On Jun 6, 2008, at 8:30 PM, Kent Swafford wrote: > As is clear from everyone's comments, these software pianos also > have difficulty maintaining correct timbre and balance through the > scale and through the dynamic range. I thought that the high treble > of the Pianoteq would be a dead giveaway -- not a real piano. I > guess even pianos have a relatively large range of timbres that may > be recognized as _piano_. > > Thanks everyone. Listen again and say what you think _now_, if you > like. What is really most interesting about this exercise is what it tells us about our differences in focus and perception. Setting aside the actual source of the clips, they have, in essence, three different "piano" sounds. The unevenness from section to section was pretty apparent, as was the difference in color for same passages on different "instruments." The response from various technicians was all over the place. Some listened to one thing, some to another, and tastes were obviously different. I believe it would be the same for pianists as well. Which supports the notion that we are best off with a wide variety of sounds, touches, etc. That there is no single "ideal" piano sound (though many of us have a personal ideal we aim for, which isn't necessarily a bad thing). Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico fssturm at unm.edu
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