dum wrote:sparkletone wrote:Pretty sure this is just another rebranded Scarbee product, one which was available from them for a little while before NI bought him out.
So, can't really call it "NI running out of ideas" if they're just starting to sell a 6 month old sampled piano (one that honestly sounds pretty good for the style from the samples on NI's site, and on gearslutz).
did you watch the video ?
she claims they sampled her specific piano, at her request, etc etc.
If they are just rebranding a sample set already in existence - she is a filthy low down liar.
Yes, I did watch the video. But I also noted that the product is listed on the page at NI where they list all the Scarbee products and then there's also
this gearslutz thread. Without even reading the thread, just note that the first post is from January of 2009 when the product was first announced. 6 months
before NI bought out Scarbee.
But I think what's happening is you misunderstand what I mean by "rebranding." I am not saying they are selling some other sample set as being recorded from Alicia Keys' piano or whatever. I'm saying that the recording of the samples, etc. was done by Scarbee, not NI and it was done months before he got bought out. The sample set Scarbee created is only just now going on sale, and it's going on sale with NI branding, advertising, etc. That's all.
I'm not "defending" NI here or anything else, as I think there's nothing to defend them from, and no one's lying or doing anything shady here. The sequence of events is pretty clear from the gearslutz thread, and even if something shady were going on... Well. I think what matters in the end is the quality of the sampled piano, not the silly advertising or whether the idea of sampling a piano is "original."
This one sounds pretty good from the samples, though I don't know if it'll top Gravity, or the others.
anyway, it's a strange endorsement. Although why a professional pianist would want their piano meticulously sampled is no mystery.
That's pretty obvious to me. You are a fancy-pants touring artist. But you love a particular piano and don't want to subject it to wear and tear on the road... So you make the best digital facsimile possible and use that for touring, as well as writing/recording on the road. It's the same impulse expressed
in this thing, or someone like Arcade Fire carefully sampling the pipe organ they used on their last album. (Those are just the first two recent examples that came to mind. I'm sure there are many, many, many more.)
You don't want to take all your squirrely, hard to replace gear out on the road with you (like your expensive synths), nor anything that's a real bitch to move around (like a pipe organ). But you still want those sounds in your performance, so... Samples!
As for selling it, well. You're well known for the sound of your piano or whatever. And selling the samples you just paid to have recorded seems like an easy money.
GAFM ***
(do the samples smell like her...?)