I suppose the greatest indication of having a lasting impact on people is that they discuss you when you aren’t even present and, apparently, keep tabs on you, even after having been banned from the space you shared. Whether that’s healthy or not, I can’t say.
But, speak of the devil and he shall appear.
Especially when he’s been a lurker for some time!
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I was certainly fooled and had very positive things to say about these “instruments”.
But as jdg78 pointed out, that was in the context of these being amateur DIY laptop microphone samples of old imperfect vintage instruments. I never said they were better than the best sampled instruments like Garritan, VSL or VI Labs. I also gave advice on how to make them better if they really wanted to compete with those.
And, for most of us, that aligns with how we’ve always felt about Pianoteq. I, for one, have never said that Pianoteq was an unplayable mess or that it doesn’t sound reminiscent of the instruments it’s emulating. All I’ve ever said was that it doesn’t sound totally authentic, and therefore is of no use to those of us who are hyper-sensitive about authenticity. And that’s still true. If, in order to get us to say good things about it, you have to make up a story that it’s laptop recordings of old and worn vintage instruments with limited layers and shortened sustain…if you have to create a bunch of concessions just to make it believable…have you really contradicted that opinion?
Now I will say my favorite was the “Fazioli”. In fact, I said the Fazioli “Sofia” sampled was better than the very bland and undynamic Fazioli VSL sampled…and I maintain that. Turns out, though, it wasn’t actually a Fazioli at all. I’ve heard people say Pianoteq is better at emulating something other than the big brands. They’re right!
But was I fooled, absolutely! Is it an embarrassment to admit that? No. Who puts that much stock into what people on a message board think about you?
And more to the point, if this actually was some means to get back at people for disliking Pianoteq…the person or persons may want to sit with that, and try to discover why that’s so important to them, and why they would go to such great lengths for…this. What’s it all about, Alfie?
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Also, a brief correction: I never said Bach was “no more than the result of hyped-up publicity”. Bach is one of the greatest composers of all time, bar none, full stop.
What I *did*, however, say was that the cult of Bach…the idea that he is the over-god of all composers, the greatest composer of all time, the most harmonically advanced composer, upon whose back every single thing after him stands, that every single composer after him cannot touch the hem of his garment…is hyped-up publicity; that perception came from the efforts of his descendants, a nationalist push, and the pedagogical influence he had on the composers after him. And the research & data supports that. And I said that in response to people making statements about Bach that were identical to the cultish statements I used as an example.
You certainly won’t see me uploading audio in every thread proclaiming Bach’s masterpieces were imperfect and that I’ve improved upon it. Or holding grudges about musical disagreements months later and keeping track of those who disagree about my favorite composers.
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Also, Cybergene I do not believe you were the focus of this. As others pointed out, this was posted on one Linux musician website first, which I suspect was how they tested whether their “instruments” would work. Then they headed straight to PW. Had they been aiming for you, I suspect they’d’ve come straight here.
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Do I believe the story after the revelation. Absolutely not. The new claimed identity doesn’t even track. Nor am I entirely sure I believe that getting people to compliment Pianoteq was their goal, because why on Earth would anybody care this much about whether people like Pianoteq or not? Why focus on Pianoworld, but not the many other VI sites?
I’m not entirely sure this wasn’t an attempt to get money by selling this as an amateur product. They had a donations page, where several people donated money. And while it wasn’t much, none of that money has been refunded yet based on the page. The person says people can request their money back, but that’s not true. Having used Buy Me A Coffee for projects, the receiver has to refund the money and it shows on the page. The fact that they kept all those donations and haven’t refunded people doesn’t bode well for what their intentions really were.
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As for who I think it is…if this was just some weird, obsessive attempt to get back at those who have a different opinion about a software none of us have stock in…then I’d suspect it may well be the people we see with odd vendettas obsessively guffawing about it. Could be the ones here or on PW. Some have demonstrated the technical knowledge to have pulled this off. But it seems very personal to that space.
If it was an attempt to make money, who knows.
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And how’s that for an essay. 😂
