# How can i create this sound?



## sonicscape (Feb 20, 2020)

Dear friends, how can create the piano like sound in the video below?



Thank you!..


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## dzilizzi (Feb 20, 2020)

If I were doing it? I would try layering a felt piano with a plucked piano, add some reverb and delay, some EQ pumping up the way high end to give air and that should get most of it.


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## JohnG (Feb 21, 2020)

a regular piano with a good dose of reverb may be all you need


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## dzilizzi (Feb 21, 2020)

JohnG said:


> _a regular piano with a good dose of reverb may be all you need _


I thought this at first, but to me it has that slight harpsichord sound. Or maybe an old upright? Some pianos sound like that but others don't.


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## JohnG (Feb 21, 2020)

dzilizzi said:


> I thought this at first, but to me it has that slight harpsichord sound. Or maybe an old upright? Some pianos sound like that but others don't.



I'm not hearing that but -- having now listened again, I agree with your first suggestion, that a felt piano might be just the ticket. And a 'real big' reverb.

Then again, perhaps you could use a regular piano and deaden the sound by dipping the EQ somewhere (4k? 6k?)?


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## dzilizzi (Feb 21, 2020)

JohnG said:


> I'm not hearing that but -- having now listened again, I agree with your first suggestion, that a felt piano might be just the ticket. And a 'real big' reverb.
> 
> Then again, perhaps you could use a regular piano and deaden the sound by dipping the EQ somewhere (4k? 6k?)?


Well, I'm listening on my phone speaker, so maybe it's adding treble?


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## sonicscape (Feb 22, 2020)

Gentlemen, thank you for your responses. I tried it with Noire Plugin with both Felt and Pure modes with Wallhalla Shimmer and avoided Treble frequencies with Reaper's built in EQ. But it still sounds not similar. Maybe it depends up on the Piano VST's sound color? If that's true, which Piano plugin would you prefer?


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## JohnG (Feb 22, 2020)

Bruv this is one of the things we do as composers -- muck around until it sounds good.

1. Keep tinkering with EQ using the piano you have. Nearly any piano can make this sound;
2. Try different microphone positions on the piano you have -- that can make a huge difference; and/or
2. Maybe get Spitfire Audio's (nearly) free felt piano? They have a fairly expensive one but also a LABS version, which you can get for a tiny charitable donation.

Have fun!

John


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## sonicscape (Feb 22, 2020)

JohnG said:


> Bruv this is one of the things we do as composers -- muck around until it sounds good.
> 
> 1. Keep tinkering with EQ using the piano you have. Nearly any piano can make this sound;
> 2. Try different microphone positions on the piano you have -- that can make a huge difference; and/or
> ...



Thank You JohnG! I think Spitfire's Olafur Piano VST creates a similar atmosphere. But as you have mentioned it's some expensive.


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## JohnG (Feb 22, 2020)

sonicscape said:


> Thank You JohnG! I think Spitfire's Olafur Piano VST creates a similar atmosphere. But as you have mentioned it's some expensive.



The LABS felt piano is super inexpensive -- used to be available for a £5 donation.


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## jbuhler (Feb 22, 2020)

JohnG said:


> The LABS felt piano is super inexpensive -- used to be available for a £5 donation.


The SF Labs Soft Piano (which is felted) is free (https://www.spitfireaudio.com/labs/). SF also recently rereleased an inexpensive felted piano as part of the Originals series (https://www.spitfireaudio.com/originals#felt-piano).


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## dzilizzi (Feb 22, 2020)

Use the felt for the lower notes and a regular for the higher notes. I'm listening with an iPad now and see what John is saying. The lower notes are muffled but the higher notes are much clearer, if that makes sense. There are pianos like that, but testing them all to find it can be a pain.

Or check out some of these freebies. I would probably look at some of the uprights. Like the Spring Piano. It sounds kind of close. 
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/pianobook-library


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## emid (Feb 22, 2020)

dzilizzi said:


> Use the felt for the lower notes and a regular for the higher notes. I'm listening with an iPad now and see what John is saying. The lower notes are muffled but the higher notes are much clearer, if that makes sense. There are pianos like that, but testing them all to find it can be a pain.
> 
> Or check out some of these freebies. I would probably look at some of the uprights. Like the Spring Piano. It sounds kind of close.
> https://www.pianobook.co.uk/pianobook-library



I also think that a regular piano for high notes with reverb was used and felt piano for low notes. I don't know why I also think that low notes are also layered with vibes for a rounded tone. Could be wrong though.


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## dzilizzi (Feb 22, 2020)

emid said:


> I also think that a regular piano for high notes with reverb was used and felt piano for low notes. I don't know why I also think that low notes are also layered with vibes for a rounded tone. Could be wrong though.


I was thinking a plucked piano originally, but vibes would be a similar sound. But I layer my pianos all the time.


