Which Digital Piano Is Better?
(By Kip McGinnis - BardstownAudio.Com)
Over the last several years many people have become accustomed
to playing sampled pianos that have been extensively processed with noise
reduction and filters. Sampled digital pianos with all of this processing sound
very even, consistent, and in general sound perfect from note to note, but they
do NOT sound like a real piano. They have more of the characteristics of a synth
where every note sounds even from one end of the keyboard to the other. Many
piano recordings have been produced in years past with these processed digital
pianos by musicians who have home studio setups with digital keyboards and
without having a real piano at their disposal, or in studios where they did not
have a real quality piano and were equipped with digital keyboards instead.
Practically all sampled pianos that are available, with the exception of the
Bardstown Bosendorfer Imperial Grand, have been processed with low pass filters
and noise reduction. But on the other hand, the pure, natural, and pristine
sound of the sample recordings of the Bardstown Bosendorfer did not necessitate
any of these destructive processes. With the Bardstown Bosendorfer you have the
full natural and unprocessed raw sound of the instrument that was sample
recorded because this is the sound that most people want, which perfectly
emulates the sound of the real Bosendorfer Imperial Model 290 that was sample
recorded.
The Bosendorfer Imperial Model 290, which was sample recorded in order to
produce the Bardstown Bosendorfer Imperial Grand, was professionally adjusted
and tuned by one of the best piano technicians in the US immediately before the
sample recording process began. The very best professional recording equipment
and techniques were used in the sample recording process of this piano. Unlike
other sampled pianos that are available, all notes on the Bardstown Bosendorfer
were chromatically sample recorded at all velocity levels of pedal up, pedal
down, and release note off, which captures the ambient sound of the performance
hall in which this Bosendorfer was sample recorded. And also unlike other
sampled pianos that are available, all notes on the Bardstown Bosendorfer were
individually edited and tweaked by hand one note at a time and without the use
of any streamlined batch processes in order to insure the very highest quality.
This process took a little over a year to complete.
You do have the option of easily applying your own low pass filters if desired.
Low pass filter controls are easily accessible in all of the various software
samplers, including, EXS24, Giga, Kontakt, and HALion. Low pass filters do make
any sampled instrument, including the Bardstown Bosendorfer, sound softer and
provide more of a mellow warming sounding instrument. An excessive amount of
filters will make any sampled piano take on more of the characteristics of
digital pianos that have been produced over the last several years. If you are
accustomed to this sound and prefer a processed digital piano sound, you can
very easily apply these filters on the Bardstown Bosendorfer Imperial Grand in
any of the samplers mentioned above in order to achieve this character and
sound.
For soft classical, soft new age, and soft ballads, a moderate amount of low
pass filtering may be desirable in some situations, but there again this is a
subjective opinion that will vary from person to person. Recording engineers who
record musicians who are playing soft classical, soft new age, and soft ballads
on REAL pianos will sometimes apply low pass filtering to the piano tracks in
order to produce a sound they are wanting. The Bardstown Bosendorfer Imperial
Grand provides the full, pure, pristine, and natural sounds of the real
Bosendorfer Imperial Model 290, and by having these full, pristine, and natural
sounds of the real instrument, the user can very easily apply low pass filtering
and EQ to suit their individual taste.
Most people, and myself included, prefer the pure natural pristine sound of the
Bardstown Bosendorfer Imperial Grand without any filtering or EQ processing.
With sampled pianos that have been processed, you cannot take away these
filtered or equalized sounds in order to have a pristine and unprocessed sound,
but you can very easily ad these processing effects if so desired.
Usually within a half an hour of playing around with this sampled Bosendorfer
Imperial Grand piano, most people are able to determine what works and sounds
best for them (whether to filter or not to filter), depending on their various
styles of music and playing styles.
Kindest regards,
Kip McGinnis
Bardstown Audio
www.bardstownaudio.com