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Chernobyl ?? - Pianos ??

paul

Member
Is it just me? - or does anyone else feel - that this is a slightly tacky piece of marketing?

"PRIPYAT Pianos - Radioactive Pianos from Chernobyl Exclusion Zone!" a quote from an email I've recently received from AudioPlugin Deals.

I've bought a number of packages from this company in the past (all good value) - but - now I'm seeing them in a slightly different light.

It's pretty tasteless marketing on their part - Chernobyl?? What?

(Those who know me well, will be very aware of my macabre sense of humour). But, I wonder if we'll be seeing "new sample libraries" in the near future? - *"Rwandan Massacre Marimbas", *"Twin Tower Timbales"" or *"Holocaust Harps"?

I'm pretty thick-skinned - but - if my music company's creative team came up with ideas like this - they'd be shown the door before the product went out for marketing!

Maybe I'm alone on this one?
* My sincere apologies for above - but I'm trying to make a point.
 
Well, the Chernobyl TV Series were a huge success and they're probably surfing on that. A bit tasteless, but nothing to worry about imho.

Edit : Just visited the product page and hats off to Strix Instruments ! Seems like they made more than 25 trips to Pripyat over 7 years, so this really looks like a beautiful passion project. It would be more accurate to say that Audio Plugin Deals are surfing on the success of the TV Series, not them :)
 
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Isn’t this the same library that was released about a month ago? I’m more concerned about the dramatic drop in price from $199 to $59 in just a coupe of weeks. I guess it didn’t do very well at full price.
 
well, well, I get your Point...but I don't think it is as evil as you think. the idea behind it might be, to capture the atmosphere of a lost place into the sample Sound of an Instrument. at least the Price now slowly gets into a reasonable region.
 
Max -
I'm about to release a new library of impulse responses recorded in an LA studio full of hot girls. If you're looking for some sizzle to make your tracks stand out, this is it!
I like your style and sense of humour! - and possibly you've understood the point I was trying to make ....I think.....?
 
This has to be one of the worst gimmicks ever in sample libraries. BTW I'd ? the authenticity and why would anyone want to sample a piano with radiation.
 
If you look at the company's webpage, it seems the piano samples were used in a documentary on Chernobyl. And the radioactivity isn't that bad as long as you don't eat or drink anything there. (I watched one of the YouTube videos on it.) I mean, I wouldn't live there, but when visiting, it is no worse than flying at altitude.

I'm guessing this was planned before all the drama happened.
 
If you look at the company's webpage, it seems the piano samples were used in a documentary on Chernobyl. And the radioactivity isn't that bad as long as you don't eat or drink anything there. (I watched one of the YouTube videos on it.) I mean, I wouldn't live there, but when visiting, it is no worse than flying at altitude.

I'm guessing this was planned before all the drama happened.
The radiations are very low now. Only way you'll be affected is if you live there naked for 13 years.
 
I'm not bothered one way or the other. If someone wants to risk their pee glowing in the dark to sample a honky tonk good luck to them.
 
If you look at the company's webpage, it seems the piano samples were used in a documentary on Chernobyl. And the radioactivity isn't that bad as long as you don't eat or drink anything there. (I watched one of the YouTube videos on it.) I mean, I wouldn't live there, but when visiting, it is no worse than flying at altitude.

I'm guessing this was planned before all the drama happened.
If I were you, I wouldn't believe everything you see on YouTube (he said, gently).
 
If I were you, I wouldn't believe everything you see on YouTube (he said, gently).
No, they had Geiger counters on. This was a guy who did a semi-documentary. The new cover they put on the reactor pretty much knocked it down almost nothing. And the tour lady was very knowledgeable.
 
Ah, we are talking two different things. I was talking about the dangers of going there to record samples. A few visits where you are careful should not be too dangerous. Living anywhere near there? Yeah, the land will be bad for many, many years. The air may not be. Also, any where downwind would not be a good place to be. And they did specifically say not to eat or drink outside of the van.
 


Yeah dz, what I get is a lot of "maybe" from my reading. Stay out of hot spots, but of course, you'd have to carry a dosimeter to know when you're someplace you shouldn't be, and by then you're there, right?

Considering the history of verifiable, reliable government stats, it looks to be quite a difficult thing to assess safety, but hey, gaggles of people die trying to climb Everest, so to each their own I guess.
 
I get why folks might find it questionable, but I don't think I agree. I'm pretty sure the founders of Strix are Ukrainian, not outsiders. It's not a gimmick -- it's their history. As I understand it from their site, they went to Pripyat, found and restored old pianos, sampled them, and also obtained some IR's from spaces around the town. I guess that strikes me as an attempt to reclaim something human and beautiful from the wreckage, while also recognizing and bringing attention to the folly and disaster that caused that wreckage. (They include links to documentaries about Chernobyl on the website -- and, of course, the new HBO series.)

This actually seems quite respectful to me.

Also, I listened to Don Bodin's play-through, and this thing sounds Pretty Darn Cool, IMO -- though admittedly much more appropriately priced at $59 than at $199. So... I'm prolly gonna get it, tbh.
 
I get why folks might find it questionable, but I don't think I agree. I'm pretty sure the founders of Strix are Ukrainian, not outsiders. It's not a gimmick -- it's their history. As I understand it from their site, they went to Pripyat, found and restored old pianos, sampled them, and also obtained some IR's from spaces around the town. I guess that strikes me as an attempt to reclaim something human and beautiful from the wreckage, while also recognizing and bringing attention to the folly and disaster that caused that wreckage. (They include links to documentaries about Chernobyl on the website -- and, of course, the new HBO series.)

This actually seems quite respectful to me.

Also, I listened to Don Bodin's play-through, and this thing sounds Pretty Darn Cool, IMO -- though admittedly much more appropriately priced at $59 than at $199. So... I'm prolly gonna get it, tbh.

Great post. I took a very dim view of the marketing when I got the email this morning, but you make some excellent points that cause me to reconsider my attitude.
 
Its actually very sad. You could tell that at one time it was a very lovely city. Now it is abandoned and slowly being taken over by nature. The scientists also brought in a herd of wild mules, I think she said, to see how they would survive there. I really don't think the people who built these plants ever thought about what would happen as they aged. Or got hit by a tsunami. It was the answer to clean cheap energy. It made sense at the time.

But I'm glad they were able to get something good from the wreckage.
 
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