Pianist Hugh Sung demonstrates Pianoteq Part 1 of 2

[78904321]

also, could you tell me what piece is that at the beginning of the video?

[hughsung]

@78904321 It's from Schumann's "Carnaval", Op. 9, the movement titled "Chopin"

[hughsung]

@78904321 I already replied below :)

[mavs972]

@78904321 Chopin- op. 64 no2 Waltz

[78904321]

Is that an M-Audio midi/usb audio interface on your table? is it part of your setup?

Could you tell me what it does exactly? My preconception is that it acts like an external sound card and helps boost the audio performance as well as lower the latency. My pc has terrible latency issues and I was wondering if these audio interfaces would resolve the problem. Thank you.

[hughsung]

@78904321 Yes, that is an M-Audio Fast Track Pro. Works really well as a digital audio interface with my computer, and has terrific latency.

[Pianotec]

Well it is certainly more lively but there is something "predictable" that makes it too clean in the end.. (it is not a defect, it is too nice). Modeling interactions with plate , case and action sound transmission may be difficult. Tuning always alittle inhuman also, too much perfection ...! nice result anyway !

[pianolatinomike]

I have one question, can you tell me the model of the controller you used in the video?

[sistagirl488deleted]

2:08 amen to that 

[Berrymore84]

physical modeling is much easier, sample recording is a painstaking work and it needs high precision & extra attention

[MichelDeNoir]

Very nice Sound and very nice performance. Check the sound of my set up. Sad piano song for a woman. It is simply Pianoteq 1 controlled by a cheap electric piano. It is possible to get great sound if one adds a couple of simple equalization, reverb effects.

[vanishoggola]

Very good demonstration, thanks a lot! The Pianoteq should be very close the acoustic one, but nobody can't tell me what kind of speakers one should have at the "minimum" to get this "good"and realistic sound of piano!No advice also from Pianoteq website! What do you think about KRK Rockit 6?Does it work with the iMac, or do I have to run it with a external Audiointerface?? Thanks for your help!

[jerryaltman]

This video of Hugh Sung it's really very well done, BUT WAS MADE YEARS AGO, with a now old version of pianoteq.

Reamber to judge pianoteq by dowloading the actual free trial of the latest version on their website. There are significative and welcome changes, a higher quality now than in the earlier versions.

[onetondrumbum]

I don't think this sounds good at all. It doesn't come close to fooling me. I mean, it just sounds nothing like a piano. It sounds like some combination stage piano/electric thingy.

[joeyisfunny]

Does pianoteq have the stereo effect where bass notes are more in the left speaker and treble notes more in the right? I dont notice anything like that while playing but I imagine it would be implemented in such a good program....

[ascot121]

How about Quantum Leap Pianos Virtual Library? Is that any good?

[GRAFq]

Hm, it's very expressive, but the sound just isn't there yet imho. I still prefer sampled Pianos.

Hugh, just because you describe sampled pianos as "toys" when it comes to feel. May I ask which ones you have tried? Not trying to offend here, I'm really just curious, partly because I'm far, far away from your level of skill when it comes to actually playing the piano.

[subversyv]

PianoTeq isn't bad .. but it ain't no V-Piano just yet.

[hughsung]

@subversyv I actually tried the V-Piano at the last NAMM show - nice instrument, but it didn't blow me away as I had expected.

[subversyv]

@hughsung You're certainly entitled to your opinion, and as nice sounding as the PTeq is, I don't see how you can be unimpressed with V-Piano. It has dedicated DSP hardware coupled with probably millions of man-hours put into the COSM technology. You may prefer the sound of PTeq, but I think you have to admit V-Piano is technologically miles ahead. Furthermore, since Piano runs on the Mac/PC, it's subject to the variability of people's digital-to-analog setups.

[rhodes70s]

Nice piano sound. Unfortunately me and my colleagues were never able to achieve anything anywhere near this piano sound using Pianoteq. I have pianoteq v3.6 and I like playing it but the piano sounds very synthetic (Unrealistic). I think it will be a couple of years before the sampled piano technology is made redundant by physical modelling. Even with the V-Piano I notice a very synthetic sound, especially in the mid range. Its a very exciting technology though...

