Review - Pianoteq
January 28th, 2008Physical modeling plug-ins I feel have taken two distinct paths; to emulate real world instruments, and to create instruments that are not possible or impractical to create in the real world. While both journeys have been taken for many years, the former, I’ve felt, has left me wanting for higher quality and realism along with the advantage of the real time control. While I’ve not been able to completely have my cake and eat it too, developments over the last year have taken great strides. A new-comer to the scene, Modartt, has created a physically modeled piano called Pianoteq. How convincing is this instrument? Let’s find out.
What is Pianoteq?
Pianoteq is a plug-in that is offered in VSTi/AU/RTAS formats for the PC running Windows XP and the Macintosh running OSX along with a stand-alone version.
Straight from their website, Pianoteq provides the following features and advantages–
- The piano sound is constructed in real time, responding to how the pianist strikes the keys and interacts with the pedals
- It includes the entire complexity of a real piano (hammers, strings, duplex scale, pedals, cabinet)
- No quantization noise (32-bit internal sampling at 192 KHz)
- Real progressive variation of the timbre (127 velocities per note)
- Adjustable hammer hardness (voicing) and other similar parameters
- Adjustable unison width (tuning) and other similar parameters
- Adjustable piano size (soundboard) and other similar parameters
- Adjustable spectrum profile, based on the first 8 overtones
- Progressive sustain pedal, allowing partial-pedal effects
- Sostenuto pedal, harmonic pedal and Una Corda (soft) pedal
- Microtuning with Scala format
- Lid position (open, half-open, closed)
- Stereo width slider
- Key release velocity
- Very fast to install and initialize
- Total size is about 15 MB (MegaBytes)
- It can be used successfully with a laptop (low hardware requirements)
- Adjustable optional samples of acoustic noises (pedal and key release)
- Built-in graphic equalizer with freely adjustable key points
- Built-in graphic velocity curve with keyboard presets
- Built-in reverb unit with presets
Installation
Installation was swift and smooth. I was up and playing Pianoteq inside of a few minutes. That is certainly something I haven’t been able to say about a piano library, ever, that I’ve actually liked.
In Use
My experience with Pianoteq was nothing short of amazing. My favorite sample pianos have changed over the years. From the “large” 64 megabyte Northstar Grand Gold Pianos samples for my EMu E64 back the late 90’s, to various GigaStudio format pianos over the years, to even the Yamaha P60 built in piano presets; all had their own unique sound but lacked a little something here and there. Moving from what Modartt dubs as the third generation of pianos (sampled instruments) to their fourth generation (physical modeling), the experience of significant decrease in load time, and the significant tweakability of the sound is astounding.
Playing the plug-in either on my synth action 76-key keyboard, or on my Yamaha P60 88-key graded hammer action keyboard, the performance felt alive in my hands. Having a real piano weighted keyboard makes a dramatic difference to the believability of the sound. I was still surprised on how good Pianoteq sounded even playing on a synth weighted keyboard.
From the softest touch to the strongest staccato hits, the 127 velocity layer coverage is apparent and certainly unprecedented in a sample library. I’m not aware of a sample library that will allow you to quickly re-pedal the sustain pedal, and still have a tiny bit of the sustained notes coming through either. This is just a small portion of the impeccable attention to meticulous detail that makes Pianoteq shine like the star it is.
Another neat feature of Pianoteq is the Random button. While the results typically don’t produce the next Yamaha C7 at your fingertips, it still produces some nice, usable sounds nonetheless. People who love experimental sounds will no doubt enjoy this little gem of a feature too.
High quality plug-ins usually comes at a price, and Pianoteq is no exception. On my AMD 3800+ X2 machine, the average CPU load is around 40%. Do note that Pianoteq is one of the few plug-ins that allow you to balance the load across both CPU’s at the same time. With the Multiprocessor option checked, the CPU load drops in half to around 20% load on each CPU core.
The following piece is an improvisational composition I wrote in one pass. This piece was written more for show of the full range of Pianoteq, so please forgive the occasional timing blunders in the playing. I want you to listen to how the bass notes resonate so beautifully, and how the sound of the hammer comes through on the high notes so realistically.
Conclusion
Finally, I feel the death knell is ringing for the overly bloated multi-gigabyte piano libraries. Not only is Pianoteq significantly smaller, the ability to manipulate the dynamics in real time is nothing short of breath-taking. Pianoteq makes you feel like you’re controlling the piano performance instead of the performance controlling your piano playing. While I’m sure large sample libraries will still have their place, I know I don’t stand alone in welcoming more with less. Now to wait for more models from Modartt…
