AUDDICT / Broken Heartstrings Piano

[Piet De Ridder]

After their Dorian Marko piano — not a wholly successful piano library, I find, but every so often capable of wonderful surprises nonetheless — which came in its own software player, Auddict have returned to Kontakt for their new Broken Heartstrings project.

A bit of a silly name perhaps, but a really good idea: a piano library almost entirely dedicated to the softest dynamics of the instrument. (I say ‘almost' because next to the pure piano sounds , there are also a handful of additional ‘sound, noises & FX’ layers which can be mixed in. Many of these are derived from the piano samples.) Fracture Sounds’ Spotlight piano does something similar, but this new one from Auddict takes things much further, much softer and much more intimate still.

What it comes down to is that where, in nearly all other libraries, you get one or two dynamic layers to cover the pianissimo-piano range of the instrument, Auddict dedicates 12 layers to that one range. Which means: lots of subtle detail and nuances that no other piano library can give you. Have to add that I can’t always hear that there are 12 layers to play with, but there’s no denying the range is amply filled.

Seeing as how most people tend to use (virtual) pianos almost exclusively for dreamy ‘emotional’ moments and often judge virtual pianos solely with that sort of usage in mind, I would think this new Auddict library will appeal to many.

Sound is decent — I mean sound, not timbre —, occasionaly a bit too much bass as a result of the ultra-close miking, there are a couple of notes which don’t come out as well as the others, a few other minor problems, but on the whole, this is a terrific and welcome addition to the world of virtual pianos.

Also great is that the Broken Heartstrings patch is not locked. Which means you can edit and optimize the instrument to your liking and far beyond what’s possible via the available GUI-parameters.

Here’s a little run-through with a slightly edited default patch. Gives, I think, a good idea of the sound and character of the instrument under non-developer fingers.


Introduced at half the regular price: $120 instead of the usual $240.

[Guy Rowland]

Gorgeous.

Sounds like it goes a bit further towards f than I expected. Do you think the lack of any full-on f will limit its use or is there enough there at the mf end not not feel you run out of room?

Interesting hearing the dev talk about an ultra-close mic position, where they kept moving the mic to be right on top of the actual string being sampled to give an unnaturally hyper-intimate sound. The mid, he said, is like a normal close. Some very nice-sounding FX / layer presets too - some of layers like lament and plectrum are very interesting.

Needless to say I already have a lot of good felt options - Noire, Una Corda, Keyscape - but there's hopefully enough here for them to carve out a significant niche.

Thanks for taking the time to do the demo, Piet.

[Lawrence]

I also found it a bit more strident than expected, but your edited patch and your musicality in the piece you posted make the instrument much more attractive than the commissioned demos do. You should offer it to them.

[Piet De Ridder]

I don't hear 'strident' or the beginnings of 'forte', I must say. It all sounds pianissimo/piano and accordingly woolly to me.
Which is, by the way, why I don't really understand the presence of low-pass filter they've added to the GUI. To my mind a high-pass filter would make a much more useful parameter. (Adding a high-pass filter was in fact one of the first things I did after discovering that the patch is unlocked.)

Anyway, here's an example of me slamming my hands on my amazed keyboard — there's no 'maybe' about it — resulting in a recording where not a single note has a velocity lower than 122, I've checked. Still sounds very mezzo-ish and pretty dark to me I must say. (And what you're hearing in this example is already EQ'ed a bit because without EQ, it is booming like crazy in the lows and low mids.

To put my keyboard back at ease, I treated it to these two minutes. (An impromptu moment from late last night with the studio lights dimmed.) This is very much how this library was designed to be played, I think everyone will agree,, and the only way to make it deliver, quite effortlessly, what no other piano library can deliver.
I used to reach for the Emotional Piano for this type of thing, and I certainly won't stop using this library (despite its imperfections, it has a way of sounding 'just right' like few other virtual pianos can), but the Auddict has way more shades and nuances and is also programmed with more care, so from now on, the Emotional is facing stiff competition.

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[Guy Rowland]

Thanks for both those examples Piet. I think that loud stuff is great - that feels like a really comfortable highest dynamic. Of course it's not slamming like it should, but it has power enough to provide a strong contrast in pieces designed for it.

