Piano sound

Aequitas123 · Post by **Aequitas123** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:46 pm

Any idea on how to achieve a similar sound the piano in this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRgEcm8h0ko

I'm guessing delay then heavy reverb, but i'm not certain. Plus i don't particularly like Abletons Reverb.

Thanks

Aequitas123 · Post by **Aequitas123** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:21 pm

*customary second post required before anyone will answer*

...so predictable

nbinder · Post by **nbinder** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:23 pm

Reverb as an insert effect and the much more wet than dry. Post what you tried and we'll see what else you could do.

Sorry for no further help, but to me it sounds like a very simple piano + reverb.

4.33 · Post by **4.33** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:55 am

theres an obvious envelope on the attack, so i'd sample your piano and play with the start position, fade and attack. there's also delay with 1/4 setting, i believe. and a reverb with heavy EQ processing, which makes certain frequencies resonate more

S127 · Post by **S127** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 3:04 pm

piano+reverb+some delay

Aequitas123 · Post by **Aequitas123** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 3:19 pm

So i've tried the following chain:

Free Piano VST (Akoustik Keyz)
Simple Delay (L-2, R-4, FB-50%, D/W-50%)
Reverb (Warm Reverb Long Preset, D/W-100%)
8 Band EQ (Boosting Mids and Mid/Lows)

Still sounding pretty shitty in comparison.

discomb · Post by **discomb** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:31 pm

I can't check the youtube video at work but a couple of suggestions are to use the resonator to pull out certain notes/frequencies, and if possible get a top quality piano instrument. I haven't used Akoustik Keyz but if it's free I'm assuming it's not amazing. simple pianos always lack something in my experience. I just got the EIC2 recently and the grand piano on that is quite stunning.

Aequitas123 · Post by **Aequitas123** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 3:59 pm

discomb wrote:I can't check the youtube video at work but a couple of suggestions are to use the resonator to pull out certain notes/frequencies, and if possible get a top quality piano instrument. I haven't used Akoustik Keyz but if it's free I'm assuming it's not amazing. simple pianos always lack something in my experience. I just got the EIC2 recently and the grand piano on that is quite stunning.

Hey thanks for responding!

Could you elaborate on pulling certain notes/frequencies with the Resonator? I'm kind of a noob when it comes to that effect.

discomb · Post by **discomb** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:19 pm

the live manual tells you exactly how to work it, but if you're playing a melody in the key of E minor for example, set the 1st resonator to E, then set res 2 to +3 semitones (3rd note of the minor scale), res 3 to +7 (5th note of the scale). that gives you the basic chord of E minor, I like sevenths generally, which would be +11 semitones for harmonic minor (I think, my music theory is sketchy these days!). Or you could set res 4 and 5 to +12 and +24 semitones to get some high frequency overtones.

I don't know if it'll help but 4.33's comment made me think of it. you could combine it with an EQ-8 to accentuate the frequencies that sound nice.

I've used the resonator a bit before and it takes some tweaking to get it sounding good, it can be a bit much. try modulating the dry/wet so the resonator comes in and out, a bit like an exaggerated tremolo...

good luck. I'll have a listen to the youtube vid when i'm at home - I'm intrigued now!

Aequitas123 · Post by **Aequitas123** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:48 pm

discomb wrote:the live manual tells you exactly how to work it, but if you're playing a melody in the key of E minor for example, set the 1st resonator to E, then set res 2 to +3 semitones (3rd note of the minor scale), res 3 to +7 (5th note of the scale). that gives you the basic chord of E minor, I like sevenths generally, which would be +11 semitones for harmonic minor (I think, my music theory is sketchy these days!). Or you could set res 4 and 5 to +12 and +24 semitones to get some high frequency overtones.

I don't know if it'll help but 4.33's comment made me think of it. you could combine it with an EQ-8 to accentuate the frequencies that sound nice.

I've used the resonator a bit before and it takes some tweaking to get it sounding good, it can be a bit much. try modulating the dry/wet so the resonator comes in and out, a bit like an exaggerated tremolo...

good luck. I'll have a listen to the youtube vid when i'm at home - I'm intrigued now!

I'll give that a try! Thanks.

Sorry, i think the video has been taken down. If i can remember correctly its the song "The Whaler" by Thrice