between the high and low end of the price range. The comparison provided a pleasant surprise.

VGP samples a 1960 Hamburg Steinway B in semitone intervals with eight Velocity layers and separate sustain-pedal-down samples. VGP has the most basic interface, Native Instruments Kontakt Player (see Fig. 2), but like all models except the Galaxy Steinway, it does support repedaling (bringing in the sustain samples when the sustain pedal is pressed after key-down). As with the Kompakt-powered models, the soft pedal has no effect, and the middle (sostenuto) pedal sustains the currently pressed notes, but the sustain samples are not retriggered, as they should be, when those notes are replayed.

Compared with the other models, VGP sounded a bit muffled regardless of the chosen Velocity layering, of which there are four. We found the Medium layering with a midlevel compression setting to be the most playable (see Web Clip 4). VGP comes with the largest collection of presets of the pianos we covered, including customized settings for a variety of playing styles, genres, and acoustic environments.

Marshall found VGP “nice to listen to,” with a little more body than Ivory “but not the bark.” Charlie thought the high and low ends were quite nice, but that it sounded “a bit compressed and canned” in the middle. We all thought it would be good for lounge, gospel, funk, soft jazz, new age, jazz duo, or accompanying a jazz singer — pretty and sweet but not very complex. It wouldn't be suitable for classical or any particularly loud style, especially rock. As Charlie noted, “It's a hell of a piano for $120, but the hard-hammer guys aren't going to like it.”

Bösendorfer 290

Next up was EastWest Bösendorfer 290, which is a repackaging of Michiel Post's acclaimed Grandioso Bösendorfer 290 sample library (see Fig. 3). The piano was sampled in semitone intervals with as many as 16 Velocity layers. There are separate sustain-pedal-down and reverberant-release-resonance samples, and all samples were recorded with two microphone setups: close and distant. That allows you to construct dry as well as naturally ambient presets. A large number of presets of both varieties are provided, and you can use presets individually or in Multis to mix and match features.

The close-miked samples for this instrument gave it more of what we came to call the head-inside-the-piano sound than any of the other pianos (see Web Clip 5). Imagine yourself trapped inside the piano with the lid down, and you'll quickly get the picture. The effect was more obvious at the onset of a note, and Marshall described it as “a breathy, ambient noise.” This made the piano somewhat disconcerting to play, but it was less of a problem when the piano was playing the MIDI clips we recorded.

In the end, we all thought the piano might work well with some forms of orchestration and might be quite playable in a mix. But as a solo instrument, which is what we were after, it was the least playable of the bunch.