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## dzilizzi (Feb 22, 2020)

Also try PSP's free PianoVerb. It adds the sound of the strings vibration and may help with the sound you want. http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/reverbs/psp_pianoverb/


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## Rob (Feb 22, 2020)

I'm hearing the same piano on both hands... probably a felt piano would do. But what also makes this particular sound is that very soft, sweet, chorused pad that is heard under the piano. At least, that's what I would use instead of a reverb. It shouldn't be too hard to find a synth pad with this kind of feel.


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## José Herring (Feb 23, 2020)

Rob said:


> I'm hearing the same piano on both hands... probably a felt piano would do. But what also makes this particular sound is that very soft, sweet, chorused pad that is heard under the piano. At least, that's what I would use instead of a reverb. It shouldn't be too hard to find a synth pad with this kind of feel.


I hear the same but it seems to me that it's soft pedal piano fed through a a slightly delayed chorus that gets fed into a reverb with a very long tail.


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## sonicscape (Feb 23, 2020)

Thank you everybody for your help! By the way i experimented enough but unfortunately couldn't have a sufficient result. I guess most of new age musicians use similar vst sets. Such as the example below, again similar pianolike sound:


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## MartinH. (Feb 23, 2020)

Have you tried layering with a synth that has a very glassy and plucky sound with highpass filter and lots of reverb?


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## Rob (Feb 23, 2020)

here's an example of a piano (vsl steinway) treated to have a similar sound, with eq and use of low velocity layers, plus a soft synth patch from Falcon...
not identical, but close...


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## sonicscape (Feb 23, 2020)

Rob said:


> here's an example of a piano (vsl steinway) treated to have a similar sound, with eq and use of low velocity layers, plus a soft synth patch from Falcon...
> not identical, but close...



Wow! Thanks Rob! Great job! I think at least right hand sounds very similar. MartinH's suggestion was also adding a soft synth. I wasn't at home. By the way you experimented earlier than me. And i think we have a pretty good result.


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## sonicscape (Feb 23, 2020)

MartinH. said:


> Have you tried layering with a synth that has a very glassy and plucky sound with highpass filter and lots of reverb?



Thank you Martin! Bob tried it earlier than me and i think he had a good result.


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## sonicscape (Feb 24, 2020)

Rob said:


> here's an example of a piano (vsl steinway) treated to have a similar sound, with eq and use of low velocity layers, plus a soft synth patch from Falcon...
> not identical, but close...



Hi Rob, could you please gimme the patch name of the sound? Thank you.


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## Rob (Feb 24, 2020)

sonicscape said:


> Hi Rob, could you please gimme the patch name of the sound? Thank you.


sure, it's called "Supersoft EP 2.0", in the "Keys" folder of Falcon's stock library. I have slightly edited the patch...


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## José Herring (Feb 24, 2020)

Rob said:


> sure, it's called "Supersoft EP 2.0", in the "Keys" folder of Falcon's stock library. I have slightly edited the patch...


How do you like Falcon? I've been briefly looking into it.


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## Rob (Feb 25, 2020)

josejherring said:


> How do you like Falcon? I've been briefly looking into it.


I do like it very much... I initially bought it to be able to edit in detail (at sample level) some of UVI Workstation's patches. It has a complex, deep structure, and the internal modules are IMO very good. And its ability to not only work with samples but also with synth oscillators is very interesting. Can be a bit cpu heavy though, depending on the programs...


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## pupika (Mar 11, 2021)

Rob said:


> here's an example of a piano (vsl steinway) treated to have a similar sound, with eq and use of low velocity layers, plus a soft synth patch from Falcon...
> not identical, but close...


Hi Rob, I listened to your example that is very close, but I noticed that your Falcon patch is linear, but in the example it is disappearing (becoming quitter) towards the end of a measure. Yours has no movement and in the example it is going with slow attack, up and down. That being said - the sound of your patch is therefore too long and mix with another notes that makes cacophony. And his is "crystal clear" meaning they do not go parallels but the first one is going down before the other note starts. I do not have Falcon, so I wonder can you change the patch so it would sound quitter towards the end of a measure and how you would do that? Thank you for your input. I have perfect pitch so I can clearly hear what is wrong but still new to sound engineering!


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## Rob (Mar 11, 2021)

I could, but won't... don't have time to spend on this old thread you resurrected. The point was to find a way to get that kind of sound, and I showed one.


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## doctoremmet (Mar 12, 2021)

pupika said:


> I do not have Falcon, so I wonder can you change the patch so it would sound quitter towards the end of a measure and how you would do that?


Any synth can do that. Try using envelopes and key scaling. Basic stuff.


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## pupika (Mar 12, 2021)

Rob said:


> I could, but won't... don't have time to spend on this old thread you resurrected. The point was to find a way to get that kind of sound, and I showed one.


Thank you, sorry for bothering you!


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## companyofquail (Mar 12, 2021)

pupika said:


> Thank you, sorry for bothering you!


I noticed you have noir piano. Do you also have hybrid keys and Raum?


