Irish-Acts Grand Piano

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:11 am

Just to say that I am fully aware of the slanderous video and I am with Sharp in the legal action that he is taking. Anyone can say anything they like, e.g. on YouTube, but if it's a pack of lies, then they can be prosecuted for slander and it can be very expensive for them, as in this case.

The sample recordings used in both the Irish Acts Grand Piano for Pa2x and the Irish Acts Mega Piano for the M3 are Sharp's work, and I was personally involved in the editing and processing to make the sound for the Pa2x.

As most friends on the forum know, I am very hot on copyright and licensing, since that is my job. When I made the "free" Steinway piano for the Pa2x last year, it did use someone else's samples. I wrote to the owner, Lawrence Fritts from the University of Iowa to get explicit consent, which was given.

In Sharp's case, he has a first rate recording studio and did all the sampling of a variety of different acoustic grand pianos and other instruments himself. I was involved in choosing which of the recorded samples were the best, and some of them had to be redone. You can see Sharp's studio here if you click the studio link:

http://www.irishacts.com/

Best regards,
Rob

paulbelleza · Post by **paulbelleza** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:15 am

@Sharp/Rob..
Can you guys kindly request to youtube to do something about this video because this person really want a war here and I'm starting to get a little annoying with this guy specially that he pick up my reply here so his still with his video there I know if you are or has a problem with a video you can request to be remove...

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:29 am

paulbelleza wrote:@Sharp/Rob..
Can you guys kindly request to youtube to do something about this video because this person really want a war here and I'm starting to get a little annoying with this guy specially that he pick up my reply here so his still with his video there I know if you are or has a problem with a video you can request to be remove...

Wait for the legal process to take its course.

Regards,
Rob

paulbelleza · Post by **paulbelleza** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:30 am

Thanks Rob...
I really want this guy to be down all this people who are trying to play dirty I really hate then....

shabbee · Post by **shabbee** » Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:21 am

I had to drop a line here. The first example doesn't compare. the top note on the M3 has obvious sympathetic resonance, the Motif doesn't exhibit this at all. What a weird mission this guy is on.

worth · Post by **worth** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 5:42 am

on the youtube site this guy has misqouted one of my posts here and when i tried to reply to him in the comments section on youtube he has not allowed my comments which clearly show that he has distorted my posts here.

And he still does not have the balls to publically reveal his identity.

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 6:28 am

Our YouTube video producer's name is Kevin Spargo and his music business is called K-Sounds. His music web site is this one:

http://ksounds.com/

The email contact details are:

sounds@ksounds.com

One of his demos (by name) is here:

http://abmp3.com/download/6020527-k-sounds-piano-1.html

Best regards,
Rob

worth · Post by **worth** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 7:08 am

thanks for that Rob. What an idiot. He actually has a business and so is likely to be even more worth suing and his reputation will go down tubes and most likely his busines if the courts side with you. What i dont understand is why he did not approach you guys openly and honestly to tell you his concerns if they were genuine before he publically tried to smear your name. That just shows his malicious intent from the outset.

mrkorg · Post by **mrkorg** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:18 am

Hi Guys,

I haven't visited the site for a while and must say to read something like this is really disturbing. To accuse two members who have worked very hard to make life so much easier for us KF members and then be labeled as "pirates" or "thieves" is unwarranted.

I managed to view the youtube clip and wanted to clarify that i am not the person identified as "mrkorgy" who is demanding any explanations.

Ive had help from both James and Rob and would not hesitate to stand behind them or outline thier integrity which is highly evident in KF. For Sharp to personaly fund this site from his own pocket and then be labeled a pirate is absurd. For Rob to dedicate his energy and efforts to support members on both the PA and M3 department at no expense is more than enough to suggest both he and James are not the monsters that the video portrays them as.

J.Q · Post by **J.Q** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 5:19 pm

Ok, I watched the video, and I red the comments @ YT. And here's my 2 cents. I found it quite peculiar how passionately and repeatedly he just keeps attacking these two guys, naming them, while staying "incognito" himself.

I just can't help thinking if it's just a sole concern about piracy, or whether there's something else hidden behind? For now I'd go with the latter alternative.

Oh, and about these accusations: 1) to me they those samples sound different even with that not-so-hifi YT quality. 2) I don't think that these two gentlemen - at their positions - would really be so amateurish/foolish/etc that they'd (re-)sample a very well known sound and then sell it, saying it's theirs. C'mon, no way, just - no - way.

