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How good is Artvista Malmsjö really?

Thanks Jay, That was beautiful! I hear immediately that the EXS version (a version created by EXS when importing the original Kontakt version) has put the velocity mapping transitions higher. So the EXS will trigger a softer dynamic layer, in this piece maybe only from the ppp layer. This could be achieved in the Kontakt version by selecting a different keyboard response from the interface.
 
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Thanks Jay, That was beautiful! I hear immediately that the EXS version (a version created by EXS when importing the original Kontakt version) has put the velocity mapping transitions higher. So the EXS will trigger a softer dynamic layer, in this piece maybe only from the ppp layer. This could be achieved in the Kontakt version by selecting a different keyboard response from the interface.

Thanks Hans (and love to Amanda.)

I am sure that is true but as a Logic user, I don't care. :) I load up the EXS24 patch, play, and as you heard, I feel inspired. I also love the Midnight Grand and Mozart patches btw.
 
Hans, I don't doubt any off that, but I don't choose the Malmsjö to be versatile, but when I want a specific sound and for whatever reason, the default presets in the EXS24 version just put it where I want it more than the Kontakt ones.

Here is the Dream Grand preset, no verb on either, first with the EXS24 and then Kontakt. I tried to make the volumes commensurate as Kontakt version is louder by a considerable amount upon loading.


Lovely playing Jay - this is the ideal type of music for the ArtVista Malmsjö in my opinion. It's really important to select the best velocity setting/keyboard profile in the Kontakt versions of the ArtVista pianos (or in EXS, the best preset for the piece you're playing). It makes a huge difference when the velocity layers are mapped appropriately to how your keyboard transmits the MIDI velocity data.
 
Lovely playing Jay - this is the ideal type of music for the ArtVista Malmsjö in my opinion. It's really important to select the best velocity setting/keyboard profile in the Kontakt versions of the ArtVista pianos (or in EXS, the best preset for the piece you're playing). It makes a huge difference when the velocity layers are mapped appropriately to how your keyboard transmits the MIDI velocity data.


Oh, but I didn't play it on Kontakt. I played it on the EXS24 and then copied the region to the Kontakt version, lowering the volume to make them closer.
 
Oh, but I didn't play it on Kontakt. I played it on the EXS24 and then copied the region to the Kontakt version, lowering the volume to make them closer.
Ah, OK. You got me curious about the EXS24 version so called it up yesterday. The different presets (Dream, Midnight, Mozart, Rock etc.) really change the dynamics & response. As you said - load it up & play and get inspired.
 
Bumping this just to say I bought the Supergrand and am thrilled with it. For some reason I thought it was going to be a bit like the Imperfect Samples Steinway - some sweet spots but compromised on playability - but I was very wrong. This is a lovely instrument to perform on. Obviously great for lyrical music but also more flexible than I thought.

What amazes me is the size of it. Some of the libraries are 100 times larger. It proves that you don't need a million layers and umpteen mic positions to craft a really good instrument. Just great ears and careful programming.
 
Bumping this just to say I bought the Supergrand and am thrilled with it. For some reason I thought it was going to be a bit like the Imperfect Samples Steinway - some sweet spots but compromised on playability - but I was very wrong. This is a lovely instrument to perform on. Obviously great for lyrical music but also more flexible than I thought.

What amazes me is the size of it. Some of the libraries are 100 times larger. It proves that you don't need a million layers and umpteen mic positions to craft a really good instrument. Just great ears and careful programming.
I agree. It just works, and is surprisingly flexible in shaping the tone from warm & wooly to bright & biting - great dynamic range. Also doesn't tax your computer resources in a multitrack project.
 
What amazes me is the size of it. Some of the libraries are 100 times larger. It proves that you don't need a million layers and umpteen mic positions to craft a really good instrument. Just great ears and careful programming.
Exactly. I know a developer who refuses to include the GB size of his libraries on his website, as a soft protest against the way some companies market their virtual instruments based on how much space they take up on your hard drive.
 
