Are there any "playable" piano samples?

Questions and discussion on technical, teaching and performance matters
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adamjackson

Are there any "playable" piano samples?

Post by adamjackson »

I have been using piano samples since the beginning, including the Ensoniq ESQ1, Eps16+, Kurzweil K1000, Gigasampler Old Lady, Kawaii MP9000 and finally Ivory Steinway D. I am a jazz pianist and have been looking for a satisfying piano sound for performance. Clearly Ivory is the best of the bunch I have tried, but it still does not work for me. I have tried a myriad of velocity curves, Eq settings, and controllers and it still sounds too artificial to be playable. My main controllers are the Kawaii MP9000 and Casio Previa PX 100. For amp/speakers, I have used (all in stereo) M-Audio monitors, FBT powered speakers, and Motion Sound KVR-3D. When I play through headphones it sounds great, but through speakers, it frankly sounds terrible. I find the built-in Rhodes sound on the Casio preferable (I realize a Rhodes is much simpler to sample than a Steinway). I have tried Pianoteq's latest version which is somewhat more "playable" (read- naturally responsive) but even more artificial sounding. I listen to the MP-3 demos of Garritan and others and they sound amazing, then I listen to the Ivory MP-3 demos and they sound great too! Am I alone in this quandry, or am I missing something? Thanks for any advice/opinions.
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