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Hi

I'm soon to be recording a solo piano album for retail using a VST piano, but don't know what plugin would be best to use for this project. I've struggled through many samples including EWQL Pianos, Galaxy 2 and Vienna Grand, Ivory's Italian Grand, and Garritan's Steinway Pro version. As i think you'll agree it's hard to choose between these top brands.

Will not be using an acoustic piano as I'm a software based musician.

I wrote a similar post on the topic a while back but wanted some fresh advice if possible.


Thanks.

Missing from your list: Galaxy Vintage D. It's my favorite.

I don't remember your previous post, but there are lots of posts on this topic.

It's not that hard to choose. Ivory II Steinway and Galaxy Vintage D are usually cited as the favorite two virtual pianos by a fairly large margin. Garritan Authorized Steinway (GAS) Pro is no longer available. The GAS Basic version is probably the 3rd choice. Then comes a bunch of others. Then comes EWQL (at least in my opinion).

Right, get yourself Ivory II and Vintage D first. These will be your standard benchmarks. Have these good reference points you will be able to try and audition other VSTi's.

Will you actually be performing the music? Or are you trying to program it via MIDI?

Hi Musicmad,

I record music that’s played on “Weather Channel”. I running Logic Pro 9, and I use NI Komplete 8 Ultimate and few other libraries. To be completely honest, my “go to” pianos are the ones I use in Logic. The music I compose is Smooth Jazz. I’m not sure what type music you’re recording but the range of piano colors and dynamics I reach in my music is easily done in Logic Pro.

John,
Do you have a link to your "Weather Channel" music? (YouTube?)

Greg.

What audio interface do you use? Since I'm now on market for one, I've noticed that people usually leave out this info when talking about their gear. There's many out there. Have you ever heard of the Komplete Audio 6 USB Interface? This one is more than some of others but has gotten nice reviews.

thanks

Thanks guys for your feedback, new post added.

if you are recording solo piano i really think you are going to need more than what a DAW or sampler's internal pianos offer. in a mix- i can understand it. but not solo. you will wind up unhappy with it's lack of definition and complexity.

make your recordings in midi. that way you can have them ready for "the next great piano vst" that comes out every year. it won't translate perfectly, but you can make it work. the VST's keep getting better and better. to me - IMHO - you have to make midi files to work with because you will more often then not want to render newer pianos off them down the ol' proverbial road.