And the 2 min improv is gorgeous.

Dammit.

The website says 9gb of samples - is that the on-disk size? It's pretty reasonable if so anyway, it's hardly a behemoth.

[Piet De Ridder]

The Broken Heartstrings folder is 10,05 GB.

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[Guy Rowland]

Thank you - perfectly reasonable.

I think I won't buy for now, my legendary terrible keyboard skills won't do justice, especially with so many other good options. I realise it's half price, but it's over my impulse-buy threshold (I'm still agonising over the VSL sordinos in my evaluation period, today I'm going to finally sit down with it properly). But if it ever does appear at that impulse threshold, I'll spring for it.

[Lawrence]

Stridency is probably the wrong word, but between 1:56 and 1:4; of the first piece you posted, I heard more edge than I would have expected from a “sift” or “muted” piano.

That’s not a bad thing at all, for it to have some range, and those softer passages have warmth and nuance (especially in the lower register.)

Was there a #9 chord in “Maybe I’m Amazed?” Artistic license or do I disremember?

[Piet De Ridder]

(...) Was there a #9 chord in “Maybe I’m Amazed?”

This bit here always sounded like a D7#9 to me, Larry. Maybe there's a more correct name for the chord, but 7#9 is how I always used to play it. (I no longer do cause my voice can't handle it anymore.)

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[Lawrence]

With the F and F# being glommed together it’s not typical and i can’t tell if there’s a 7th in there. Interesting.

Wish I’d EVER had the range to sing “Maybe I‘m Amazed!” That B was B-yond.

[RobS]

yes I wouldn't call it a sharp 9 as it would need the seventh to be a true one. The right hand plays, from low to high, F-F#-A(not always)-D. It's more a D chord with the minor third giving some bluesy dirt in my opinion...

[Piet De Ridder]

Yes, you're both right, Larry and Rob.
Found this video that goes through all the chords — embarrassing to learn how many of them I got wrong-ish all these years — and there is indeed no 7th (C) in the chord under scrutiny (although he suggests and plays one as an option):



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[Lawrence]

Piet-listening through, the first piece you posted (“a little run through”) is gorgeous. It’s really my favorite and seems noticeably drier than the others. Was that the case or are my ears deceiving me?

[RobS]

I wonder if it would make any sense to build a piano with this one from ppp to mf and a different one, possibly with a similar timbre, from mf up. I mean using all of the velocities of this piano, and the available velocities of the second...

[Lawrence]

If you do Rob I’ll buy the patch

[Piet De Ridder]

Larry, no, your ears are not deceiving you. For the first example, all of the twelve optional layers (a few of which add long, ambient, paddy reverbs — which I’m not a fan of) were completely turned down, whereas for the second example, there was a small percentage of some of those layers mixed in with the piano.

I’ve also been thinking about combining this library with another one in order to have a more complete instrument under one's fingers. Haven’t tried it yet but I will, one of these days. Should I happen to hit on a combination that works, I’ll share it here.

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[RobS]

... Should I happen to hit on a combination that works, I’ll share it here.

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and so will I

[RobS]

well, I think I found a working combination, namely the "Grandeur" and the "Heartstrings"... I did a patch of the latter that compresses all the velocity layers into the 1-70 range, more or less, extending the upper one to 127. Then had to manually tune the Grandeur to make it go with the other as they have a very different tuning. Actually, the Heartstrings has differences in tuning between his own mics, though minimal.
Larry, if you think you want to try the combi, pm me and I'll send you both patches

[Lawrence]

well, I think I found a working combination, namely the "Grandeur" and the "Heartstrings"... I did a patch of the latter that compresses all the velocity layers into the 1-70 range, more or less, extending the upper one to 127. Then had to manually tune the Grandeur to make it go with the other as they have a very different tuning. Actually, the Heartstrings has differences in tuning between his own mics, though minimal.
Larry, if you think you want to try the combi, pm me and I'll send you both patches

Rob, I’m traveling at the moment but I’d love to try it when I return. Fire away please!