Hi dewster, welcome.


Really? Why don't you answer in the thread I'm referring to then? E.g. here's a quote with an actual player's experience:

And another comment over there is:

To be honest by "a lot of complaints" I meant not the velocity switching (which was apparently fixed by using modeled sound) but the authenticity of the sound which people complain is too synthetic.

P.S. There is a clear distinction:

RD-700SX: regular AP, regular EP
RD-700GX: regular AP, SN EP
RD-700NX: SN AP, SN EP
HP-30* : SN AP, regular EP

where:
"regular": entirely sampled, velocity switching, sample stretching, sample looping
SN AP: hybrid between sampling and modeling, no velocity switching, no sample stretching, no sample looping
SN EP: entirely modeled sound with control over model parameters like tine, hammer, pickup, etc.

Thanks for clarifying, CyberGene. The EP statement concerning console type DP's appears to be correct. As this thread is not about stage pianos, I've specified this more clearly in the post about the CA93 butterfly EP preset:

Thanks James, excellent support!
I'm curious about the (product?) brochure you're working on...

CN update.

James
x

That'll be for the new CN42 UPHI then..

More to-the-point would be "Roland non-SN EP".


I'm not trying to be contentious, but "specified more clearly" and "fixed my incorrect statement" are two different things.

Oops, almost forgot ("When in Rome..."):

Whatever, as long as it's correct!


Hahaha , I'll throw some graphs at you 'when in Rome'.

Let's return to the core business of this thread: the quest for harmonics!


RESONANT SYNTHESIZER BASS R1.0

Dual Voice: Clavi, volume 5 + Fretless Bass, volume 5

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +6, mid +6, high +2

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: bright 1
2 - 5 Touch: light

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 8

Reverb: Room 2

Effect: Delay 1, speed 5, depth 4

Here's a smooth and groovy vintage electric piano reed tone: dare to hit'em hard!


SUPERTRAMP 'DREAMER' WURLITZER R1.0

Dual Voice: Classic E-piano, volume 6 + 60's E.P., volume 4

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +2, mid +6, high -3

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: dynamic
2 - 5 Touch: light

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 10

Reverb: Stage

Effect: Tremolo, speed 8, depth 10

Winter has arrived, snow is in the air and Christmas is coming, so it's time for a big icy soundscape:


SHIVERING BELLS PAD R1.0

Dual Voice: New Age E.P., volume 4 + New Age Pad 2, volume 6

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +6, mid +6, high -6
1 - 8 Damper hold: On

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: bright1
2 - 5 Touch: light+

3 Key Settings
3 - 3 Layer octave: +1
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 8

Reverb: Hall 2

Effect: Chorus, rate 5, depth 7

Watch out for those moving high-amplitude sub-bass frequencies!


NOISY E-BASS OVERDRIVE R1.0

Dual Voice: Finger Bass, volume 8 + 60's E.P., volume 2

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +6, mid +3, high +6

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: dynamic
2 - 5 Touch: normal

3 Key Settings
3 - 3 Layer octave: -1
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 7

Reverb: Room 1

Effect: Tremolo, rate 1, depth 2

What about amp simulation? Let's crank up that virtual amp gain for more severe tine altering distortion!


HEAVY AMPED VINTAGE RHODES R1.0

Dual Voice: Classic E.Piano, volume 5 + Wood Bass, volume 5

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +6, mid -3, high -6

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: dynamic
2 - 5 Touch: light+

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 10

Reverb: Stage

Effect: Tremolo, rate 5, depth 10

What's a guitar like? A really weird stagepiano that's being dragged around during live performances?


SEMI-ACOUSTIC GUITAR STRINGS R1.0

Dual Voice: Pick Nylon Gt., volume 4 + Finger Bass, volume 6

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low 0, mid +5, high -6

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: dynamic
2 - 5 Touch: light

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 10

Reverb: Stage

Effect: Chorus, rate 1, depth 5

This is how fat those digital FM bells can sound: nicely suited for this season.


POP FM ELECTRIC PIANO R1.0

Dual Voice: Modern E.P, volume 6 + Celesta, volume 4

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +5, mid +2, high -5

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: dynamic
2 - 5 Touch: light+

3 Key Settings
3 - 3 Layer octave: -1
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 9

Reverb: Stage

Effect: Chorus, rate 3, depth 7

Sneak Peek: I'm currently working on a Yamaha C7 vs Kawai RX7 duo patch, being inspired by this thread:
http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthrea...ite_id/1#import

To be continued...

Hi TAD, (as my friends, you can call me Pini )

just tried your latest settings for a little hour before the dinner, and I was very surprised with your SEMI-ACOUSTIC GUITAR STRINGS R1.0: well resonance effect as an acoustic guitar, that makes an "envelop" for the bass and keep the rapid decay effect of the strings high freqs. The sound is very close to a semi acoustic guitar.
Once again, as anyone said before, your patch names are very "sexy" and I add: "realistic" - your SUPERTRAMP 'DREAMER' WURLITZER R1.0 is the right example of this !!!

I'm expecting with lot of curiosity your C7 / RX-7 settings... I'm sure they will be gorgeous

It's been a long time since TADutchman requested me to make a recording with his ROMANTIC MELLOW GRAND R1.0 patch. I have had a very busy month with almost no time for playing piano at all... At the same time I have received from Amazon a set of 7 books with sheet music comprising almost all of the Chopin's works and I was eager to start playing. So, I found some time today to play for a few hours and felt in love with the Etude op. 10, No. 6. It's pretty difficult, at least for my skills (and that's probably one of the easiest Etudes... phew! I can't imagine being able to play the others soon :() I practiced it for about 2-3 hours and finally decided to record with the mentioned patch.