I see someone bumped this thread before to praise the Supergrand. Well...i'm bumping too just to say how good the Virtual Grand 3 is. I bought it last year then deleted it from my drive when upgrading my SSD and yesterday i requested the download files again and got it up and running.

Fantastic piano, yes it's an old Steinway B and the age shows when you play it but that's when the presets come in hence they skyrocket it to a very versatile piano that can easily stand its ground against some of the big names in piano sample libraries.

Bass is so rich and velvety and the tops sparkle (or not if you don't want them to).

Love this piano.
 
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I see someone bumped this thread before to praise the Supergrand. Well...i'm bumping too just to say how good the Virtual Grand 3 is. I bought it last year then deleted it from my drive when upgrading my SSD and yesterday i requested the download files again and got it up and running.

Fantastic piano, yes it's an old Steinway B and the age shows when you play it but that's when the presets come in hence they skyrocket it to a very versatile piano that can easily stand its ground against some of the big names in piano sample libraries.

Bass is so rich and velvety and the tops sparkle (or not if you don't want them to).

Love this piano.
Yep, many sampled pianos I've bought over the years have come and gone, but the ArtVista pianos are keepers.
 
Yep, many sampled pianos I've bought over the years have come and gone, but the ArtVista pianos are keepers.
I'm guessing this one is their best fit for classical/jazzy stuff? I'm curious about the others, maybe i should ask Hans (the developer).
 
I'm guessing this one is their best fit for classical/jazzy stuff? I'm curious about the others, maybe i should ask Hans (the developer).

Not necessarily. The Supergrand is surprising flexible across many genres & styles, and The Malmsjo is great for soft lyrical classical (eg. Beethoven Sonatas, Eric Satie, Chopin Ballades & Nocturnes etc.) I'm not normally a fan of the 'hybrid piano' idea, but The Supergrand (which is an adjustable blend of the VGP3 and The Malmsjo) works really well, and has it's own sonic character which is different to the 2 pianos from which it was derived. It won't get you the same bite as the straight VGP3, or the complete warmth and mellowness of The Malmsjo, so I'm happy to have all 3 ArtVista Pianos.
 
So I just bought this the other day and it’s definitely the best piano library I’ve ever owned/played, which only further continues my strange obsession with all things Swedish, now if you’ll excuse me I’m gonna go listen to Meshuggah...
 
So I just bought this the other day and it’s definitely the best piano library I’ve ever owned/played, which only further continues my strange obsession with all things Swedish, now if you’ll excuse me I’m gonna go listen to Meshuggah...
I think the timbers from the Swedish forests impart a unique tone to their pianos. The Malmsjo grands have such a distinct 'voice' - it's a shame they are no longer around and manufacturing pianos. I'd love to track down a Malmsjo Grand one day, although I suspect not many of them ever made it all the way to Australia.
 
I think the timbers from the Swedish forests impart a unique tone to their pianos. The Malmsjo grands have such a distinct 'voice' - it's a shame they are no longer around and manufacturing pianos. I'd love to track down a Malmsjo Grand one day, although I suspect not many of them ever made it all the way to Australia.

I absolutely love its character, it blends so well with everything I use, I never feel like it’s fighting against anything for its place in the mix, I was using Piano In Blue before and this is just so much better, and it’s probably the only piano that I’m fully confident in having it all by itself and not trying to hide it along other instruments.

I definitely plan on taking a trip to Sweden with my friends sometime in the future, and I’d definitely love to see if I can track one down and see how it sounds in real life, although I know in reality if I go to Sweden all my focus will be on women lol
 
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@Hans Adamson I just got a sustain pedal the other day and I’ve tried turning off the pedal noise within the library on Kontakt but the pedal noise is still happening whenever my sustain automation happens, any way to get rid of it altogether? And second, I have a Komplete Kontrol s88 so which keyboard setting should I use for the most accurate representation of the library?
 