[cprostudio]

purchased a casio privia px-830 fully graded with ivory feel keys, using as a midi controller for pianoteq. Its a dream come true, All this cost me under 800 uk pound and takes up no room at all. This is a great honest video

[NielsShoe]

Pianos are very hard to do in a virtual way as a piano is a complex hammer on strings contraption where an electrical synthesizer is easer to do in a virtual software format. A real piano will always beat sofware.

[rhodes70s]

Hi Hugh,

Can you please advise how you achieved the piano sound in "Claire de Lune". We cant get anything near it in Pianoteq. We have been doing alot of editing of the presets but the sound does not seem anywhere near attainable

[rhodes70s]

I have purchased pianoteq and have been digging in to the editing features but still can not get any sound that even remotely sounds as good as what we hear on this video. Is this really pianoteq?

[HomeStudioEssentials]

This is the video that lead me to check out pianoteq! Thanks for that. It's awesome.

[Dadee3]

Wow this was very informative, thanks.

[mysticradio]

dunno... ihave the yamaha S90es... and a demo of pianoteq

playing thru KRK rockit 8s........ for my live show.... the Yammy wins.... latency never seems QUITE right on softsynths.... i have MOTU 8pre soundcard.... mac dualcore with 4 meg ram..... i A/b'd the pianos.. and i'll keep the Yamaha... and buying a motif rack xs... and i'll stack the pianos.... LOTS AND LOTS OF BODY

[mysticradio]

i have yamaha S90es.... and pianoteq doesnt seem that responsive..... im finding the mids very tinny sounding.....

[44danoc]

I think I will go with TRUEPIANOS, look that up guys before you buy this.

[deshawnpenrose]

Definitely went with TruePianos after demoing both

[onat1976]

What presets or settings did you use? Why can't I get my Pianoteq to sound like that?

[onat1976]

What presets or settings did you use? Why can't I get my Pianoteq to sound like that?

[djaq000arkadian]

hughsung thanks to your video .this made me buy PianoTEQ in my final decition wich I was going to buy a sampled based piano Ivory .

[Demoras]

Mmm I might be configuring it wrong. Or it could be my synth-like keyboard with no hammer mechanism :')

I can't help but think Pianoteq sounds kind of artificial. It is very, very customizable though, and that's it's strong point. I personally don't like the presets, they sound very digital. It could be my keyboard though, it's hard to play with it with expression.

Raising the unison width a little and adjusting the hammers does a lot of good though :)

Very interesting plugin.

[NRob84]

Sounds excellent!

[Barpianistin]

Very nice - you play wonderfol ! 5 Stars from Austria and love greeting Katharina!

[hughsung]

Thank you so much for your kind compliments, Katharina!

[Viesrood]

Thanks for the great demonstration. Maybe pianoteq plays better than most digital piano's or sound liberaries. However, personally, I think it doesn't sound that realistic. But ok, pianoteq is still young... Lets see what the future will bring.

[jerryaltman]

The storic piano add-on named Sebastien erard sound the best of all on Pianoteq. Go to Pianoteq Website and check the mp3 to listen the Erard piano.

[Viesrood]

Isn't this add-on in the free demo (2.3)? I've tried it out. Maybe it sounds better than other settings, but still... not very realistic. But I have hope; maybe pianoteq 5 will be perfect.

[NoahEp]

Thanks so much, Hugh. What is the lovely piece at 0:40 that you play with the flowing left hand? It sounds like Mendelssohn or Chopin but I'm not familiar with it, I'd love to know what it is!

[hughsung]

It comes from Schumann's "Carnaval" Op. 9, a movement called "Chopin" - confusing, eh? LOL - or simply the best of 2 worlds! :D

[afertyus1000]

hi, what keyboard are you playing on?

