My pianos *DEBUNKED*

“higher level of coding….”

Now, there’s a good title for a movie:

“A Higher Level of Coding,” soon in a theater near you!

“You can’t handle the code!”

If you’ve not noticed it yet, I don’t take anything too seriously, and perhaps that’s because I’m 101; I’ve been around the block, and I’ve seen people die from starvation despite having a robust agriculture; children walking for miles to/from school with nothing in their bellies but dirty, parasite-infested water, and then being expected to do their homework in the dark (no electricity) and getting their lazy asses on to the cornfield to plant, grow, harvest, and pack the corn so that others never run out of popcorn whence watching a movie in an air conditioned room whilst complaining about the seats not being comfortable, and gossiping about “them lazy migrants takin’ our jobs.” Oddly enough, “them lazy migrants” are doing the jobs “we” don’t want, or do any of you fashion yourself a janitor, meat-packer, quasi-servant!

We, “the victims,” oh please, do grow up, or take a hike to Somalia; where the real victims live!

SouthPark Otherwise, hard to say when they will realise that piano music and music isn't necessarily about best sound and best clarity and 'best' piano etc.

Music is about what makes someone happy or feel whatever they want to feel. It's completely subjective and that means for some people it IS about the best clarity, sound, and piano according to their perception.

God Bless,
David

Pete14 Also, it has very rarely been mentioned that, yes, this was a bit of an accomplishment despite, and perhaps we should be looking at further re-sampling instead of giving our wallets to the likes of VSL whenever they release a “new” Fazioli…

If anything it did just the opposite for me. It affirmed that VSL is king of the hill when it comes to virtual piano libraries. Pianoteq (or whatever it was) tried to sneak surreptitiously to the top only to get knocked back down. 🤕

God Bless,
David

Can we meet in the middle, People?

What if we hire Sofia (occasionally) to re-sample our favorite VSTs, but we should not discriminate as to whether the re-sampling is from a modeled or sampled source, so long as it sounds/plays good.

Is it illegal? I don’t know, but I do know that rappers have made a fortune re-sampling; here’s an example of a re-sampled bass line:

https://youtu.be/rog8ou-ZepE?si=z5nC41qpkLide4Vm

Yes, Vanilla Ice is a rapper, and if you believe other wise, you’re a “rappist,” for the color of your skin should not define who you are, or how you feel inside, and he most certainly is a rapper on the inside!😆

I think "Sofia's" more obvious career choices lie in politics, journalism, and marketing for multinational corporations operating above the law.

Pete14 Can we meet in the middle, People?

https://youtu.be/B1FX6bluRrQ?si=CsvAbOMDPk-GZdq9

Johnstaf I think the whole affair is sordid. The desire to catch people out shows a very unpleasant side that some people have. Is being kind and decent to others really harder than trying to embarrass or humiliate them?

Right? Respect people’s own taste, expertise, and sense enough to let them like what they like.

CyberGene absolutely! And when you take in mind it was not about endangered living creatures or some real world issue, but rather about some software that somebody believed should not be criticized, and went to such lengths to teach others a lesson and made sure he would score a win by exploiting their kindness with that story about the young and innocent amateur girl preparing a gift for her father, and put so much energy and time into creating a website and preparing sample libraries… it all becomes ridiculous. To me it’s on the verge of being psychopathic.

I suspect the ultimate angle, or perhaps a concurrent angle, may also have been to ultimately make money. Remember these were all in “beta” form, ultimately leading to the actual releases, which I suspect may have had a cost associated. This may well have started as a way for this person to save money by making a playable version of the Pianoteq demos, but what it was to become was, in my opinion, more than a mere prank.

Hopefully, this person uses their expertise for good things in the future, because they clearly are very smart, talented, creative, and inventive. That can be applied to so much better for themselves and for others.

David B Music is about what makes someone happy or feel whatever they want to feel. It's completely subjective and that means for some people it IS about the best clarity, sound, and piano according to their perception.

This. And some also need to learn that when other people like something different from them, or have a different standard, or think something else is better…it’s not a personal attack against what they like, their standard, or what they perceive to be better.

I have an indecent proposal for T-GPT:

Bring us James by any means, even if for a brief moment, and I will personally bestow you with the “AI of the year” award; show us what you got, T-GPT!

Many have tried, including yours truly, to bring James here to answer some questions, but no one has succeeded, so there’s only one option left, and that is the persuasive power of AI!

“Calibration-Drift,” is it real, or is it a myth?

QuasiUnaFantasia I think "Sofia's" more obvious career choices lie in politics, journalism, and marketing for multinational corporations operating above the law.

I think "Sofia" should take up fantasy fiction or screenwriting instead. The whole Italian student backstory and role-playing element shows a very active imagination and propensity for character development.

I have downloaded the trial version of Pianoteq and... Call me crazy, but I still like the Bluethner, it responds so precisely, it is so evenly modelled, no notes are sticking out and the sound is crisp and clear in my headphones, different from what I have (Vintage D, CFX Light and Dore's pianos) but still great, just different., Some notes sound electronic, I agree, but I have that issue in CFX Lite as well. Maybe I will buy me the Stage version as a Christmas present.

David B Music is about what makes someone happy or feel whatever they want to feel. It's completely subjective and that means for some people it IS about the best clarity, sound, and piano according to their perception.

It is subjective - that is for sure. I had it covered, as I wrote 'not necessarily about best .....' (to cover everybody). It can be a 'first world' thing. If some of you folks were born into a different world - eg. '3rd' one, and remained there - with no way out even if you wanted out, then ...... different story.

[deleted] Some notes sound electronic, I agree, but I have that issue in CFX Lite as well. Maybe I will buy me the Stage version as a Christmas present.

