Piano-like sounds on the R3

ltst · Post by **ltst** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 8:39 pm

I was wondering if anybody may have some tips for creating a sound like the piano in The Antlers song "Kettering" on an R3

http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en& ... gLm2gInV4A

I've come fairly close by messing with the EGs and effects on the Warm Pad but it still wasn't what I had wanted. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 9:11 pm

You're barking up the wrong tree. You should be using a rompler/sampler workstation for acoustic piano. There are some people here who've done piano-like patches, but they don't sound like an acoustic piano to me. They sound like a poor synth copy of a piano. Virtual analog synths just aren't designed to do good acoustic pianos compared to sampler workstations. The MicroKorg XL has a piano waveform, but the R3 doesn't, and the one on the MKXL is only a single sampled wave that isn't really comparable at all to the multisamples with velocity layers that are on sampler workstations. I wouldn't recommend that anyone buy the R3 as their only keyboard if they had any intention to get a realistic sounding acoustic piano.

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 9:34 pm

i've done some acoustic sounding pianos, but they are difficult and require two timbres usually.

I personally prefer my microkorg for making those kinds of sounds. it sounds more abraisive, making it easier to get the hammering sound the piano makes.

ltst · Post by **ltst** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 9:54 pm

I guess that hammering sound is a big part of what I'm looking for. Is there any way to replicate that at all on an R3?

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 10:19 pm

replicating the hammering part of the sound is difficult, but if you are a good programmer you will end up with a very natural piano sound, although it will not have the hammering part of the sound. I personally would not reccomend a synth like the r3 for pianos, just about any complicated supersynth could replicate a piano however. While i would often say use a rompler for pianos, i have to admit that the synthesized pianos sound a crapload better usually, sure they arnt as natural but they have some qualities that a real piano doesnt have.

axxim · Post by **axxim** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 10:36 pm

Morshu wrote: ... just about any complicated supersynth could replicate a piano however...

What is a complicated supersynth for you? Can you give me some examples?

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 11:05 pm

access virus, nord lead 3, moog voyager(itsa supersynth in its own right but i dont think anyone would use it for pianos, unelss they had like 10 of them ducttaped togethor with midi cords), alesis andromeda, dave smith poly evolver, buchla 200e

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 11:40 pm

The R3 is virtually identical in synth structure to the Radias, which is as you put it a 'supersynth', in a similar class to the Lead 3 and the Virus.
In fact, it is probably much more capable than the Lead 3 when it comes to expansive synthesis technologies...
And I doubt you'd get anything approaching a piano out of a Buchla 200e! Similarly the Voyager... the minimoog as a synth, as great as it sounds, is really quite limited compared to the synthesis options available in the R3.

Also I question your statement:

While i would often say use a rompler for pianos, i have to admit that the synthesized pianos sound a crapload better usually, sure they arnt as natural but they have some qualities that a real piano doesnt have.

.....So a synthesizer is better at sounding like a piano, because it sounds less real and it doesn't sound like a piano?

Seriously, piano patches are very hard to produce on a traditional VA and even on more flexible synths like the R3 and Radias most if not all of the experienced programmers on this forum will agree with me that acoustic pianos are difficult to create.
Not that you can't try, or get close, but most acoustic sounds are more the realm of sample-based synthesizers or very complex and expensive physical modelling instruments.

Sure, after hours of programming you can think you're close, and you can get the basic timbre, but then you listen to a recording of an actual piano and realise that you are miles off..

ltst · Post by **ltst** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 11:52 pm

Well it sounds like I should move on from trying to synthesize that "right" piano sound on my R3, but thanks for everyone's input and help!

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Tue Nov 22, 2011 12:02 am

the radias is capable of nice pianos actualyl, its 4 part multitimbrality makes it just barely possible to get a fairly natural piano. but i use my microkorg as a piano, despite its lack of polyphony, it sounds like a tiny grand piano lol. i think its because its so raw sounding that it becomes possible.
expert sound designers know how to make a piano on alot of platforms mind you.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Tue Nov 22, 2011 4:22 am

Morshu doesn't know s**t all about anything, but that doesn't prevent him from posting his BS. Here's a good rule: ignore anything that Morshu says, since the opposite of whatever he says is more likely to be true. Whatever he says is wrong or a lie, or both. Everyone here who isn't a Morshu knows that he's a lying noob troll.

axxim · Post by **axxim** » Tue Nov 22, 2011 7:18 am

I just wanted to know what morshu classifies as a supersynth. None of them will be able to reproduce a real piano. The only way to get good piano reproductions is with tons of samples. It is like the artificial (synthetic) flavours: they may remeber you a strawberry, lemon, vanilla, etc. But they never are like the natural ones.
Maybe in one point I partially agree with you: I like some synthetic reproductions of such instruments because they actually sound "synthetic" and different, but only a piano can sound like a piano (I think I have said that allready in other post)

So if you have done several acoustic pianos morshu, why don't you give us some examples to hear them? I have sent you the piano patches you asked for some weeks ago and I think you now have had the chance to improve them, so let us hear what you have

Re-Member · Post by **Re-Member** » Tue Nov 22, 2011 8:43 pm

I suggest we all listen to "The Eye of the Tiger" while waiting for Morshu to make his response. It might be epic.

Morshu · Post by **Morshu** » Tue Nov 22, 2011 10:10 pm

i dont have a proper recording setup for the synths, although if you are desperate for me to show you my pianos, i will post a really lo-fi sample of them lol

And I'm legit that making nice pianos is possible with the Microkorg, and with the Radias.

But personally I like the Virus TI 2 for making pianos the most since its so versatile.

Dont believe your synth can't make a piano, just about any modern synth can make a pretty good piano with a proper programmer.

(although i'm not going to say you can make a piano with a juno 106 or a 303) lol.

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 4:43 am

Morshu, put up or shut up. Let's hear your nice Radias acoustic piano. Post the program. You won't do that, because you can't, and that's because you're a lying noob troll. You assert that you're legit, but that's what lying noob trolls do. The original question was about acoustic pianos on the R3, and you claim you have an R3, so go ahead and show us all that you're legit by posting your piano patches for the R3. We will be checking to see if you've plagiarized a piano patch written by someone else here. I know that you're just going to blabber on without posting any synth programs that you've made, just like you've done to this point. My R3 is ready and waiting to try any program you post to see how it compares to a grand piano.