• Software >Virtual Instrument

• Pianoteq Soft Planets
• Pianoteq Soft Planet Youtube

Pianoteq tackles the virtual piano problem in megabytes rather than gigabytes, and offers flexibility that its multisampling competitors can't match.

Pianoteq's dark, cool-looking window puts all the essential controls in one place.

What do you do when you want to create a super-accurate software recreation of an acoustic piano? Conventional wisdom says 'sample the hell out of it', and that's exactly the approach used by the likes of Steinberg, VSL, Native Instruments, Synthogy, EastWest and others, in sample libraries running to 30, 40, even 50 gigabytes, and capturing every dynamic gradation of a particular piano, pedal up and down, and often from multiple mic positions.

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The current crop of sampled pianos can give great results — but at a cost. First, streaming those tens of gigs of samples is a fairly tall order for a high-end Mac or PC, even with stacks of RAM, dedicated hard drives and high-bandwidth architecture. On a laptop, though, while playing back multitrack audio and other samples? Best of luck! Then there's the question of flexibility. Even the most lavish sample libraries only offer a handful of pianos, and if the sound you're after isn't one of them, you're pretty much stuck. Any real 'sound design' is off-limits — almost none allow it, and aside from offering a few tone tweaks, they're essentially replay engines only.

In the past few years, though, an alternative to sampling has emerged, in the form of modelling — think Logic's Sculpture plug-in, or Applied Acoustics' GS1 guitar instruments. Acoustic modellers like these generate sound on the fly according to mathematical representations of actual physical systems, such as columns of air in a tube, or strings stretched over a bridge and soundboard. Not being based on samples, modelling instruments generally have a much smaller installation footprint, and can offer a remarkable level of freedom in tweaking the mechanical/acoustic systems they represent — even to the point of emulating instruments that don't or couldn't exist.

Does a modelled piano sound and feel as good as a sampled one, though? That's the million dollar question, and one I'll be considering carefully later on in this review.

Now we get to the heart of the matter. What's this latest Pianoteq actually like to play and listen to, and how does it compare to its sample-based competitors? Taking Pianoteq on its own terms, there's no doubt that version 3.5, in both Standard and Pro editions, is the best yet.

Music Teq

For dedicated savers and traders of Pianoteq's .FXP preset format, the preset manager overlay allows quick grouping and searching of sounds.

Pianoteq was the first commercially available piano modelling software, released in 2006, and it's still pretty much unique — other than Roland's big-money hardware V-Piano, there's very little to compare with it. Dave Stewart's review from the January 2007 issue of SOS sums up its first incarnation very nicely, and gives a bit of background about Modartt and the people behind the maths. The software has moved on a bit since then, though, so here's a quick rundown of the facts.

First off, Pianoteq runs as a stand-alone application or a plug-in, in VST, Audio Units or RTAS formats. OS requirements are Windows XP/Vista, Mac OS 10.4 or later (Intel or PPC), or Linux (x86) with Jack and ALSA back ends. Only 256MB RAM is required, and a mere 20MB of hard disk space — I've saved Word documents bigger than that — but you'll need a dual- or multi-core processor for best performance: this modelling is a CPU‑intensive business. Having said that, various settings let you restrict sample rate or polyphony, allowing Pianoteq to work perfectly well on more modest machines. Installation is quick and straightforward, and authorisation/activation is handled automatically on-line (though a manual activation system is available too). A single licence allows for installation on up to three computers.

Next, and as of the most recent round of updates, there are actually two different Pianoteqs available. Pianoteq 3.5 Pro goes for 399 Euros and offers 'per note' tweaking of many parameters, for the ultimate in virtual piano design. It also supports high sample rates, up to 192kHz. However, Pianoteq 3.5 Standard, at 249 Euros, is more like the previous versions of the program, and it's this I'll get stuck into first, to see what's the same, what's new and what's different.

Get Hammered

The virtual miking overlay betrays Pianoteq's multi-channel, surround-ready design.

