Software Eighty-Eights

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

The Grand 2

In version 2 of The Grand, Steinberg has added a set of Kawai piano samples (dubbed Model 2) as well as made some improvements to the Steinway samples from the original version (Model 1). The Grand 2 uses a Syncrosoft hardware key (dongle), which may require a separate purchase.

The Grand 2's custom interface has three pages, the first of which is primarily eye candy but does allow you to select between models as well as turn on CPU- and RAM-saving options. The Room page is for setting up the built-in reverb and a 4-speaker surround simulation. The most important player settings are on the Performance page (see Fig. 4).

The Sound settings — Natural, Soft, Bright, and Hard — apparently affect a variety of hidden timbral settings in the playback engine, and they certainly have a marked impact on the sound. Interestingly, their impact on Model 2 is greater than on Model 1, and we felt that difference was a nice feature. The Natural and Soft settings proved to be the most playable, but the Bright setting could be really useful when the piano needs to cut through.

Five settings, collectively called True Features, control sustain-pedal-down and release samples together with mechanical noises. Each True Feature can be toggled off or have its level cut or boosted. The Eco Mode option toggles all True Features off. The only adjustment we found to be essential was cutting the True Sustain Resonance (sustain-pedal-down) level to -30. Lowering the Key Sound a little reduced thumping.

Both Charlie and Marshall found a lot to like in The Grand 2. Marshall preferred the Soft Sound setting of Model 2, but both found Model 2 “a little larger than life” and thought Model 1 was more realistic (see Web Clip 6). There was an abrupt transition in timbre around C1 in both models, and Model 1 had something of a dead spot in the octave above C5. Although the soft pedal affected volume only, Marshall actually preferred that to Ivory's separate soft-pedal samples. For both models, we found the bottom end a little heavy, the top end a little brittle, and the midrange just right.

Galaxy Steinway 5.1

Best Service Galaxy Steinway is the least complex of the instruments we tested and proof that simplicity is not a bad thing (see Fig. 5). A 9-foot Steinway Concert D was recorded with close and room mics to produce a full 5.1 surround library. A stereo version is included in the package, and that's what we used.

The piano was sampled in whole-tone intervals with ten Velocity layers. There are no soft-pedal, sustain-pedal-down, or release samples. Still, we found it to be eminently playable, and it sounded especially good on classical, gospel, and Latin (see Web Clip 7). Charlie found the piano a little bright, saying it could “almost be a Yamaha.” But he also thought that could be useful for recording. Marshall said a lot of these pianos left him feeling like “Where's the fundamental?” and that if he had this piano, he'd spend some time EQ'ing it. Charlie said that with some EQ, it might become his everyday virtual piano.

Both Charlie and Marshall found it very clean and playable. It was even across the entire keyboard with no noticeable transitions across Velocity zones. The Galaxy Steinway exhibited little of the head-inside-the-piano sound previously described, which made it the least distracting to play.

Akoustik Piano

The last of the individual-product sessions was devoted to Native Instruments Akoustik Piano, and by that time we were all feeling a bit jaded. Launching Akoustik Piano was like opening all the windows in the studio and letting in a huge blast of fresh air.

Akoustik Piano's user interface is pure pleasure — everything is controlled from a single panel, all controls are comprehensively labeled, and presets, which are loaded or saved with one click, include all settings (see Fig. 6). The large buttons along the left load individual piano models with their default settings. A hot spot at the top right corner of each button brings up a description of the piano along with three demo songs and a link to the piano manufacturer's Web site. Buttons along the right side call up four ambient environments, all of which can be toggled off for a completely dry sound. The rest of the settings are on the bottom panel, which can be hidden when not in use. Having spent a lot of time before, during, and after the sessions dealing with the software, Len said, “If EM had a GUI of the Year award, I know how I'd vote.”

Our first stop was Native Instruments' version of the Bösendorfer 290 Imperial Grand (see Web Clip 8). Charlie thought it was a lot like the Ivory Bösendorfer but “with more fundamental.” Both he and Marshall found it very playable and smooth, while also having a “Bösendorfery in-your-face sound.” Lowering the lid to the short pin and rolling back the Key Noise knob to 9 o'clock calmed it down a little. Although it doesn't use separate samples, the soft-pedal implementation is fairly convincing. It both lowers the level and introduces a slight timbral change. Marshall noted that the A-1 (the lowest A) was sharp, clearly beating against the octave above it. As with Ivory, the extra nine notes below A-1 have been sampled and mapped to the keyboard.

The next stop was the Steinway Concert D, and we just kept coming back to this piano; it knocked everybody out (see Web Clip 9). Marshall loved it, saying it played the most like the real thing so far and “sounded like an 80-foot piano.” Charlie also thought it was the best he'd played. Both felt the high end might be a little peaky and that it might be a little harder to play than the Bösendorfer. Although there were a lot of overtones, there was enough fundamental to support them. Marshall said, “It's so playable, you can actually balance voices, which is hard to do on a MIDI keyboard.”

We were enjoying the Steinway so much, we decided to try out the four room ambiences: Concert Hall, Cathedral, Jazz Club, and Recording Studio. They were all quite restrained, which we liked. With only three controls (reverb amount, room size, and miking distance), they were easy to season to taste. Under the hood, the ambiences are implemented with the Kontakt engine's first-rate convolution reverb.

We also tried both alternative lid positions. On the low pin, there was still a lot of character. Marshall noted that you could play practically any combination of notes and “actually hear them.” To everyone's surprise, having the lid closed really sounded like having the lid closed; you could even hear more punting of the keys.

The last grand in the package is the Bechstein D 280 (see Web Clip 10). Charlie immediately picked out an unevenness or break moving from C4 to Db4 to D4. Closing the lid masked the problem, but we all felt it was serious enough to need fixing. That aside, it is a nice-sounding piano but not as clean as the Steinway, especially when you play clusters. Putting the lid on the low pin mellowed the instrument out a lot. Version 1.1, which should be available by the time you read this, promises to fix the intonation and regulation problems and will also offer a stretch-tuning option for each of the pianos.

We closed the session with the Steingraeber upright (see Web Clip 11). As Charlie said, “That is an upright, isn't it? Intonation, intonation, intonation.” Marshall pointed out the prominence of the release samples, which is a characteristic of uprights because the dampers aren't aided by gravity. You would spend a long time searching for this piano, and it's a lot of fun to play.