Third party Pianos for Kronos?

Groovedoggs · Post by **Groovedoggs** » Wed Jan 08, 2014 4:03 am

Hi, I have checked out ksounds two offerings, but was wondering if there are other companies out there designing pianos to take advantage of all the memory and programmability the Kronos has? Would love to check out what is available... Thanks!

Post by **Sharp** » Wed Jan 08, 2014 11:47 am

Making more Piano libraries for the KRONOS from a commercial point of view is like trying to reinvent the wheel. The KRONOS is already extremely strong in this area thanks to KORG.

There are many free ones however if you search the forum but they will not be as complete as KORG's ones. They tend to focus more on solving a problem though, like playing in a band and trying to cut through the mix of everyone else.

Regards
Sharp.

Francois · Post by **Francois** » Wed Jan 08, 2014 3:28 pm

Besides K-Sounds, KARO also sell pianos, acoustic and electric. However, I agree with Sharp's conclusions. I bought the Austrian Grand, but between the Japanese and German grand, and with all the controls of the SGX-1 engine at your disposal, you should be able to get the sound you're after.

If there was a need for a piano on the Kronos, rather than a copycat of the German and Japanese Grands, be it different brands or not, I see a place for a good upright as well as a "bastringue" one.

PianoManChuck · Post by **PianoManChuck** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 3:00 pm

I agree with Sharp - you already have an excellent array of pianos to choose from! If they were going to add anything, they should add a Fazioli grand... completely different sound than the existing pianos on the Kronos.

runningman67 · Post by **runningman67** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 4:12 pm

QuiRobinez has programmed some real quality, atmospheric, lush piano sounds which fit my genre.
I rarely use the Korg factory pianos but then again, I'm not a pianist like Chuck, who can appreciate a genuine acoustic piano.

genehart · Post by **genehart** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 4:22 pm

I'm currently in love with Epic Grand by ksounds ,
it reminds me the sound of David Foster's concert piano)) and it's the next one I'm planning to get
The more piano models we'll have in Kronos,the more we goin' to love it
When it comes to writing/improvising it's necessary to have
a wide choice of piano timbre character
...some Kawais , some Baldwins , Faziolis ..some more Yamaha models
would be just great .
Also I'd like to have multi microphone recorded pianos in Kronos

Francois · Post by **Francois** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:07 pm

I also prefer the Epic Grand to Signature piano, when auditioned on its own. However, when I was working with both for a review, I found that Signature piano was easier to use with most pop/rock mixes, giving a punchier or more detailed sound.

Both are based on a Yamaha C7, but with different mic placement so that the raw samples are also different.

As much as I would liike a Fazioli, like that proposed by Synthogy, I'm still looking for something different from all of the pianos. Whether KARO, K-Sounds... they tend to offer the same sort of sound, nothing like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmg3pXMFJTM

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFLz2qJKNNA

off topic: the [video]...[/video] tags do not seem to work. How do you embed a YT video?

phattbuzz · Post by **phattbuzz** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:09 pm

I use both these pianos from Precision Sound:
http://store.precisionsound.net/shop/os ... act-piano/
http://store.precisionsound.net/shop/no ... ght-piano/

bobmusic · Post by **bobmusic** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:35 am

Maybe it's worth to have a closer look at this collection of free piano-librarys:

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2010/07 ... oy-pianos/

genehart · Post by **genehart** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:59 am

bobmusic wrote:Maybe it's worth to have a closer look at this collection of free piano-librarys:

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2010/07 ... oy-pianos/

have you tried any of them ? do they have a release samples ?
without release samples they may not give much playability

vstkeys · Post by **vstkeys** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 2:32 am

if you have a 61kronos, don't waste your time with third part A.pianos.
The keybed makes them sound awful with no warmth dynamics, articulation not to mention without the key off and sustain & resonance parameters they will sound no better than the pianos already on rom memory.
Now if is for studio working or home enjoyment and you are using a semi weighted or weighted controller, then it is a whole different story.

I can say that for my experience. I converted all my kontakt piano libraries to kronos, some even going to the extend of downgrading the velocities from 16 to 8, and the stock german and Japanese still win due to the inbuilt parameters. But as far as playability on a 61keybed, I repeat don't waste your time!!

bobmusic · Post by **bobmusic** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:25 am

genehart wrote:
bobmusic wrote:Maybe it's worth to have a closer look at this collection of free piano-librarys:

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2010/07 ... oy-pianos/
have you tried any of them ? do they have a release samples ?
without release samples they may not give much playability

No sorry, i didn't try, just found this page.

Francois · Post by **Francois** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 3:24 pm

phattbuzz wrote:I use both these pianos from Precision Sound:
http://store.precisionsound.net/shop/os ... act-piano/
http://store.precisionsound.net/shop/no ... ght-piano/

Ah yes, that's more like it, sounds you don't get from the Kronos as such.

I take it you bought the SoundFont version and imported the bank? All transferred OK?

phattbuzz · Post by **phattbuzz** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 4:49 pm

Francois wrote:
phattbuzz wrote:I use both these pianos from Precision Sound:
http://store.precisionsound.net/shop/os ... act-piano/
http://store.precisionsound.net/shop/no ... ght-piano/
Ah yes, that's more like it, sounds you don't get from the Kronos as such.

I take it you bought the SoundFont version and imported the bank? All transferred OK?

Yes Francois,
There are certain songs, especially playing in a band, that you need an old upright piano sound, and these pianos tend to work quite well.

Francois · Post by **Francois** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 5:09 pm

Thanks phattbuzz. I agree with you, besides the super-duper pianos like the German, Austrian and Japanese, we do need other piano soundscapes which programming and the Kronos effects by themselves cannot get. Qui Robinez did us a favour by releasing a bank of dreamy pianos, thereby ticking the box "piano + pad", but some upright or old pianos can be useful too.

After listening to the demos, I'm not super keen on the Nordic, but I do like the tonality of the Ostlind. Will purchase that one.

Only a "bastringue" one to go then and I'll consider my piano needs sorted.

Thanks to all those who are giving us links. Personally, I never used SoundFonts until the Kronos, so I haven't got the reflex to check that format yet.

The interesting bit is thinking that all the E-Mu Proteus 2K banks that have been released could be working on my Kronos. But that's for another topic.