Pianoteq's plug-in and stand-alone graphic interfaces are almost identical — the stand‑alone just has an additional metronome and MIDI file player/recorder section at the very top of its window. The easiest way to choose between the piano presets is with the large pop-up menu at the top left, which also displays the currently selected preset. Click the pop-up and (amongst other things) you discover presets for the two main pianos, referred to as C3 and M3. You can get at these (and Pianoteq's other instruments) in a different way, though: clicking an icon towards the top right overlays a Preset Management window, which can sort the preset list by various criteria, provides a text search field, and gives a little more information about each preset. You can also assign MIDI commands here that will switch to the preset remotely.

The rest of the interface — which, on the whole, is simple and intuitive in use — is split into sections. In the top half are Tuning, Voicing and Design sections, whose tasteful 'piano internals' photographs slide back to reveal a fair number of parameters. Below are some more general parameters: a graph display where you can tweak velocity response and EQ, an Output section that includes master volume and virtual miking options, and a series of 'Effects' toggles, which allow action noise, tremolo, reverb and an output limiter to be turned on and off and small configuration panels for each to be displayed. For quite a compact window, there's a lot going on, and it'd be impossible to go into detail about every parameter without this review turning into War & Peace, so here are some of the highlights.

The tuning section offers the normal 'master tune' function, setting concert 'A' to an accuracy of 1/100th of one Hertz. A handful of built-in historical temperaments is supplemented by support for the Scala tuning format. Other historical, ethnic and experimental tuning systems can be loaded via a Scala .kbm file, and there are thousands available for free on the Internet. Varying the Unison Width (the small variations in pitch a piano tuner introduces across the two or three strings that make up one note) introduces movement and richness into the sound, and at an extreme it creates a honky‑tonk or 'pub piano' effect.

In the voicing section, hammer hardness makes a tremendous difference, conjuring up anything from an almost muted 'practice piano' effect to a sparkling, metallic tone that sounds like you've pushed drawing pins into the hammers. Because it's independently adjustable for varying dynamic levels, and Pianoteq smoothly fades between them, subtle and sometimes remarkable effects can be produced with this parameter alone. The Strike Point fader changes the harmonic content of the sound, as if the string had been struck nearer to or further away from the bridge.

Some of the design section options are really interesting, too. Impedance, Cutoff and Q factor all adjust the response of the virtual soundboard, varying it from (apparently) a thick, inert plank to something weirdly resonant and energetic; somewhere in between those extremes is what most pianos are really like.

One of the key additions to the Pro version of Pianoteq, the Note Edit overlay allows subtle or drastic adjustment of tonal qualities on an individual note basis.Microphone pickup modelling was introduced early in 2009 in Pianoteq version 3, and it's quite flexible. Up to five virtual mics can feed any combination of five output channels, with individual level and delay settings. They're placed with reference to a plan and side view of a piano (whose lid you can open and close), and their position is adjustable in three dimensions. You're not bound to use this modelling, but it does add a sense of realism. The virtual acoustic, though, is not configurable, nor is the type or model of mic.

Rounding off this little tour, there are plenty of options for action noise: key releases, dampers (that nice 'swoosh' you get on some close‑miked recordings of real pianos) and sustain pedal. The reverb is a useful addition, but its type isn't specified. It appears to have just one quite flexible algorithm, thankfully quite well suited to piano and not too ringing or rough.

Pianoteq Pro

The more expensive Pianoteq Pro offers all the same sound-shaping parameters as the Standard version, but additionally allows you to tweak them on an individual note basis. Clicking the Note Edit button brings up a sort of graph display in the lower half of the Pianoteq window, on which you can set parameter values according to note pitch. If you're just after solid, playable pianos, this feature isn't going to offer you much. But if you regard the piano sound as a starting point for something much more creative and individual, it comes into its own. You might choose to recreate your favourite jazz recordings by detuning the odd note (think Nina Simone..), or create a more complex prepared 'arrangement' in the manner of John Cage. There are limits, of course — you don't get virtual nuts, bolts and bits of rubber to wedge between the strings — but combinations of the modelling parameters go a tremendous way. I found it interesting, for example, to play riffs and ostinatos on pianos with very uneven tone qualities — you get inspiring and engaging results that would hardly be achievable any other way.