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## pupika (Mar 13, 2021)

Hello companyofquail, this is my new song for You Tube. I do have Hybrid keys and Raum. I recently bought them. Actually I have 2 problems, one with piano to be more even, not to have some notes sticking out in velocity.​I have Keyscape and Pianotech as well.​If compress the sound of a piano too much it distorts the sound of a piano. If I put less than there is no difference.​I set velocity of all notes very low ( around 30 ) so if one note is louder there is simply no room to lower it more in the piano roll, it is almost at the bottom. This bothers me...​
Other thing, is the tail after the note. That sound that goes up and down until next notes hit.
I thought it is only reverb, so I set long predelay but it does not sound as in the reference tracks above.
I have Blackhole, Fab Filter , Valhalla Shimmer and others.

I tried to put some pads but they hold the linear sound more or less ( I do not have Omnisphere or Falcon).

Do you mean I should experiment with Hybrid keys and Raum on a piano sound or some synthesizer?
I am new to these apps.

If you can give me an input where to start to get a better sound.
I have a bunch of Mixing/Mastering courses to go over, but first I have to get the sound right.

Thank you again for taking time to answer ))


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## companyofquail (Mar 13, 2021)

open hybrid keys.

open the "cine noir" preset. 

in bank A load up the "sin-square" sample (i am hoping this will be a start to helping you with the pad as well as being able to shape the "sound that goes up and down until next notes")

in bank B load up the "time lapse" sample(or any other piano sample you like, youll probably want to mix this pretty low and just use a piano you like)

open raum in an effects send and load the "arcadian dream hall" preset then set it to 100% wet and adjust the send volume for wetness.

if you are not getting the piano sound you like try splitting your midi between high and low note into two tracks and using 2 different pianos as suggested before then just send them all to raum. you can do this a number of ways but if you dont wanna do a multi then it would work like this. 3 instrument tracks:

track one would have full midi notes playing hybrid keys instrument sent to raum to taste.

track two would have the lower midi notes with a piano of your choosing sent to raum to taste.

track three would have the higher midi notes with a piano of your choosing sent to raum to taste.

if you dont mind me asking what daw are you using? and would you mind to zip and post some midi data(snippet) so that i can see how you are using the sustain pedal as this will have an effect on how the synth sounds; which could have something to do with you accomplishing the rise and fall in between notes you are speaking of. 

i will not be able to tell you how to copy this sound exactly but i hope to help show you some methods that will help you get closer and closer.


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## companyofquail (Mar 13, 2021)

have you heard north of niagra before?


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## pupika (Mar 13, 2021)

companyofquail said:


> open hybrid keys.
> 
> open the "cine noir" preset.
> 
> ...


WOOOOOW, thank you from the bottom of my heart, this is priceless  I will now dig into this, can't wait!


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## companyofquail (Mar 13, 2021)

pupika said:


> WOOOOOW, thank you from the bottom of my heart, this is priceless  I will now dig into this, can't wait!


no problem at all. since you are new to hybrid keys, if you have any questions about editing it just let me know.


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## pupika (Mar 13, 2021)

companyofquail said:


> have you heard north of niagra before?



Hello, Niagra is in my neighborhood, but I never listened to this track. This sounds very interesting. The piano is exactly what I want it to be - even and warm sound.
Actually I have my You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT1M3Q9L2LEUR-H69xQwSjQ which I started a year ago and two years ago I bought my Cubase 9.5 and started everything from scratch (I have classical education). But the sound engineering is very bad. I want to learn to do it myself.
My knowledge about ambient music is all over the place because I am learning everything at once. 
I am using a pedal as a pianist with Hammer 88 fully weighted, so there should be no problem to learn a new filed of hybrid synthesizers. Please see the attachment, there is a piano roll, 2 tracks of duplicated piano and pad + bas with some bird sounds. In the mixer I added two sends and put shimmer and reverb on each.


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## jononotbono (Mar 13, 2021)

My first thought is “use Blackhole reverb on any Piano”.


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## companyofquail (Mar 13, 2021)

jononotbono said:


> My first thought is “use Blackhole reverb on any Piano”.


And... what he says. If there is a “ducking reverb” preset that could help you start messing around with the reverb coming in and out. It pushes the reverb signal down when the piano is present. Try using that heavily on one piano and a different reverb to stay the same level all the time on another copied track.


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## pupika (Mar 13, 2021)

companyofquail said:


> And... what he says. If there is a “ducking reverb” preset that could help you start messing around with the reverb coming in and out. It pushes the reverb signal down when the piano is present. Try using that heavily on one piano and a different reverb to stay the same level all the time on another copied track.


Thank guys, I did side-chain reverb to get ducking, but good idea to have another one staying the same. I will do that! 
And one more very newbie question: What does it mean "airy" reverb?

Generally whatever reverb I put sounds to "heavy", lots of sound and like reflection or harmonics... 
When I compare to professional tracks, their sound is so light, just touch of reverb, and mine is massive. I tried to cut EQ on both sides, middle - up, down etc. with Blackhole and similar but I do not get that effect. Maybe it is a synth, not reverb? I have to experiment more to find out I guess. Thanks!


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