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Simple Sam Steinway

Here are a bunch of preludes and fugues (almost all of them) from Bach's Well-tempered Clavier, Book 1, using SS's out-of-the-box classical setting--no amendments--*(I confess) b2 verb, which is sacrilege, of course, esp in JSB.



I'll add the proviso that I don't like what I've done in many instances. The piano sample is great, obviously; just ME, a distinct lack of musical taste, and my sloppy MIDI editing of files I made about 15 years ago (before I had an unfortunate interaction between a skill (make that "kill") saw and my right thumb). Anyhow, some of this stuff works well and some doesn't. A couple of preludes and fugues still use the HZP sample--c major prelude (no. 1); 2nd prelude; and fugues 14 F#- and 18 G#- if memory serves.

Each P & F are hugely different in character, obviously; so you get some sort of view of the sample in different types of music (even though its all BACH).

I may, in due course, switch all the files back to HZP. Not sure. With HZP you have really only 2 or 3 usable layers. Not good. I'll go out on a limb and say that Sam comes across as having a lot more character than the HZP. Interesting, since I think it's the same instrument. For sure, the tuning is totally different. But more important, there seems to be a completely different approach to the type of mics and to their plaement.

The other "stuff" on my SC site (none of which I like very much) uses the HZP and, of course, enormous amounts of B2 verb. Mea Culpa. Sue me.
 
Update. Most of Book 1 I've now reverted back to HZP. However, some material is still on Sam (which I continue to think is a fantastic VST). Prelude and Fugue 22, for example: still Sam.

Didn't want to mislead folks.
 
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Purchased it and really love the sound. Very inspiring. This probably has a lot to do with space it was recorded in but it still sounds amazing nonetheless.

However like others I have some issues I would like to bring to the devs attention, because I know that sometimes, no matter how professional and passionate we are, because we spend so much time in our creations , we can't see their flaws, this is exceptionally true when it comes to sound(I blame our amazing ears):

Some of the patches distort very easilly, even after going inside kontakt and turning off the limiter as well as other things. I know some patches are supposed to be played very softly and i am doing that. Also my midi keyboards default velocity curve isnt that hard either. dont know if its a problem with the library itself added to the fact that it only has a few velocity layers.
As far as velocity layers go, the library is still useful and amazing, it will definitely be in my template but it would be so much better if even a few more were added.
I dont own Spitfires Hanz Zimmer piano and i heard it has(or had before an update) very few velocity layers as well but i would still love to see it because it would make playbility so much better instead of always getting that "compressed sound" out of it due to only having a few velocity layers.

If these two things could somehow be fixed or at least improved by the dev( don't know how feasible(financially and time wise) it would be for the dev to expand on the amazing work done here by recording a few more velocity layers and improve the patches without messing their amazing tones it definitely would become my top 3 go to along with Noire and Xperimenta Due.

I feel like this is a diamond that just needs a tiny little bit of polish to becomes the best version it could be and it would be a shame if it doesn't. Having said that, for the price it's still one of the best out there if not the best.

Very hopeful for a future update if that is in mind. I would like to encourage everyone to put a little pressure on the dev so he knows the love his instrument is getting and feels responsible for improving those areas. We all know even great products need some fixing and improvement.
 
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Have just come across this thread whilst looking around on here for pianos. This looks great.
I currently use The Grandeur for a lot of my pieces but am starting to fall out with it and am realising it's not all my cup of tea for everything...

I've read through all 15 pages but am not sure anyone has discussed how well the piano is suited for more jazz styles? I see there are a number of jazz presets, but I couldn't see any demo's when looking through the comments people had made. I'm looking to record some fusion jazz / prog rock stuff that sounds to be in a natural room.

@SimpleSamSamples How long will the current $50 pricing last?
 
I've recommended the Simple Sam Signature Grand quite a few times here, and what sold me was this soft jazz track:
(bill.mp3)

But it's really upfront in that track, and that's imho where the sssg shines. But it's not your typical cut-through-the-mix piano. So if your fusion jazz / prog rock stuff is pretty dense, then this might not be the best choice. Of course it can be EQed to cut through.

You could have a look at the current sampletekk sale.
Don't get me wrong. I love the sssg. It's a wonderful library with a certain wow factor, but in your case I'd consider some other options as well to get some more contrast (else you'd have 2 Steinway Ds).
 
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I've recommended the Simple Sam Signature Grand quite a few times here, and what sold me was this soft jazz track:
(bill.mp3)

But it's really upfront in that track, and that's imho where the sssg shines. But it's not your typical cut-through-the-mix piano. So if your fusion jazz / prog rock stuff is pretty dense, then this might not be the best choice. Of course it can be EQed to cut through.