The Playing Experience

Now we get to the heart of the matter. What's this latest Pianoteq actually like to play and listen to, and how does it compare to its sample-based competitors?

Taking Pianoteq on its own terms, there's no doubt that version 3.5, in both Standard and Pro editions, is the best yet. All the 'wow' stuff is still there — carefully press down a silent C-major chord in the treble (to raise the virtual dampers), whack a short C-octave in the bass, and that higher chord starts ringing in response, just like on a real piano. Interactions like that are taking place constantly, helping to create a coherent musical result, and often creating an uncannily authentic and rewarding playing experience. For me, no other virtual piano matches the naturalness of Pianoteq's dynamic response, and it's one of the very, very few virtual instruments that you can feel truly involved with, and 'coax', in the same way as a real instrument. The v3.5 model is more subtle than ever, too, and includes (among other things) sympathetic resonance of the strings on the 'dead' side of the nut and soundboard bridge (the so‑called duplex scale), and even more realistic partial damping of strings when very quick or shallow pedalling is used. The breadth of application of the pianos supplied as standard is impressive, and together with the miking, voicing and design options, they cover masses of stylistic ground, from the distant past to cutting-edge experimentalism. The Pro version's Note Edit options won't be for everyone, but they could prove revelatory to established and new Pianoteq addicts.

There's always a 'but', though. Much as I enjoy playing Pianoteq, my personal feeling is that its main pianos don't quite match the level of realism in the raw sound of the multi-gigabyte libraries. It's jolly close, but I'm sometimes aware of a certain 'artificial' edge, very difficult to describe. It's not anything that could be fixed with EQ or dynamic treatments, but more like a slight lack of weight, a stiffness, a sort of absence of beauty. We're getting into poetic realms, but maybe that's inevitable when you get to this level of emulation accuracy. I don't want to overstate this, though — it's a marginal and very subjective thing, and I'd advise prospective purchasers to try out the demo version to see what they make of it.

In terms of CPU usage, it proved more than acceptable on my Apple MacBook. Running stand-alone or as a plug-in in Digital Performer 7 and Logic 9, at 128- or 256-sample buffer settings, even full piano parts with lots of polyphony and plentiful use of the sustain pedal rarely used more than about 25 percent of the processor, and most often about 15 percent. It's not a processor hog, by any stretch of the imagination.

Coda

As an alternative to the huge sampled pianos, Pianoteq is, without doubt, a force to be reckoned with, and for me any minor concerns about the sound are mostly outweighed by the playability factor. Add in great flexibility, and an installation and usage impact that suits laptop users and many other 'real world' computer setups, and Pianoteq looks stronger than ever. And if creative virtual piano design is your thing, look no further — you won't find anything better.

Alternatives

Pianoteq's heavyweight sample-based competitors include Steinberg's The Grand 3, VSL's colossal Vienna Imperial, Native Instruments' Berlin/New York/Vienna Concert Grand, Synthogy's Ivory Grand Pianos and EastWest's Quantum Leap Pianos. Really, though, these are chalk to Pianoteq's cheese (if you see what I mean), and there's very little that bears direct comparison. Perhaps the only dedicated piano software package that shares a similarly small installation size, and doesn't rely on intensive sample streaming, is 4Front's TruePianos. This isn't a true modeller, though, and offers little scope for creative adjustment of its basic sounds.

Extra Pianoteq Instruments

Pianoteq ships with two basic piano sounds: C3 (a serious, full-voiced classical grand) and M3 (a slightly silkier instrument, possibly better suited to jazz and pop), but isn't restricted to those. By installing the free KIViR ('Keyboard Instrument Virtual Restoration) add-on file available from the Pianoteq web site, weighing in at no more than a few MB (yes, megabytes), you gain five early pianos (think BBC period drama), a 1922 Erard and 1896 Bechstein grand, a Yamaha CP80 electro-acoustic, and two harpsichords (whose samples were originally recorded and contributed to Modartt by yours truly). There's also a free Carillon, and a Cimbalom, and some of these instruments are seriously good. But there's more. Embedded into Pianoteq in demo form are a YC5 (Yamaha) rock piano, Rhodes and Wurlitzer electro‑acoustics, and a vibraphone. You can unlock these via the web site, at a cost of 29 Euros (the YC5) or 49 Euros (all the others). These sounds add massive flexibility, and the 'Rhody R1' and 'Wurly W1' in particular are fabulous, sporting appropriately funky interface skins, and holding their own with the best sample‑based and modelled competition.