Anyway, I'm hoping for some kind of peaceful solution here. Crap like this is just so totally fruitless. Make music, not war.

LTEDT · Post by **LTEDT** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:16 pm

I just saw the youtube video. This guy posting the video is nothing but a coward. If he's sure of his accusation why cant he openly identify himself.

I hope James and Rob puts an end to this guy's false accusation.

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Sat Jul 03, 2010 2:33 am

I *JUST* watched the video for the first time and I must be crazy. Because even in the compressed quality of the audio, I heard distinct differences between the two.

I've known Sharp for more than 10 years through various forums and have watched his sample libraries be born. I'm not convinced after all this time that he suddenly got lazy and started stealing other people's (inferior) work.

Rob and Sharp, you have my support. That guy's a tool... I wouldn't buy anything from him regardless of what it is or how cheap it is.

-Mc

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 12:23 pm

Just a further couple of examples to explain why Kevin Spargo's YouTube video is incorrect and libelous:

1. Kevin Spargo accuses James Tubritt and Rob Sherratt of theft of intellectual property which Kevin Spargo alleges is owned by Yamaha.

First, Kevin Spargo is not the owner of any related work and as such, his accusation of theft is inadmissible in USA law, and is therefore libellous unless the copyright owner wishes to prove that theft has occurred.

Second, the timeline of the development work clearly indicates that Rob Sherratt was not involved in the sampling work and is therefore not a party to any accused intellectual property theft.

a) Irish Acts Studios released a 5-layer 300 MB "Grand Piano Volume 1" for the Korg M3 in 2009. This was entirely James Tubritt (Sharp's) own work, Rob Sherratt was not involved in the slightest.

b) Concurrently in 2009 and at a time when Rob Sherratt scarecly knew James Tubritt, Rob produced the "Steinway Grand Piano" for the Pa2x based on the use of the University of Iowa's samples, for which he obtained and published on this forum a copyright license from Lawrence Fitts, the director of the department who produced the samples. The license allows free use of those samples for any Pa2x owner, and Rob did the work to convert for use on Pa2x free of charge.

c) James Tubritt heard the Steinway Piano in late 2009 and was quite impressed with it, and in early 2010 he asked Rob Sherratt to convert the Irish Acts M3 "Grand Piano Volume 1" samples and produce an appropriate mega-grand piano sound for the Pa2x based on this.

Hence Kevin Spargo's accusation that "James and Rob" produced the samples and the M3 piano sounds etc fetured on Kevin Spargo's Youtube video is completely baseless. Rob Sherratt was not involved at the time that the M3 piano was marketed by James. Nor was Rob Sherratt involved in any of the aspects of those sample recordings or copyright issues pertaining to those. The samples had previously been marketed by James Tubritt for the M3 and Rob Sherratt was sent those samples by James Tubritt on the basis that Irish Acts Studio owns the rights to those samples.

2. Next, there is an accusation from Kevin Spargo that the samples were recorded from some Yamaha instrument which derived "PP" sounds from a common single "unlayered" sample set, by using a simple filtering algorithm.

My previous job was as a telecoms research lab engineer, so I was interested in the basis by which Kevin Spargo has come to this emphatic and completely incorrect conclusion.

James Tubritt sent me the five sample sets used in his M3 piano so that I could do the conversion work for the Pa2x. I have performed fourier transforms on each of the layered samples for the same notes. A Fourier transform (FT) is the standard mechanism used to correlate sounds from multiple sources and compare them for similarities. The FT's show that the "PP" samples and the "FF" samples are separately recorded and not derived one from the other by filtering. This evidence is independently verifiable in any research lab and would be admissible in USA courts as proof that this accusation from Kevin Spargo is a lie.

Regards,
Rob

thomasteele · Post by **thomasteele** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:16 pm

I have purchased the irish piano
I HAVE COMPLETE FAITH IN both SHARP AND ROB
I am with you ..I love your piano ..

Asena · Post by **Asena** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 9:29 pm

Guys, I never belived, BUT! Of course i was realy sad, Couse This man talks s**t about MY Family IA! And even my bro, ROB who toked his expensive time when KORG did not . So thats why i,m confused and if i can help in any way I;M HERE