Modartt Pianoteq / Petrof 275 model

[Piet De Ridder]

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Modartt have expanded their range of physically modelled acoustic pianos by adding the Ant. Petrof 275 (authorized by Petrof). $49 and it's yours.

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[Joe_D]

Your Demo is stunning, Piet! No surprise there…

I like the Schumann demo as well.

I just bought it - it's really nice - just started customizing the "Warm" preset. Tons of potential.

[Piet De Ridder]

Thanks, Joe.

Fascinating to observe, I find, how with ever model, Modartt annexes a little bit more of the Grand Piano Universe, that almost infinite space that comprises everything an acoustic piano (grand or upright) is capable of in the way of sound and character.

With this Petrof, for example, they seem to have discovered a way to give 'modelled pianosound' an impact and focused energy which, to my ears, none of the previous models have.
And the Petrof also sounds a little bit more "3D" (for want of a better description) than several of the earlier pianos. That was actually one of the things I was most pleased with when working on that demo: that the piano immediately gave the impression of occupying a multidimensional space in the mix, instead of being just a flat layer of pseudo-piano-presence. (And I didn't have to do anything — production-wise — to create that illusion: that's how the Petrof sounds, all by itself.)

There are still many challenges to face, hurdles to take, roughnesses to smooth, avenues to explore, calculations to initiate, sterilities to nonlinearify and problems to solve of course, but for piece of software as small and seemingly humble as Pianoteq is, to be able to generate — in real time — such a huge chunk of the incredibly-incredibly-incredibly complex phenomenon that is 'the sound of an acoustic piano in a space', and offer that to the user in the shape of sensationally playable emulations, is nothing short of mind-boggling impressive, if you ask me.

The discussion about the occasional traces of artificiality and synthy-ness in the timbe will of course not stop with this Petrof-release. If that is all one wants to hear, than that is all one will hear. Which doesn't mean to say that I disagree with that criticism, it's just that I think that there's a lot more to hear in these instruments than just the imperfections. (I'm pretty sure that if Modartt were to make a real grand piano — with actual wood, steel, strings and felt — some people, seeing the name Modartt on the instrument, would still say it sounded a bit artificial and soulless.)

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[Lawrence]

Sounds very good.

Piet, is that the Premiere upright? If so, how the heck are you processing it?? I never get that clarity...

[Piet De Ridder]

Larry,

It's a combination of 2 basses actually: those long sliding notes are from some loop or other that I found in an old BigFishAudio jazz library (Acid Jazz City). All the other notes are the Premier, yes. Processed, quite drastically, with (1) a dynamic EQ — the exceptionally fine Waves F6 — plus (2) a rather more copious amount of Clariphonic than I normally use, but that was to match the, indeed, unusually clear bass-sound of the AcidJazz-loop. Both basses were sent through the same instance of LiquidSonics Seventh Heaven ("01 Large Ambience" preset, dry-wet mix at -7,6/0db).

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[kpc]

And they sampled* your piano with you playing for the video! cool!

Nice work as always my friend. Jessh, that is a nice demo. Is this now your "go-to" piano (in as much as you have a go-to, understanding your philosophy about such things)?





* I know - no samples were harmed, er used, in the creation of this piano

[Lawrence]

Larry,

It's a combination of 2 basses actually: those long sliding notes are from some loop or other that I found in an old BigFishAudio jazz library (Acid Jazz City). All the other notes are the Premier, yes. Processed, quite drastically, with (1) a dynamic EQ — the exceptionally fine Waves F6 — plus (2) a rather more copious amount of Clariphonic than I normally use, but that was to match the, indeed, unusually clear bass-sound of the AcidJazz-loop. Both basses were sent through the same instance of LiquidSonics Seventh Heaven ("01 Large Ambience" preset, dry-wet mix at -7,6/0db).

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Splendid job, and thanks for detailing it. I THOUGHT there was a lot of processing on it-and it works very very well. I'm going to work harder on that, appreciate the inspiration.

The slides are great.

[bigcat1969]

Wow you are good! I enjoyed the piece so much i didn't even notice any sterilities that needed nonlinearifying.

[Markus K]

I wonder if some of the critics, if they would do a blindfold test with a real piano that triggers somehow the pianotec without starring on a computer screen while playing, would even notice that they are not playing a real piano. Experienced, sensitive players in a solo situation for sure. But in context with other instruments? I’m not so sure.
The demo from piet caused a big smile in my face. First time I heard edrums jumping from left to right like that.

[Quasar]

The piano playing is lovely, and the instrument sounds fine, though I believe (rightly or wrongly) that I could easily pass a double-blind test between Pianoteq and a real piano...

... I already have Pianoteq Standard, Galaxy Vintage D, Una Corda, Fluffy Audio's My Piano, Woodchester Piano, the Spitfire Labs soft thingy, various NI Komplete pianos (that I never use)... For me at least, it's way, way, way more than enough. Though everyone is different, I will never understand why anyone needs a vast collection of different acoustic pianos, and don't see the allure in spending $$$ on getting yet another Pianoteq modeled variant.

When I was a kid, I was thrilled when a piano was only slightly out-of-tune and most of the notes worked.

[Piet De Ridder]

Here's another video about the Modartt-Petrof collaboration:



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[Raymond_Kemp]

I wonder. Will this inevitably mean going back and re-modelling the other pianos in such a chamber?

[Lawrence]

Piet-re Kayle’s post (which I’m not sure you saw)-I’m curious as well. Will the Petrof get a lot of use from you? It seems to have a pronounced midrange thickness that takes up a lot of room, which of course could be good or bad depending on the need of the piece.

[Piet De Ridder]

Yeah, saw Kayle's post and wrote a reply, but it ended up being more about the Roland Kiyola than about the Petrof or Pianoteq, so then I began doubting whether to post it or not.

Anyway, I started so I might as well finish: my go-to for ‘just playing piano’ is that Kiyola. Not because it’s superior to everything else — although in my view it’s every bit the modelling success that Pianoteq is, be it with a completely different type of sound —, but it’s a really nice keyboard and it sounds good enough to get quite a high percentage of the piano-playing-experience from it.
And together with my books, the Kiyola is also the thing that saved my sanity during all those months of renovation, when my house (and studio space) looked and sounded more like an uncivil war zone than anything else. So it's come to mean a lot to me.
Slight pity that I can’t record it conveniently: it doesn’ t have any regular audio outputs (but can transmit audio, if so desired, via Bluetooth.

But to answer the question: the Petrof my new “go-to”? Not quite. I think. Although I will certainly turn and return to it very often. And Pianoteq — the collection — is definitely one of my two go-to choices for composing at the piano (the other is the VintageD), and then the particular model doesn’t always make that much of a difference. (Although, sometimes it does.) Looking back over the past years, my best pieces (at least, what I think are my best pieces) have nearly all “happened” thanks to Pianoteq. So I can’t thank Modartt enough, particularly that nice, witty, generous, kind and utterly brilliant friend you see in the video: Philippe.

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