There are few mistakes, of course, especially an ugly one in the stretto... don't judge me too harshly

Here it is: Chopin - Etude

P.S. TADutchman, I find some phasey sound at pianissimos with headphones. In fact I detect that with headphones for all the sounds consisting of two layered pianos. However with speakers it's OK.

Hi CyberGene, thanks mate: curious as I am, I'll have a listen a.s.a.p. tonight.


I know, I've already formulated a request to Kawai (James) for adding a simple finetuning parameter to the layered sound. I don't know what headphones you are using, but with my humble HD595s (using Headphones Low Impedance setting) it's near inaudible up to moderate volume levels and therefore sounds just great! At 'AP-like dangerously high headphone levels' it's another story of course. I personally prefer to play live at acoustic grand level.

That's a lovely piece CyberGene, although terribly sad in places. As usual, wonderfully emotional playing.

I too occasionally hear phasing when listening with headphones. Is this not related to the stereo images of the two layered sounds? And would independent finetune controls really helps things in such instances?

Through speakers the recording sounds far better, and the phasing is less noticeable. However, I do feel that the audio levels are too high - too much normalisation, perhaps?

Cheers,
James
x

Well, not necessarily, this also occurs when layering identical sounds, as indicated before. That's a unique CA93/CA63 feature by the way!



Yes, given that Kawai tuning is consistent over the whole dynamic range (ppp -> fff). As an analogy, you could just compare it to dedicated fine detune parameters for two oscillators and I'm sure you'll recognise the point made.
http://csound.noisepages.com/2010/10/detuned-oscillators/

Additional:
In general, layer dynamics works like a charm: please note that when playing pianissimo, the two layered sounds tend to be of more equal volume in many of my presets, compared to playing mezzoforte or fortissimo. That's why the pianissimo remark of CyberGene is correct.

James, thank you for your comments

Regarding the normalization - usually I am normalizing to -1dB, because I've noticed that 0dB leads to crackles with some audio cards (and/or headphones/speakers). This time I've forgotten and normalized again to the default 0dB and that could be part of the problem you mention.

Yes, my speakers were crackling a little, now that you come to mention it...although this may also be because they're not terribly good quality.

Cheers,
James
x

I like Chopin very much, but at first I thought: how did you manage to practice this particular piece (unknown to me) for hours without getting a nervous breakdown? Then, after listening to it many more times, it really seems to grow on me too, becoming so deeply addictive and dramatic: great sound and playing style!

Thanks for your encouraging comments, Pini!
Here's the one-and-only Yamaha C7 vs Kawai RX-7 shootout, check it out:


CLASSY YAMAHA C7 R1.0

Dual Voice: Concert Grand, volume 4 + Concert Grand 2, volume 6

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +1, mid -4, high -4

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: mellow 1
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 10
2 - 3 String resonance: 10
2 - 4 Key off effect: 9
2 - 5 Touch: light
2 - 8 Stretch tuning: Wide

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 8

Reverb: Hall 2

Effect: Delay 2, time 1, depth 6


---------------------------------------------------------------


CLASSY KAWAI RX-7 R1.0

Dual Voice: Concert Grand, volume 6 + Concert Grand 2, volume 4

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +2, mid -4, high -6

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: mellow 2
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 10
2 - 3 String resonance: 10
2 - 4 Key off effect: 8
2 - 5 Touch: light
2 - 8 Stretch tuning: Wide

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 9

Reverb: Hall 2

Effect: Delay 3, time 1, depth 4

Let's share another undocumented KAWAI CA93/CA63 feature:


ABOUT DUAL VOICE MODE NON-LINEARITY

With a linear DP (and dual voice mode support):
Voice 1 + Voice 2 = Voice 2 + Voice 1 = New Sound

Our CA93/CA63 is a non-linear DP, offering much more diversity*:
Voice 1 + Voice 2 = New Sound A
Voice 2 + Voice 1 = New Sound B

If you don't believe it, DIY! (make sure you have set Volume Balance = 5-5 and Layer Dynamics = 10 for unbiased results)

*) Voice 1 and 2 are even allowed to be of the same (e.g. Piano) Sound Group and Layer Dynamics can be used to timbre match these voices.

I wish you all a merry Christmas and don't forget to enjoy your wonderful CA93/63 instrument.

Hear, hear!

Public announcement: there's a (slightly delayed) Christmas gift upcoming in the form of a CA93/CA63 preset that can be directly compared with the sound of this software EX Grand by Lance Herring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E_TSkkWxBs

Keywords: intimate pianissimos, thunderous fortissimos and great key-off resonances.

Allright, here's my much anticipated Christmas gift for you guys!

The below preset has been developed for direct comparison with the software EX Grand (a 17,49GB sample bank with no loops, recorded at 24Bits/48Khz): actually, I personally prefer this one with the heavy+ setting, yielding an intriguingly intimate and warm sound with unbelievable NICE !! pianissimo -> mezzoforte control (pump up your overall volume to really appreciate this). Enjoy!


TAKE THE EX TO THE MAX R1.0

Dual Voice: Concert Grand, volume 5 + Concert Grand 2, volume 5

1 Basic Settings
1 - 3 Tone control: low +3, mid -3, high +1

2 Virtual Technician
2 - 1 Voicing: dynamic
2 - 2 Damper resonance: 8
2 - 3 String resonance: 10
2 - 4 Key off effect: 10
2 - 5 Touch: heavy+ (closed lid) / heavy (half open lid) / normal (no lid ;-)
2 - 8 Stretch tuning: Wide

3 Key Settings
3 - 4 Layer dynamics: 10

Reverb: Hall 2

Effect: Delay 3, time 1, depth 4

Thanks for your gift and you've found another nice name for this one TAD! I'm hopping over to my (brand new) CA93 to give the new patch a spin. I'll be back with a comment later on, as well as with my personal top-8!