[hughsung]

The keyboard in the video was my Roland RD-700SX - a great keyboard controller with graded key weights (heavier on the bottom, lighter on the top) - works great with Pianoteq!

[Damce]

yasin should get this one

[vitalf]

Thank you for this review, you are a great pianist! :)

I tried pianoteq demo and its great!

[40XXX50]

WOW you made it sound that way! that is best sounding piano I have ever heard! "well Artvista Grand 2 sounds pretty damn good", but Pianoteq in your videos is everything someone would want as a emulation for the piano. You should send that preset to there main page for people to download I have never heard Pianoteq sound that good! Thanks for your reply.

"maybe create a tutorial on how to get the best out of Pianoteq for sound"

[40XXX50]

I am really interested in this piano Hughsung infact on Northernsounds were in deep discussion on it! (I am strangecat)

what are you using for pianoteq? Is that your own preset that you have created in this video? it just sounds so alive! The demos on there website do not have that timbre sure they have the details and expressiveness but not the tone color.

[hughsung]

Wow, you have great ears! Yes, i actually fiddled a little with the preset for that video - that was before Pianoteq came out with their current default preset. I wanted to have more 'ping' to the attacks, so i think i modified the hammer as well as some of the frequency spreads in the overtones. The amazing thing with Pianoteq is that you can actually do these sorts of fine adjustments!

[BLAZINBEATS123]

ok but since this is a software program , what is the latency of the sound after you hit the key because its not like a real piano since it dont play the sound in real time, ok let me know thanks.

[hughsung]

The only time you'd notice latency would be if you played really dense, loud, fast passages like the 1st movement cadenza from Grieg's piano concerto. Pianoteq actually performs brilliantly when played through a dedicated VST machine like the Muse Receptor. I think the latency is faster than the speed your brain sends neurons to your hands!

[jerryaltman]

Hi Hugh. May I suggest to you create a new video playing the Sebastien Erard historic model from the Pianoteq software? The Sebastien Erard, in my humble opinion, it's the most beautiful piano model from Pianoteq. Regards.

[andromeda20]

Hi Hughsung, first of all i appreciate and respect your work, you are a great pianist, and pianoteq is one of the best grand piano emulation,

now i have a question, what kind of digital piano do you use in this video? you can connect two pedals in that digital piano like the second part show? or i'm mistaken?

[hughsung]

The Roland RD-700SX actually allows for 3 pedals - damper, soft, and sostenuto. Pianoteq can handle all three pedal options if your keyboard supports it.

[andromeda20]

Hi Hughsung, you play wonderfull, i respect your work, and pianoteq it's just a great application to emulated a grand piano sound, i just want to know what kind of digital piano do you use in the video?

[hughsung]

Thank you so much for enjoying my music! In the video, i use the Roland RD-700SX as my keyboard controller - at the time, it was one of Roland's top end digital keyboards.

[zzzxtreme]

many digital piano now sounds better than cheap uprights, cheap i mean by around US$3000

[hughsung]

Believe it or not, the Pianoteq setup sounds better than many expensive acoustic grand pianos that i come across in concert halls all over the place! Think of how often the piano is out of tune, badly voiced, uneven action/tone, old tinny strings, poor pedal actions...the acoustic problems go on and on!

[zzzxtreme]

that's amazing, i wanted to say that, but kept it to myself :-)

me very happy with pianoteq

[ronnysoeberg]

I'm sort of torn between pianoteq and 4fronts Truepianos at the moment. I feel that truepianos feel a little more "present" if that makes any sense, but there are some issues like you said, about the gaps between velocities. It really hampers me, seeing as i play very melancholic music, and i need a lot of expression on very low velocities.. Pianoteq gives me that.. in spades.

[AlbertBenjaminHoward]

thank you for your time

[jerryaltman]

I got the point that no digital piano sound good to my ears. Sampled or emulated, I notice the fails, in sampled based limitations or real time sound emulation limitations. The digital technology have no capability yet to produce a fine piano sound.

[pianoetude]

Thanks for the introduction Hugh! Greetings from Honolulu...