Posted by Bill Lagarde on February 15, 1998 at 21:22:18:
In Reply to: QSR for Classical Concertos and Chamber Music? posted by Thomas N. Martin on February 09, 1998 at 17:20:46:
: I'm a classical pianist with an older (about 10 yrs.) Clavinova that
: doesn't have sounds other than keyboard sounds and an Fm synthsis sound card.
: I want to start making classical sequences of Chamber Music and Concertos to play along with.
: For Concertos I think I could do without really realistic sounds but for chamber music I would
: prefer the instuments to be more life like. I thought that a QSR with the Classical Plus Q Card
: could possibly be a good choice for my interests and would alow for expansion if (probably more like when) my
: intersts change/expand/etc. How does the QSR rate (and I'm sure the classical card is a must or it wouldn't even be offered)
: in a classical way? I don't expect to think I have Heifetz or Ma in my living room but I don't want it to sound overly synthetic.
: I tried the Kurzweil Mark 12 and was rather impressed with all of its sounds. How do they compare? (the closest dealer is 2 1/2 hours away - so
: I'll probably be doing mail order or internet shopping) Also I have heard so much Hype about its "phase Accurate" (what does that mean) piano
: samples - do you think I can expected better piano sound than I have in my Clavinova (I don't think my Clavinova is even stereo!)
: Thanks,
: Tom Martin
Tom,
I am a pianist as well and I recently bought the QSR...I love it! The piano samples are stereo and "phase accurate". What I beleive this means is the strings on a piano are placed from the left to the right with a fairly wide physical distance between them and as a result it gives you a unique effect audibly as you sit in front of the piano. As you play up or down the keyboard, the sond is eminating from mutiple sources (i.e. the strings, the sounding board, and reflections prouced by room effects) and it is this that gives you the unique feeling or "presence" of sitting in front of a real piano. Additionally the quality of the waveform changes drastically as you play up or down the keyboard. As a result, a piano is one of the most difficult instruments to reproduce by sampling/synthesis. The key is the take multisamples at close intervals and across the entire range of the keyboard. Additionally it is important to carefully record the samples in stereo. Alesis has done a excellent job developing their samples and it shows. My only beef with them is that they set up the patches that modulate the samples for rock music. This means that the samples are too brilliant and the attack curve is VERY sharp thus making it difficult to play softly/expressively which is exactly what you want for classical piano are for me pop music as well. Don't be discouraged because you van simply reprogram the patch to fit your taste. This is exactly what I did. I reduced the brilliance and attack of the patches to get a softer more mellow less percussive sound and the result is incredible. As for the Classical Q-card...don't buy it. All of the samples that are on the Q-card are already in the QSR. If you decide to buy the QSR and want the modified patches that I programmed let me know. Also, I gurantee that the QSR will put the clavinova to shame no questions asked.
Bill Lagarde
New Orleans, LA