Native Instruments Classic Piano Collection

[Frederic Laureano]

Andthe moment, I'm also stymied. Overwhelmed by choice! I already have some great piano VSTs to play on my Native Instruments Komplete S88 and Roland LX-17 keyboards*, but I've been really impressed by Pianoteq's playability (especially with pedaling and half-pedaling!)... and the recent sale has convinced me to take the plunge.

I've listened to the jazz demo, and it sounds reasonably good to great on all the pianos it seems. And when I noodle around myself, well, I guess it varies by genre and velocity range as to how I feel. The only one I'm definitely settled on so far is the NY Steinway (even though I have other Steinway VSTs).

1) Are there certain pianos which *audibly* take advantage of new features or capabilities in Pianoteq 7? I'm not so interested in tweakability because I'm impatient and there are already so many handy default presets .

2) Aside from just continuing to spend time noodling around with the Pianoteq trial version, are there other factors I should be considering that might help me choose (e.g., some pianos being more versatile across genres or, conversely, having some limitations, etc.)

The New York D is part of a pack with the Hamburg D. The vast majority of concert hall pianos are Steinway, so yes a no brainer, especially now it's a pack.

The Ant.Petrof was joined by the Mistral as a pack too. So if you buy the Petrol pack with the D pack that's four piano models for the price of two, but that's me forgetting you now get three packs with Standard.

So you get the Errard and Pleyel pianos which also benefit from seventh generation Pianoteq. So you would have six grand pianos straight away. The latter two with a more characterful, imperfect sound. The Pleyel perhaps closest to a large upright in character, before you pick up U4 (but you could also pick that up in the current sale along with your third piano).

The free pack also has the CP80 for a classic late 70s, early 80s sound. So seven highly usable pianos for Jazz, Rock and pop, along with the fine historic piano models, which are more of a niche interest.

-80

Play the CP80 enough you'll probably hanker after the Rhodes sound too. So maybe get Vintage Tines with the Rhodes and Wurly models in a single pack?

However, you could find yourself drawn more to any of the other modern pianos, and something that actually inspires you to play more is ultimately the best value, so your mileage will almost certainly vary. For instance the K isn't even based on any one single real world piano and sounds great.

Better advice is to just suggest you play with all the models and decide for yourself. I don't think that it is helpful to look for the most technically advanced model, it seems bogus to me. Go for the ones that sound the best to your ears, or perhaps those that give you the most variety in tonality.

All the models benefit from the latest version updates anyway.

Hi, I recently purchased Pianoteq Standard too. After playing for almost a week with the posibilities Pianoteq offers, I've chosen the Steinway D (2 pianos in it) the Ant.Petrof pack (another 2) and the Grotrian.

The new Petrof Mistral sounds good in a mix, very clear without being harsh in the highs. The Jazz Recording preset is wonderful to start. I changed only 3 things and is very playable and believable (toned down the Synpathetic resonance to 0.7, and Effects changed reverb to Jazz Studio and tune the low gain settings on the EQ from +2 to +4).

What I did is, with the trial versions installed I just played through all of the candidates, spending only a few minutes on each. I then simply chose the ones that had a "love at first sight" quality to that very brief first encounter.

You say you only want Pianos, does that mean only acoustic pianos? If you're open to the electric ones, I can also second the Vintage Tines recommendation above. I have never played a Rhodes or Wurly emulation that is this satisfying. Every real Rhodes I've ever played has differences between the keys, and regrettably most emulations smooth those out. PianoTeq strikes a better balance with that, in my opinion, many of the presets feel very genuine to play.

I have the Hohner Electric pianos also. They're a little weirder, and I find myself dialing them in to get even weirder most of the time. The Tines are definitely better suited for most genres, the way they sound out-of-the-box. Since you're a jazz player I guess these might come in handy? Or if they won't, plenty other good options exist.

