What's new

Recommendation for a jazz piano

the SV88 is perfect for jazz imo and maybe for other genres as well if treated... but there's a bit of prejudice here I think, "more expensive" equals "better". That's not always true.
 

Attachments

  • SV88.mp3
    3.1 MB · Views: 104
  • Like
Reactions: CGR
I would suggest Due by Xperimenta. Very responsive Yamaha grand. So far this is for me the only piano that keeps me interested while improvising. The others tend to loose my attention. Like a cat finding out the fake mouse isn't really worth the effort. My musical language is anything but jazz, but I know for sure jazz pianists interact in exactly the same way with their instrument. In fact, it's all about interaction.
How do you think this compares with the Grand Piano from Keyscape?
 
The Vintage D demo sounds good.
Noire sounds a bit too nasal to me (in the demo at least) - that's what I disliked about Pianotek too.

I love vintage D. Feels great under the hands. Use it often for live playing as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CGR
How do you think this compares with the Grand Piano from Keyscape?
I wish I could compare them. I have been really tempted to purchase Keyscape, but never got around to buying it. Actually I love all the Spectrasonics stuff and Keyscape is the only Spectrasonics product I'm missing out on. Maybe something for my Black Friday list...
 
the question is "how good your midi keyboard", not the sound of the library, a Jazz player needs the feeling of real Keys like fully weighted ones, not "plasticswitches". Check this website for more Info on the subject:
 
the question is "how good your midi keyboard", not the sound of the library, a Jazz player needs the feeling of real Keys like fully weighted ones, not "plasticswitches". Check this website for more Info on the subject:
A comparison of hi-end MIDI master-keyboards is not complete without this one:

-> https://www.flkeys.at/home.html
 
I use the Bechstein Digital Grand a lot for jazz, and other genres -- it's very versatile and responsive.

I sold most of my others afterwards, except for the new VSL Synchron stuff, of which I find the Steinway pretty good for jazz if the piece has just the right size of instrumentation (and this is regardless of my customized mix settings within Synchron Pianos).

I'm using Noire for pop stuff and don't find it honky or nasal but I steer clear of presets and grow my own. I'd have to check project annotation once home though, as I've swapped pianos over a dozen times on most projects.

But I've consolidated around those listed here, plus Mercury, and of course Hammersmith, the latter being my most-used for jazz and still preferred over VSL's Steinway in terms of breadth of coverage.

UPDATE: Since writing the above, I have switched from Hammersmith to VSL's Steinway D. I ended up feeling I needed more control over the mic balance in order to get the best timbre for each piece and for different contexts. Both are great libraries; I'm simply trying to improve productivity by limiting my choices a bit. I would say that Hammersmith is much faster to work with, in terms of customization. I've eliminated Noire from my arsenal for the same reason; I'll work with VSL's CFX.
 
Last edited:
How about "Garritan CFX Concert Grand" , "Big Swing Yamaha C6 Grand" and "Ivory II American Concert D" ? You might want to check also the NI Komplete Keys.

I mostly use the Garritan CFX, Vintage D and BS C6. These are my best choices for jazz gigs.
 
I've got Piano in Blue and wrote a review for a German piano magazine last year. I like the dark and cinematic sound. But it's pretty much unplayable in terms of dynamics. I could not find a velocity curve that made sense. Great for a short cinematic intro with string backings. But nothing for real piano players.

Here are my Piano in Blue demos:





I think it sounds okay when you hear it. But it's not really fun to play.


Not sure I'd agree with that :) Loved this relatively new video from Matt Johnson, Jamiroquai's keyboardist and piano player (great channel as well):

 
Yo

Does anyone have a piano library (or plugin) to recommend for jazz ?
Like a short grand, or a grand upright ?

I'd like to play the piano at my girlfriend's place, and I don't want to move the Nord from the studio. So I'm thinking of bringing a cheaper keyboard there and play the piano sounds from my laptop (the piano sound from the cheap keyboard is just not good enough). All this to say, I would prefer it affordable, since it's not for making money.

Yes, I've tried pianotek, and no, i don't find it realistic or even pleasant - just my taste, no offense.

Thanks
Sampletekk Black has been a workhorse for me. Do you have Kontakt? It may not run in the player. But it's extremely affordable, and quite playable.
 
I've got Piano in Blue and wrote a review for a German piano magazine last year. I like the dark and cinematic sound. But it's pretty much unplayable in terms of dynamics. I could not find a velocity curve that made sense. Great for a short cinematic intro with string backings. But nothing for real piano players.

Here are my Piano in Blue demos:





I think it sounds okay when you hear it. But it's not really fun to play.

I've got Piano in Blue and wrote a review for a German piano magazine last year. I like the dark and cinematic sound. But it's pretty much unplayable in terms of dynamics. I could not find a velocity curve that made sense. Great for a short cinematic intro with string backings. But nothing for real piano players.

Here are my Piano in Blue demos:





I think it sounds okay when you hear it. But it's not really fun to play.


Both of these sound great. The jazz example, particularly, brings out the midrange well. Still feels strange to play? Maybe some edits are needed in Kontakt? If making global adjustments to the velocity curve doesn't work, could it be that the velocity assignments of some sections could be adjusted? Or more or less compression\limiting are needed? (The samples sound so good that there must be some way to make them play well with your keyboard...)
 
It's really interesting. Now when I listen to it again, I really like it. But I don't like it when I'm playing!

I think it's just the way it reacts to velocity. I don't think a recorded phrase has to be edited in terms of velocity. Maybe you just have to get used to it. I'm quite sensitive when it comes to pianos and dynamics. I've just tried it again... I don't like playing it. But once I've recorded something it sounds goods... so what :)
 
For the moment, these two pianos are my favorite for live jazz and studio setup:

 
Theres a demo of Noire by "once upon a synth" YouTube Channel with many examples of Nice jazz sound, i mean, the Bass sounding soft, not as distinct as a true piano, and getting some more near Double Bass sound. I dont know which presets were used.

I tried its presets and the one I liked most for soft-jazz is "fortepiano", which doesnt make much sense lol.
 
Here's a snippet from a jazz pop track where I played as piano solo with NOIRE:


It's not a stock preset, I took some time to make my own customized preset to get the right amount of pedal and release noise.
 
Top Bottom