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Hi All

Just wondering if anyone has tried the new Evolution Rosewood Grand from Orangetreesamples. I was thinking of getting it as I like orangetreesamples stuff and I own a couple of their libraries but I wanted to see if anyone had tried it yet.





Thanks

I checked it out. At the current price point it doesn't seem to beat the Alicia's Keys from NI (a Yamaha C3). Seems like another instrument in the fleet to capitalize on customers like you that like their stuff. I dig their upright bass plug... so I know where you're coming from on OT. They also have the evolution acoustic guitar that's great for film and commercial work. From an instrument perspective, the engineer on the AK from Native really got the balance right IMO, the player versus audience perspective of those patches makes them excellent for switching between practice and studio work. What he got most correct is the attack. A lot of digitals and software instruments seem to be overly harsh and mid heavy on the attack which for me leads to a kind of droning/robotic quality that fatigues my ears. To get the feedback of attack correct, mic positioning and EQ need to be just right. AK is an absolute steal of a price point. Don't be fooled into thinking it's not more of a heavy hitter than the ones tossed around here at PW. The project was essentially subsidized by the artist, who wants this plug out there for the masses. I work with lots of pros that use this as a default when the studio doesn't have a nice grand recording setup.

In the end, the OT sounds like it would be good for gospel stuff or sitting in a mix. Solo work.... seems like it would need some post processing to get it right.

Thanks for the input.

Given the introductory price I think I will grab it and give it a try. Maybe I will record a quick demo and post it here.

Interesting that you compare it to Alicia's Keys. That was the first software piano I bought. Some nice things about it as you mentioned but I thought the underlying tone was different from the Yamaha grands I have had experience with and I never warmed up to it. Some people love it though. I agree they did a nice job on it and I use it occasionally for variety.

I am interested in this primarily for live performance in a band mix. For solo work or accompanying singers I use either Ivory II American Concert D ( if I remember my ILOK ) or Vintage D.

For band use I have been mostly using the Galaxy Steinway with a modifed version of the "Pop Piano" preset. Cuts through the mix pretty well and I like it, but some variety would be nice so I was thinking of trying the Evolution Rosewood. Since it is a yamaha I would expect a different character and a natural brightness. Hard to tell from the demos so I'll take a chance.

If you'd like to run any MIDI files through Evolution Rosewood Grand first to hear how it handles it, I can do that for you. If you have any questions about the library, just let me know--I'm always happy to help!

My initial impressions of the Rosewood Grand is it presents without artifacts across the keyboard. With some sample libraries you can actually hear the ends of a note stretch; that is, using a sampled note -2 to +2 half steps to fill out a scale. With the OT that isn't done. Their 12-layered 2x round robin paradigm goes a long way towards realism. Kudos to their engineers for also allowing you to tweak damping, resonance, etc. I'm sure a lot of folks will eschew their relatively simple built-in reverb section for a more robust Waves or Lexicon plugin. Also missing are lid positions, mic placement, etc. That was all in the name of keeping the sample set to roughly the same size as the Galaxy Vintage D or Alicia's Keys. It's strength? Right out of the box it sounds wonderful. Chopin sounds fantastic on it. This sample library is worth every penny.

I gave it a try and encountered two problems. The first was a buildup of hiss when playing quiet chords with the sustain pedal, the second no una corda samples. Going back to the Vintage D straight after was a breath of fresh air.

Any more thoughts on this piano library?

Currently there is a group-buy that has unlocked a 50% discount on all Orange Tree libraries, so I'm wondering if it's worth it.