That's part of evolution. For now, there will be some 'electronic' (eg. tinny) sound in some bits. In the future, I'm sure the pteq crew have targets/aims, and our technology (computer power, speed, memory etc) will let them sort out any tinny sounding bits.

CyberGene P.S. Re-reading my last post above, I really started wondering if Modartt could be behind this 🧐 It’s the only logical explanation for why someone would waste so much effort on proving some silly point in the first place. Otherwise, it would be worrying that an unrelated individual would do it.

I have a really strong suspicion on who I think it is. I won’t say because I don’t have enough evidence or proof, and the numerous dots that connected could also be entirely coincidental. But there’s a lot of dots that connect. And if I’m right, I’m positively baffled about why this would mean so much to them to this level of obsessiveness. I’m also not entirely sure they did it alone or didn’t at least discuss it with some of their likeminded fellows at first.

But I don’t want to get all Sherlock Holmes.

QuasiUnaFantasia I think "Sofia's" more obvious career choices lie in politics, journalism, and marketing for multinational corporations operating above the law.

😂

jdg78 I think "Sofia" should take up fantasy fiction or screenwriting instead. The whole Italian student backstory and role-playing element shows a very active imagination and propensity for character development.

That part of it kind of reminds me of the movie Catfish. Either way, I hope this person puts that talent to good use in the future. It was quite impressive from a story line point of view.

[deleted] I have downloaded the trial version of Pianoteq and... Call me crazy, but I still like the Bluethner, it responds so precisely, it is so evenly modelled, no notes are sticking out and the sound is crisp and clear in my headphones, different from what I have (Vintage D, CFX Light and Dore's pianos) but still great, just different., Some notes sound electronic, I agree, but I have that issue in CFX Lite as well. Maybe I will buy me the Stage version as a Christmas present.

Some say that Pianoteq is better at emulating lesser known pianos or creating its own unique brand piano sound. I’d say this is true. Whatever the “Fazioli” was, I quite liked it.

Taushi And if I’m right, I’m positively baffled about why this would mean so much to them to this level of obsessiveness. I’m also not entirely sure they did it alone or didn’t at least discuss it with some of their likeminded fellows at first.

It's just about time on their/our hands. For example, a lot of us still have some time on our hands. Some people tinkering with hybrid midi, as well as posting on forums, and working on forum software, and playing pianos, and gardening, and all sort of other hobbies.

Lucy certainly impressed Pete, and some others. I'm impressed only in the way that - what Pete mentioned - as in certain pteq dislikers etc turned 180 degree, or that hook-line-sinker thing (get the gaff!!! About to haul up the catch).

It's along the lines of what I was thinking all along. Essence of 'piano'. As long as it sounds and plays good enough to express yourself, and get more or less the message across, then that's good.

I can't imagine Modartt soliciting donations under false pretences.

SouthPark You wrote,

SouthPark Otherwise, hard to say when they will realise that piano music and music isn't necessarily about best sound and best clarity and 'best' piano etc.

Why do you feel people need to "realize" what music is about? Why do you feel people aren't fully understanding it for themselves if they don't see it your way? You might like A and I might like Z. Why not just leave it at that? Why is your opinion more valid than anyone else's so that people should come to a realization about music. Why isn't my opinion real enough for me?

God Bless,
David

David B Why do you feel people need to "realize" what music is about? Why do you feel people aren't fully understanding it for themselves if they don't see it your way? You might like A and I might like Z. Why not just leave it at that? Why is your opinion more valid than anyone else's so that people should come to a realization about music. Why isn't my opinion real enough for me?

I already said it's subjective. But I also said that if some people were born into a third/fifth etc world and couldn't get out of it - even if they wanted to - then they would realise something more important. More special - as in - they don't need 'the best' or be 'the best' etc to make excellent 'best' music.

It's absolutely ok if you stand by your opinion.

Here - it turned out that pteq grabbed the attention of various people -- here in and PW, and had people writing 'excellent' stuff about it. It's a demonstration of a win for pteq. But I also mentioned that I don't use VST, PTeq. I heard them being used/demonstrated. They are indeed very good.

SouthPark It's absolutely ok if you stand by your opinion.

👍

SouthPark It is subjective - that is for sure. I had it covered, as I wrote 'not necessarily about best .....' (to cover everybody). It can be a 'first world' thing. If some of you folks were born into a different world - eg. '3rd' one, and remained there - with no way out even if you wanted out, then ...... different story.

If I had been born in a very poor part of the world, my chances of owning a concert grand (and a suitable studio) would be more or less the same as they are while living in a wealthy part of the world i.e. zero.

What I own is inferior to what I consider to be the best. I have my own reasons for liking what I like. However, I don't really care all that much. I can manage perfectly well with what I have, although it's not perfect.

I don't think I'd ever be satisfied with the sounds of any digital piano (that I've ever heard). I think some sample libraries are very good. The combination of MIDI and decent virtual piano software is very useful to me. I hated my first digital setup from the '90s. It's great to have choice nowadays. Some people have tastes and priorities that are completely different from mine. It's all good.

According to Kurzweil an exponential leap in computing is near (2029), and I do believe modeling will truly come into its own within that time frame, so, whatever it is that ‘some’ find lacking in modeling will be a thing of the past, but sampling has very little time left, so I’d say to you sampling addicts: enjoy it while it lasts, and DO NOT spend all your hard-earned money on samples; because samples are not a good investment for your retirement and will be worth close to nothing upon the singularity. I’d advise you invest your money in AI, automation/robotics, modeling (whence Modartt goes public), 3D-printers, etc..but not in samples.

IMHO,

Pete XIV