Pros

• Outstanding playability of a broad range of quality piano sounds.
• Excellent expandability, with free and commercial add-on instruments.
• Unprecedented scope for sound design, especially via the Pro version's Note Edit feature.
• Remarkably compact in installation and efficient in use.
• Straightforward and intuitive interface.

Cons

• An occasional hint of artificiality with some acoustic pianos — very subjective, though.

Summary

Pianoteq has always been a credible alternative to the big piano sample libraries, and this latest version, offering more instrument choice and more creative control than ever before, takes it to the next level.

information

Modartt +33 5 6128 8157.

Modartt +33 5 6128 8157.

Pianoteq Soft Planets

Test Spec

• Pianoteq Pro v3.5.1.
• Apple MacBook, 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, OS 10.5.8.

• Software >Virtual Instrument

Over almost a decade, Pianoteq has gone from strength to strength. Version 5 offers astonishing realism with remarkably low CPU and hard-drive requirements.

Doesn’t time fly? Not so long ago the idea of a computer model of a musical instrument that you could actually play would have seemed like science fiction. And yet, it’s already been nearly a decade since French developers Modartt first released their modelled piano software, Pianoteq. In that time they’ve subjected it to continuous development, refining the basic acoustic model, and releasing new pianos and other instruments to run within it. So with this latest version 5 Pianoteq is more capable and flexible than ever, and that’s been matched by some important changes in the way it’s sold, as we’ll see.

Hard Facts

Pianoteq runs in OS X, Windows, and Linux. You’ll need OS 10.5 or later, Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8, or Linux (x86) with Jack and ALSA back ends. There are 32– and 64–bit variants, and as well a stand–alone version it’s provided in VST, RTAS and AAX plug–in formats for OS X/Windows, as well as in Audio Units for OS X.

Fully equipped, Pianoteq offers an embarrassment of riches; pianos, electric pianos, and many different mallet percussion sounds. After you’ve chosen your basic sound ‘flavour’ at purchase, additional instruments are available for €49/$89 a pop.Then, regardless of your chosen platform, the installation size is almost incomprehensibly, laughably tiny — at least compared to any half–decent sampled piano competition. It occupies a mere 40MB or so on your hard drive, which to put it in perspective is over 3000 times smaller than Garritan’s CFX Concert Grand. Pianoteq doesn’t require much memory either — 256MB is sufficient. That makes it very suitable for users of laptops with solid-state drives, for example, which may not have a great deal of storage capacity. A modest multi–core chip like Intel’s Core i3 is recommended as the minimum spec for the CPU.

Lifting The Lid

Pianoteq 5 continues on with a very similar look and feel as its previous versions. The compact user interface (roughly 600 x 600 pixels, though scalable between 50 and 250 percent of that size) arranges panels for tweaking various aspects of the sound and playback characteristics beneath a preset management section, and above a representation of a piano keyboard and pedals. The exact layout depends on which version of Pianoteq you’ve stumped for, of which there are three:

• Pianoteq 5 Pro, €399$789. This most expensive variant offers the full, unrestricted Pianoteq experience. There’s huge scope for sound design, even on a note–by–note basis (which pretty much lets you do ‘prepared’ piano setups, à la John Cage). There’s a surround–capable multi–channel virtual miking scheme, you can load your own impulse responses into the onboard convolution reverb, and supported sample rates stretch to 192kHz.
• Pianoteq 5 Standard, €249$489. Still very capable, Standard forgoes only the high sample-rate support and per–note sculpting of Pro. Interestingly, though, it’ll actually load Pro presets, with per–note adjustments intact — you just won’t be able to alter them yourself.
• Pianoteq 5 Stage, €99$199. Notably more limited, Stage has a smaller interface, lacking several sections of Pro and Standard, and dropping most of their sound-tweaking features. And while presets saved from those more expensive versions will load into Stage, many of their more advanced parameter settings will be ignored. However, the basic sound engine, playability and potential for expansion is the same.

