Sofia_MZ I’m not a samplist (not even a would be samplist). I created these libraries as a birthday present for my father. I even cajoled a teacher into giving me extra credits for them. As far as I’m concerned, they basically fulfilled their reasons to be.
Well for a first-time amateur pursuing a personal side project, you've managed to do an absolutely extraordinary job. You should be quite proud of your accomplishment.
Sofia_MZ I’d welcome some feedback from those who tried (and perhaps liked) my pianos, to help me set my priorities according to the needs of an actual user base.
I’d like to know which improvements you’d like to see in the next version and why.
Speaking for myself, my number one request would be a soft/una corda pedal, even if it's only simulated. I play mostly classical music and rely on this feature quite a lot. Very few virtual pianos have real recorded una corda samples, and if you haven't already sampled them, it's probably not realistic to go back and capture now. But in the absence of the real thing, I always prefer to have a simulated version than none at all. It could just be a slight reduction in volume and (if possible) a subtle timbre shift (slightly softer).
After that, half-pedaling would probably be my second priority. Repedaling is nice, but I personally don't find it absolutely essential. And I don't really care about extraneous mechanical sounds like pedal and key noises (I always shut them off if I can), but some people seem to find these important.
Sympathetic resonance is a huge plus if done well, and can really make things come alive, but I gather it's extremely hard to implement so I wouldn't expect you to attempt this unless you are really up for a challenge.
Anyway hope this is helpful.
Sofia_MZ Also, let me know which of my pianos you liked best
Honestly, I find them all excellent in their own way, but here are my overall thoughts:
C. Bechstein: This is probably the most unique and special sounding one to me - it has a very gentle and sweet tone that is still very rich and full, with a wonderful atmosphere around it. It's also captured with a bit more resonance that the other models which I think works to its benefit.
Bluthner. This is my other favorite. I've always loved the tone of Bluthners and this is an exceptionally good one, still in excellent condition but with a slightly vintage feel. Also a very sweet-toned instrument with a good amount of character and individuality.
Fazioli This is an extremely clean, neutral and modern sounding piano, superbly captured. I don't normally like Faziolis, often finding them excessively clinical and hard sounding, but this one has a touch more warmth and feels much less severe in tone than ones I've encountered in the past. Not a whole lot of individual character compared to the others, but it provides a really nice, neutral palette to work with, and I can see myself playing on this a lot.
Bosendorfer Very faithful and accurate capture of the signature Bosendorfer Imperial sound, which has a very clear, consistent and sculpted tone. Nice powerful bass. Superbly sampled and feels great to play on.
Steinway This is probably the one I'm least drawn to personally, if only because I already have several excellent sounding Steinways. But this is still a very compelling instrument with a lovely rounded tone, slightly aged sounding but still in very good condition.