You could have a look at the current sampletekk sale.
Don't get me wrong. I love the sssg. It's a wonderful library with a certain wow factor, but in your case I'd consider some other options as well to get some more contrast (else you'd have 2 Steinway Ds).
Thank you!

I wouldn't say my stuff that I'm wanting to record is particularly 'dense' as such - it's just piano, drums & bass with the piano taking dominance, but the parts are quite busy, especially piano and drums. The piano needs to be clear and be heard.

To be honest, I wlll probably end up just buying the library whilst it's on sale for my other piano solo recordings if nothing else. Have been using The Grandeur for most recordings since about 2016 now, so am starting to get a bit tired of it! If the SSSG works with my jazz track then great (I'm hopeful based on what I've seen). If not, have got a great piano to work with on other things and can take a look at what sampletekk are offering, which appears to be a lot of pianos based on a quick look at their site. Crikey.
 
Thank you!

I wouldn't say my stuff that I'm wanting to record is particularly 'dense' as such - it's just piano, drums & bass with the piano taking dominance, but the parts are quite busy, especially piano and drums. The piano needs to be clear and be heard.

To be honest, I wlll probably end up just buying the library whilst it's on sale for my other piano solo recordings if nothing else. Have been using The Grandeur for most recordings since about 2016 now, so am starting to get a bit tired of it! If the SSSG works with my jazz track then great (I'm hopeful based on what I've seen). If not, have got a great piano to work with on other things and can take a look at what sampletekk are offering, which appears to be a lot of pianos based on a quick look at their site. Crikey.
OK, then I take back my non-recommendation.
It's a wonderfull library, go for it! ;)
 
Simple Sam pisses all over the sampletekk stuff anyway..
...... just when going for several with their 80% promo ! 🙈 :crying:

( TVBO, WG2 MkII, 7CG MkII, Rain Piano MkII )

Just poking fun ! Have SS and long list of cool Piano VI alternatives.
Rain Piano MkII could work, right ?
 
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Guys, can you please explain me what Velocity Offset actually does? It compresses the MIDI signals or rather volume dynamics? I've watched Simple Sam guide video for Midi controller adjustment but still it's not clear for me.
 
I let this Vi play La Campanella (Liszt).
It is from a place on the way.
There were some places where the sound was interrupted for some reason, but I think the sound is still beautiful.
 
Hi.
I often use the Spitfire-BBC Symphony Orchestra.
I was looking for a piano sound source to match this, and SignatureGrand was very good.
The hall sound is a little different between maida vale (BBCSO) and AirStudio, but I did not feel any discomfort. I think it is the best match with other Spitfire Orchestra sound sources.
Please listen to it if you like. (SignatureGrand is used in some places)
 
I was finalising a solo piece with the SSSG today and my offline bounces had a weird distortion not present in realtime playback, which only went away when I changed Kontakt's offline interpolation setting from "perfect" to "like realtime". (This was trying with both Kontakt 5 and 6.) I've never had to do that with any other instrument. Did I miss an update or is this a known issue or just some weird random Kontakt thing?
Just diving into this amaing thread on this amazing library!

I met only one slighly problem, and was something like the problem pointed by @SupremeFist , and happens only with SSSG, never happens with other VST: my DAW is Reaper (and Kontakt 6), and only way to fix was to change Reaper rendering mode from "FullSpeedOffline" to "1xOffline"... happens randomly in random sections, more frequently in "ostinato" sections... at each render I have to carefully relisten the outcome to ensure everything is ok...

Since this thread is a bit old... @SimpleSamSamples is this something that has been troubleshooted in the meanwhile?
 
Just diving into this amaing thread on this amazing library!

I met only one slighly problem, and was something like the problem pointed by @SupremeFist , and happens only with SSSG, never happens with other VST: my DAW is Reaper (and Kontakt 6), and only way to fix was to change Reaper rendering mode from "FullSpeedOffline" to "1xOffline"... happens randomly in random sections, more frequently in "ostinato" sections... at each render I have to carefully relisten the outcome to ensure everything is ok...

Since this thread is a bit old... @SimpleSamSamples is this something that has been troubleshooted in the meanwhile?

Had a ton of problems with distortion as well and sent several emails like a year ago and no response whatsoever.
I don't to be negative here and i try to be understanding that people are busy sometimes and the developer is not obligated to provide support but it is also a little bit disrespectful to the people who supported the product that their emails are not being replied to, especially considering a year as passed. If you purchased any other kind of product and got no answers to your enquiries not only it would be lack of respect to you as a costumer but lack of profissionalism on the devs part; even more so if your emails, before buying the product were answered. I've seen him reply here so hopefully we get an answer. Maybe something bad happened and he cannot reply. If that is the case, i apologise.
 
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