Something that has changed in version 5 is the possibility to choose, when purchasing any of the three versions, which ‘flavour’ of Pianoteq you want to go with. The ‘Acoustic piano’ flavour equips you with the D4 and K2 acoustic grand models, while ‘Electric piano’ provides the R2 Rhodes and W1 Wurtlitzer electro-acoustics and the CL1 Clavinet. Finally ‘Chromatic percussions’ includes vibraphones, a xylophone and a bass marimba. So yes, you read that right: it’s quite possible to purchase Pianoteq and end up not having any pianos on hand. A bit unexpected maybe, but quite a smart move on Modartt’s part, I think. Why not let electric piano players and those seeking an alternative to percussion sample libraries benefit from the space–saving and flexibility benefits of acoustic modelling? Not all of us are (acoustic) pianists, first and foremost.

As you switch between Pianoteq instruments different interface skins appear, often with unique parameters. For example the R2 Rhodes piano includes adjustments for pickup symmetry and distance. Also shown here is the Effects section overlay, with its three configurable slots and convolution reverb.One of the perks of the most expensive Pianoteq Pro version is the potential of its per–note editing. With 28 parameters available it can be used to put a single note out of tune, or to sculpt crazy ‘prepared’ or fantasy instruments that have no parallel in reality.This new flexibility in the basic sound provision really just points to the fact that, whatever flavour you do initially choose, Pianoteq has long been about much more than just pianos. It’s massively expandable — you might even say ‘modular’ — and the new purchasing scheme just helps new users end up with the sounds they want, with fewer of those they don’t.

Add–on sounds are bought from the www.pianoteq.com web site in the form of Instrument Packs, all offered at a standardised €49 each. Here’s the current line–up, with brief notes on the real instruments each model is based on:

• D4 Concert Grand. An updated version of that ever–popular and prized Steinway model D (from Hamburg, rather than New York).
• K2 Grand Piano. A brand-new 6-foot, 11-inch acoustic grand sound, not a copy of a specific original, but an amalgamation of several.
• Blüthner Model 1. An officially licensed modelled version of this concert grand that has four strings rather than the normal three in the treble region, also enhanced for Pianoteq 5.
• Rock Piano YC5. A Yamaha grand in all but name, suitable for (though by no means limited to) pop and rock, thanks to a bright and clear timbre.
• U4. A Yamaha–style upright, capable of sounding both sophisticated and clapped–out, and with a tendency for typical inharmonicity in the bass.
• Schloss Kremsegg Collection 1. Copies of historical pianos from the Kremsegg Schloss Museum in Austria: grands by Dohnal (1795), Besendorfer (sic) (1829), Erard (1849) and Streicher (1852).
• Schloss Kremsegg collection 2. More old grands: Broadwood (1796), Pleyel (1835), Frenzel (1841), Bechstein (1899).
• Clavinet CL1. A Hohner D6 clavinet with full support for the original’s pickup modes.
• Electric pianos R2 & W1. Rhodes and Wurlitzer electro-acoustics.
• Steel pans. Four separate instruments: steel drum, spacedrum, hand pan and tank drum.
• Vibes. Models of an American Musser and a French Bergerault vibraphone.
• Celeste. Three different celeste–like instruments: Celesta, glockenspiel and a toy piano.
• Xylo. A three-and-a-half-octave xylophone and a five-octave bass marimba.

Given that all of these sounds can be really messed with in Pianoteq Pro and Standard, it’s clear Pianoteq is a potent sound source for all kinds of keyboard and mallet instruments. And if you’re busy totting up what it would cost to ‘max out’ a Pianoteq installation, buying Pro and all the Instrument Packs, let me save you the trouble. Modartt actually sells it as a special cost–saving bundle, Pianoteq Studio, for €649$1199.