One more thing to consider, while all the piano models can easily be adjustable for different degrees of brightness, some of them benefit from being dialed in bright more than others. Also vice versa, some of them sound better with a darker tone dialed in. You say you don't want to spend much time fiddling with parameters, but I think you'll find just a little adjusting of brightness can be very rewarding. It's one of the places where PianoTeq *really* shines IMO, in sample-based piano plugs we use EQ for this, and it's not nearly as convincing.

It's all a matter of taste, so definitely test things out and make your own choice. Load up a "player" style preset on each piano you're considering, and just dial back all the hammer hardnesses. Maybe turn the Q factor up and the Cutoff down too. Overdo it just a little, it's illuminating. Does the sound get uninteresting to you with less highs? Keep looking.

When I did this, the one that really stood out to me was the Grand Grotrian, the Petrof and SteinGraeber being close seconds. But your tastes may be different! Give it a spin and find out what you like.

For jazz, it seems to me that a brighter piano would be appropriate. The Steinway B is a great choice. Although it still has a big sound, it does have a more intimate feel. My personal experience by playing the B is that it also has a fun touch response/playability that translates well to jazz. By the way, the real Steinway B seems to be favored by jazz pianists and it is THE piano of choice at the Jazz Standard club in NYC.

The third piano should be your own personal choice. Do you want a piano more inclined toward classical music or toward jazz? From various sessions of testing and playing, the sound of the Grotrian Grand really captivates me due to its remarkable sympathetic resonances. But I am more into learning and playing classical music.

Are there certain pianos which *audibly* take advantage of new features or capabilities in Pianoteq 7? I'm not so interested in tweakability because I'm impatient and there are already so many handy default presets

The biggest new feature would be layering and morphing. With that in mind mixing piano becomes a really nice feature that is easy without a DAW. I'd suggest pianos that cover different tones for that reason.

The K2 now sounds very good and I'd take a really close look (listen) at this as I think it's neglected by many people. It's not got a mainstream name attached but it is a great sound. Earlier versions had issues (IMO) but it is now lovely.

Note you also get for free two grands from the 1920's (Pleyel and Erard) and several other instruments. Don't neglect these as they will have uses. Ever since I heard Erroll Garner use a harpsichord on a Jazz album I've tried to think outside the usual piano box (and you'll get a free harpsichord with it).

Aside from just continuing to spend time noodling around with the Pianoteq trial version, are there other factors I should be considering that might help me choose (e.g., some pianos being more versatile across genres or, conversely, having some limitations, etc.)

Also, I appreciate you highlighting that -- even though I'm generally not one to tinker in this context -- making a few straightforward tweaks may be able to significantly improve how I enjoy some of the instruments.

At the moment, I'm pretty stressed with work and kinda tired, so I'm going to dedicate a good amount of time this Saturday (I know, I know, cutting it close) to do some more playing and listening and deciding and will report back!

I added the harp package, even though I don't really write for harp, because I adore the sound. It will probably encourage me to write for harp, and I want to encourage that. (I initially wasn't going to get it because harps use an unusual system for key changes, but that turned out to be learning curve issue; Pianoteq lets me switch between pure keyboard mode and harp (diatonic) mode at the click of a button.)

The YC5 is the one I was least sure of; I really enjoyed playing the Studio preset but was meh on pretty much all the other presets. But I have such nostalgia playing Yamaha grands growing up and I liked the sound and feel for pop & rock playing with that preset .

YC5 is a very safe choice. Together with the Steinway you've got the two most common grand piano sounds for all the forms of popular music and Classical.

I would like to see them further improve the YC pack. It doesn't need an official license, we all know what it is because they are so ubiquitous.

YC5 pack could do with more presets, and maybe be joined by YC7, and or CFX (YCFX?).

That said in the Pop and Rock genre this is probably the piano model most likely to be treated with 3rd party FX plugins anyway.

Owning the Petrof pack, take a look to the Mistral 284 Jazz Recording preset, really interesting. I've tweaked a bit and it sounds like being on a real grand through my Adam T7V monitors at realistic volume level. The sound of the mids and highs is very well achieved.

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