@Hans Adamson I just got a sustain pedal the other day and I’ve tried turning off the pedal noise within the library on Kontakt but the pedal noise is still happening whenever my sustain automation happens, any way to get rid of it altogether? And second, I have a Komplete Kontrol s88 so which keyboard setting should I use for the most accurate representation of the library?
Hello Ludwig,

There is an On/Off switch to the left of the rotary knob for "Pedal" (Pedal noise). Switching it Off should remove the "clonk" sound from the pedal and swoosh sound when dampers are lifted from the string. Turning the rotary knob all the way down should have the same effect. Regarding the Komplete Kontrol s88 keyboard, I have not tested it, so there is no specific keyboard preset for this controller. The default preset assumes a keyboard with a full range of velocity response, ie. the keyboard will produce velocity values from 1-127. At the time of calibrating the keyboard presets for the Malmsjö GVI, there were only a few keyboard that had a full keyboard response, and those were keyboards with impact sensors: Kawai stage pianos, Kurzweil MIDIBOARD, and typical spring-controlled "synthesizer" keyboards.

If you don't know which one of the keyboard presets would fit the Kontrol s88, best, try the Malmsjö GVI with an old spring-controlled keyboard to get a feel for the full range possible. Then pick the Malmsjö keyboard preset that get you closest to this using the Komplete Kontrol s88. Alternatively, make a MIDI recording playing one note 127 times starting as "soft" as you can (pushing the key slowly) and gradually hit the key "harder" (faster) where the last note would produce the highest velocity value possible with the Kontrol s88. Study the recorded MIDI note velocity values. If they go approximately 1-100, use a Yamaha preset. If they go 1 - 120, use a Fatar preset. If they go 1-127 use the default preset. Among those presets that do not reach 127, or do not reach down to 1, there are also variations in how the velocities are spread over the spectrum of velocity values, and they will affect how sensitive the keyboard is in the mid-range of the velocity spectrum.

Generally, I have noticed that if a keyboard controller allows you to alter the keyboard sensitivity ( soft/medium/hard ) anything else than the medium setting will reduce the number of possible velocities that the keyboard can produce, so you should probably keep the keyboard's "medium" setting. (I have not tested the Kontrol s88).

Hope this helps.
 
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I absolutely love its character, it blends so well with everything I use, I never feel like it’s fighting against anything for its place in the mix, I was using Piano In Blue before and this is just so much better, and it’s probably the only piano that I’m fully confident in having it all by itself and not trying to hide it along other instruments.

I definitely plan on taking a trip to Sweden with my friends sometime in the future, and I’d definitely love to see if I can track one down and see how it sounds in real life, although I know in reality if I go to Sweden all my focus will be on women lol
Some years ago when I was in Stockholm I visited the museums on Djurgården. I think it was in Nordiska Museet (The Nordic Museum) I found a Malmsjö grand piano identical to the one recorded. It was sitting on the second floor apart from any specific exhibition, and it had a sign "Do not touch". Of course I had to try the sound and I played a few keys lightly, and it sounded exactly like the one I recorded!
 
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@Hans Adamson I just got a sustain pedal the other day and I’ve tried turning off the pedal noise within the library on Kontakt but the pedal noise is still happening whenever my sustain automation happens, any way to get rid of it altogether? And second, I have a Komplete Kontrol s88 so which keyboard setting should I use for the most accurate representation of the library?
If you test your keyboard's MIDI velocity output as described in my earlier post today, you may also check the velocity resolution of the Komplete Kontrol s88 keyboard. Study how many discrete velocities you find among the 127 recorded. Read more about it here:
https://soundbytesmag.net/interviewwithhansadamsonofartvistaproductions/
 
If you test your keyboard's MIDI velocity output as described in my earlier post today, you may also check the velocity resolution of the Komplete Kontrol s88 keyboard. Study how many discrete velocities you find among the 127 recorded. Read more about it here:
https://soundbytesmag.net/interviewwithhansadamsonofartvistaproductions/
Thank you! I’ll check all this out and see what works best.

Also, I did turn off the pedal and turned the knob all the way down just to be sure but I’m still getting the sound, I’ve been remaking “Surveying the Ruins” from Batman Begins which is the Malmsjö but it doesn’t have any pedal noise, so that should be a good example, I’ll post a clip as soon as I can
 
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