Old & New

The intricacies of Pianoteq’s sound engine, and the parameters it exposes for users to manipulate, is quite rightly fascinating, and is an important part of what separates it from sample–based competitors. Just a cursory glance at some of the screenshots in this review reveal it’s nothing like a typical subtractive synth’s architecture of oscillators, filters and modulators. Instead, it’s all about the actual physical model; the equivalents of real physical entities in a mathematical domain. For a really full discussion of what’s on offer, particularly with regard to the per–note piano-design possibilities, and the special parameters exposed for non–piano instruments, you might want to check out my review of Pianoteq 4 in the September 2012 issue of SOS. For now, I’ll focus on version 5’s new abilities, which are many and varied.

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First, the physical models of the D4, Blüthner, YC5 and U4 pianos have all been further refined, resulting in an improvement in sound quality and playing experience. Then there’s that brand-new K2 piano and the Kremsegg historical grands collection, which I already mentioned in the add–on sounds list above.

Next, a lot of work has taken place in Pianoteq’s ‘Sound Recording’ virtual miking scheme. This is, for all intents and purposes, an ‘imager’, albeit a very sophisticated one that works for stereo as well as multi–channel environments. You get to place up to five virtual mics around your virtual piano or other instrument (excluding the CP80, any of the electric pianos, or the church bells) in what is a kind of anechoic environment. There’s a top view and plan view to help you envisage the setup, with cute depictions of the instruments, though no distance scales or displays. Then the feeds from those virtual mics pass through a mixing matrix, allowing each to feed multiple channels, and for inter–mic delays to be set up. The whole lot feeds the reverb and other effects, with a view to creating natural as well as unnatural and creative audio perspectives. Additional options are there to turn on level and delay compensation, which does away with the natural behaviour of more distant mics, producing a feebler and later signal. Or you can forget the whole thing and engage a special binaural mode for that scarily real headphones vibe.

Pianoteq’s virtual miking system has been supercharged for version 5. Now there are specific mic models, with varying directional characteristics. In the interface for miking the U4 upright piano, shown here, you even get to adjust the position of a virtual wall — the horizontal line shown in the left-hand plan view.In Pianoteq 5 the entire Sound Recording scheme has apparently been souped–up, and you now get to choose between different models of mics, some with directional characteristics, and separately for each channel. There’s a virtual U87 and C414, each offering omni, cardioid and figure-of-eight responses. There’s also a collection of small-diaphragm fixed-pattern condensers: DPA 4006, 4007, 4011 and 4041, along with Schoeps CMC62 and 64. For ribbon aficionados there are Royer SF12 and 24 models, and an AEA R84. Then there’s a duo of so–called ‘perfect’ omni and figure-of-eight mics, which presumably represent the ultra–neutral, ruler–flat backdrop against which the big–name mics’ characters can emerge.

I was interested to dive into the new features, because I’d previously identified the virtual miking as one of my least-favourite bits of Pianoteq 4. I’d felt that any usefulness of the imaging aspect was outweighed by the imposition of a slightly artificial twang in the sound, and more often than not I preferred to bypass the whole thing entirely, with the ‘Stereophonic’ output mode.

Well, in Pianoteq 5, the situation seems markedly improved. Of course, some piano models have changed too, so in some cases we’re not comparing like for like. However, I no longer had the same urge to switch Sound Recording mode off (though the super–clean Stereophonic feed is still useful to have around). Quite the opposite in fact; experiments with placing and angling arrays of virtual mics produces interesting and really substantial differences in the sound, just as in reality.

As well as offering preset and user–adjustable velocity curves, a built–in calibration offers to precisely match Pianoteq’s dynamic response to your controller.As for character differences between all those drool–worthy mics, they’re very subtle. The Schoeps and R84 sound a touch fuller than the Royers. The C414 and U87 are bright and accurate, but depending on placement there sometimes isn’t much difference between the patterns. Applying the ‘would my granny notice any difference?’ test, I fancy she wouldn’t have the faintest clue (bless her), unless she happened to be a mastering engineer on the quiet. Certainly, changing a mic’s position always produced a much bigger change in character than changing it for another model. As such, it might be good to have further models, perhaps ‘Cheap Chinese condenser’ or ’20-year–old repeatedly dropped SM58’. Facetious, maybe, but some more extreme, borderline grotty mics might make for interesting creative treatments.

Performance Cues

It’s fair to say that early piano–only versions of Pianoteq lagged a fair way behind the sampled opposition in terms of sheer realism of the sound. Playability, though, and the sense of musical involvement was a different matter, with Pianoteq often feeling rewarding and inspiring where sample libraries could be strangely lifeless, no matter how good individual notes sounded.

More recently the position has changed a bit. Pianoteq’s pianos have steadily and significantly improved with every new version, while sacrificing none of the playability. But the sample–based alternatives have also got better, with the very best now sounding great and feeling good too, albeit often at the cost of massive installation size. So where are we now, with Pianoteq 5? That question needs to be answered in several parts.

Pianoteq’s non–piano sounds — those Rhodes, Wurlis and percussion instruments — I always thought were superb, from day one, and nothing has changed in that respect. It’s all too easy to overlook them, as if they were some sort of bonus or afterthought, but that would be a grave mistake if you have any use for these kind of sounds. In my view they still represent the state of the art, and in many cases are much preferable to samples. Some of the Rhodes presets, for example, are stunning, to hear and to play. I also find the vibraphones, marimba, xylophone and those evocative hand pans utterly convincing, and it’s hard to imagine how they could be bettered. And of course in Pianoteq Pro and Standard all the sounds can be extensively edited. Simply put, everyone in the market for these kinds of sounds should seriously consider Pianoteq instead of a sample library, and the new purchasing ‘flavour’ options should help in this respect.

As for the main acoustic pianos, the simple fact is that Pianoteq 5’s represent another leap forward, and the quality is now uniformly high. The D4 Steinway has that rather serious, arrogant quality of the real thing; not immediately attractive, but commanding, immensely ‘respectable’ and musically potent. The K2 is more like a big Yamaha — instantly likeable, willing, open, but still classy. The Blüthner sounds scarily like the one my old piano teacher had; middly, insistent, a touch ‘vintage’ with a really thick and chalky high-treble register. And the YC5 provides an interesting contrast, being enthusiastic but certainly not too strident or coarse. Finally, the U4 is in no way a poor relation to the grands, and can sound surprisingly elegant as well as characterful and aged (think ‘Good Day Sunshine’ or ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’).

What’s obvious, with these improved pianos, is that the slightly artificial, plasticky twang of previous Pianoteq versions has all but disappeared. It was by no means the defining feature of the sound, but you could sometimes sense it in the octave below middle-C, as a sort of stiffness and sterility. This time round I found myself playing the Pianoteq pianos and thinking they sounded really beautiful, and that had not happened with any previous versions. I still think we might hear further improvements in future versions, but right now I’d have no hesitation in choosing Pianoteq instead of a sampled piano for almost any job. The character and quality is great, and that sound-design potential, as well as the instant loading of presets, is something you can only dream of with samples.

Other more general aspects of use also make Pianoteq very easy to live with. No copy–protection dongle is required. CPU efficiency is good (typically never using more than 15 percent of my 2.2GHz quad–core i7 at a responsive 128–sample buffer size, and with the convolution reverb enabled) and can be managed with a maximum polyphony parameter. The user interface is clear, elegant and resizable. On–board effects (Tremolo, Wah, Chorus, Flanger, Delay, Compressor and an Amp sim, available in three slots) are of really nice quality, have their own preset system, and are easy to control. The convolution reverb unfussily loads any WAV as an impulse, and sounds excellent with the factory acoustics too, which include typical rooms and halls as well as springs, plates and a small speaker. There’s very flexible MIDI mapping for almost all parameters and preset functions. And, finally, installation of sounds and all authorisation functions are quick and straightforward.

Conclusion

All things considered, it seems that something really momentous has taken place with the release of Pianoteq 5. It was always easy to admire what Modartt were doing, and be excited by the technology, but in the past you had to buy into the modelling approach somewhat. Yes, there was immense flexibility and other benefits, but you couldn’t escape some hints of artificiality in the sound of the flagship acoustic pianos. In Pianoteq 5 that artificiality has pretty much vanished. Obsessive virtual piano nerds could probably still pick out Pianoteq in a line–up of the usual suspects, but even they might hesitate now.

Pianoteq’s acoustic piano line–up is formidable, covering four centuries and every musical style imaginable. The electric piano and percussion instrument sounds are truly top class. There’s also colossal potential for sound design. And all this for a presence on your hard drive that’s close to undetectable. This is an outstanding, mature product, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Alternatives

While there is some other acoustic-modelling piano–oriented software out there, none of it comes close to Pianoteq when all is considered. The best–sounding alternatives are all sample based, and include Synthogy’s 80GB Ivory II Grand Pianos and Garritan’s 130GB CFX Concert Grand. There’s no question that these modern sampled piano instruments sound superb, and are at least as responsive and musical as Pianoteq — you might even find them a bit cheaper. The flipside though is that hefty installation size, corresponding demands on disk mechanisms and data throughput, and limited scope for sound editing. The competition is fierce in this sector — and hooray for that.

Free & Fair

It’s not actually necessary to spend any money to expand Pianoteq’s instrument line–up as Modartt offer a number of add–on instruments as free downloads.

Perhaps the coolest is a Yamaha CP80 electro-acoustic. Then there are seven historical pianos: exquisite small grands by Schantz, Schmidt and Walter from around 1790, bigger Romantic–era models by Schöffstoss (1812) and Graf (1826), and almost–antiques from Erard (1922) and Pleyel (1926). They’re supplemented by an Italian and French harpsichord, a modern Kov cs Cimbalom, a reproduction Neupert clavichord from 1941, a set of tubular bells, a carillon and a big peal of church bells. It’s a great selection, and of remarkably high quality overall. The CP80 is ballsy and inharmonic as hell. All the early pianos ooze character, and the early 20th century ones are especially refined and attractive. Only the harpsichords, clavichord and cimbalom aren’t convincing to my ears, though that in itself doesn’t prevent them from still being useful.

This generosity on the part of Modartt is matched by the fairness of their upgrade pricing. Essentially, if you choose any of the three upgrade paths (Stage to Standard, Standard to Pro, Stage to Pro) you only pay the difference in cost between the versions. Also, users of older versions have only to pay €29 to get on board with v5, and the upgrade automatically includes the D4 and K2 grands.

Pros

• Can generate a wide range of fine–sounding, musically compelling acoustic pianos, electric pianos and percussion instruments.
• Microscopic installation size.
• ‘Flavour’ options at time of purchase give users more choice over the unexpanded sound palette — it isn’t only for acoustic pianos.
• Standard and Pro versions expose sound-design parameters unthinkable for a sample–based instrument.
• Much improved virtual miking environment.
• Highly expandable and configurable.
• A fully featured demo version is available.
• Linux users rejoice.

Cons

• Rather costly to ‘max out’ with Instrument Packs, though a money-saving bundle is available for new purchasers.
• Differences between modelled mics perhaps a bit too subtle.

Summary

This is the Pianoteq we’ve always wanted. Musical, flexible, efficient, lean, and now truly comparable with the sound quality of the sampled opposition.

Dec 10, 2015  Cubase 10 Tutorial. 50+ videos Play all Mix - Support - eLicenser Control Center (eLCC) YouTube; The Circle of Fifths. The Beginner's Guide to Cubase - 3. The USB-eLicenser - Duration. USB-eLicenser (Steinberg Key) Access to professional audio software by Steinberg. The USB-eLicenser — also referred to as Steinberg Key or dongle — is a copy protection unit required by most Steinberg software products. Usb elicenser cubase. The USB-eLicenser (formerly 'Steinberg Key') is a copy protection unit (sometimes called 'dongle') which is needed to use Steinberg's software range. With the host applications Cubase, Nuendo and WaveLab, the USB-eLicenser is already included in the product package. With the full versions of the Cubase, Nuendo and WaveLab host applications, the USB-eLicenser is usually included in the product package. For Steinberg VST instruments and many upgrades, the USB-eLicenser is not included and must be purchased separately, unless you already own one.

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Test Spec

Pianoteq Soft Planet Youtube

• Pianoteq 5.1.4.
• Apple 2.2GHz Intel Core i7 MacBook Pro, 16GB RAM, OS 10.10.1.
• Roland RD700NX controller.