My pianos *DEBUNKED*

Also, correct me if I'm wrong since I am myself a non-native English speaker (and excuse me for what is probably a stereotype of the typical Italian) but isn't her English way too perfect (and British?) for an Italian?

CyberGene

I don't think Sofia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_(robot) would have any issue speaking pefect English 😉

Trying to separate the chaff from the wheat (Matthew 3:12) and assuming that every cloud has a silver lining, I can see some use of this libraries (maybe even by their father, Q#1 in FAQ) with something like this:

https://zynthian.org/

It corresponds well with all that "philosophy behind".

CyberGene Also, correct me if I'm wrong since I am myself a non-native English speaker (and excuse me for what is probably a stereotype of the typical Italian) but isn't her English way too perfect (and British?) for an Italian?

We could also ask: Isn't your English too perfect? 🙂

I hope it's not the case, but I have to admit that my suspicions have also been raised that these are, in fact, doctored Pianoteq samples. I had noticed from early on that some of the samples had an oddly synthetic twang to them (particularly the Bechstein) but it's easy to dismiss these types of concerns when your frame of reference is with other free amateur pianos where the general quality level is, frankly, pretty low.

In any case, what always struck me as most exceptional about these instruments was their consistency, low noise floor, and playability, which are extremely atypical for free amateur pianos. However, if they are simply recycled Pianoteq, it would go a long way to explaining this, as these are all areas where Pianoteq excels.

Anyway, I'm sure the truth will come out eventually, and I'm curious to see where it all goes.

Can't wait to analyze myself. Truth for me is I haven't played them much myself. I have 12 hours on a plane soon, maybe that'll free up some time.

jdg78 the fact is the matter is that the playability is very good which is not so common .
If it turns out that the conspiracy theory is valid and that is is indeed based on pianoteq sounds , then the Beichstein will have gone through a very unusual journey as Moddart modelled not the acoustic piano but the sampled Beichstein Digital Grand which is a sampled piano recorded in the famous Teldex studio. So the journey would be as follows :
(1) acoustic -> (2) DG Sampled -> (3) PTQ model based on DG sampled sound -> (4) Sampled from the modelled PTQ !!

fishker

May I ask if you come from a Russian speaking country? I'm not judging by the idiom you've mentioned btw., but you've used ")" instead of ": )" which most people that speak that language do (at least those that I know).

Also, out of curiosity, could you share with us how you found out about that forum? I've noticed you've registered the account just after I've posted my suspicion about 'Sofia pianos' and your first post here was mentioning "Virtual Piano Prank of the Year".

Maybe you could also share your view on the motivation of 'Sofia' for 'sampling' Pianoteq, creating the whole website and writing that whole story about young Italian student, if it turns out to be the case. Of course only if you have any thoughts on the matter 🙂

Joannchr If it turns out that the conspiracy theory is valid and that is is indeed based on pianoteq sounds , then the Beichstein will have gone through a very unusual journey as Moddart modelled not the acoustic piano but the sampled Beichstein Digital Grand which is a sampled piano recorded in the famous Teldex studio. So the journey would be as follows :
(1) acoustic -> (2) DG Sampled -> (3) PTQ model based on DG sampled sound -> (4) Sampled from the modelled PTQ !!

Yes, that is certainly an odd journey... 😂

Anyway, as it seems almost certain now that this is an elaborate hoax, I'm curious what the point of it all was other than proving the ability of our minds to be deceived by a clever story and our expectations to influence our perceptions.

jdg78 Anyway, as it seems almost certain now that this is an elaborate hoax, I'm curious what the point of it all was

Easy answer. That's a PT fan who was annoyed by the PT critics and decided to teach them a lesson 😉 I guess unsuccessfully, judging by the early uncovering of the hoax.

jdg78

My take on this is 'attention'. Do not belittle the importance of receiving attention by some human beings, especially online.

How you say, “you’ve been had” in Italiano?🤣

jdg78 Anyway, as it seems almost certain now that this is an elaborate hoax, I'm curious what the point of it all was other than proving the ability of our minds to be deceived by a clever story and our expectations to influence our perceptions.

Here's a quote from Sofia's piano's home page (my emphasis):

I’m 22 years old, Italian, psychology student

QuasiUnaFantasia Here's a quote from Sofia's piano's home page (my emphasis):

I’m 22 years old, Italian, psychology student

You beat me to it, QuasiUnaFantasia 🙂.

I was just thinking that this could make for a very interesting psychological experiment…

CyberGene Easy answer. That's a PT fan who was annoyed by the PT critics and decided to teach them a lesson 😉 I guess unsuccessfully, judging by the early uncovering of the hoax.

Yes, that seems the most likely explanation, although I don't think it quite proves what they think it proves.

In any case, the truly odd level of devotion among certain segments of the Pianoteq fanbase never ceases to amaze, so it would not surprise me at all. 😂

jdg78 In any case, the truly odd level of devotion among certain segments of the Pianoteq fanbase never ceases to amaze. 😂

Absolutely! 🤦🏻‍♂️

Maybe it should be pointed out that despite the allegation, and some corroborating evidence, we have no proof of a hoax. Thorough analyses must still be undertaken in order to quantify the probability of a hoax,

QuasiUnaFantasia I guess that should be pretty easy for @Sofia_MZ , she certainly has some pictures from the actual pianos, the miking, etc. I wouldn't believe she doesn't have any pictures from where she makes those sampling sessions. Maybe a university profile of her with a real name, etc. I understand some people may want some privacy but when there's concern of a hoax, then privacy is unfortunately not the solution. Besides, I'm not sure if there's also legal implication in sampling a commercial product and offering samples for free. Modartt might not be very happy with that.

20 layers are really difficult to do by hand without an extreme amount of patience, especially with extra long samples. With 20, I'd either need a robot (which would be devilishly difficult to calibrate per piano), or an extreme amount of time to just play 25+ velocities, choose the correct ones, and order them by gain. Guess that could be done with software, but still, 20 layers at 15 seconds per sample takes around 4-6 hours of continuous recording. I was wondering how all of those samples could be recorded - it would take probably a 18-24 hour period, which is more than most homeowners would allow. And the part about having to deal with creaks and such in the environment - I spend 80% of my time editing that out. That amount of work always felt suspect to me - I just thought Sofia is crazier than me.

Indeed, it was a prank.

Since after this post I’ll be probably banned from this forum, I’d like to give you guys the low down.

I’m 16, not a girl, not Italian, certainly not British or Russian, and obviously not a psychology student.

I started out hacking Pianoteq Demo ‘cause I have no money to waste on a paid VSTs.

I expected the libraries would sound like crap, and was surprised they were actually pretty good.

I was curious what other people would say, and also bored.

Honestly, I didn’t expect this thing to snowball, and am surprised it took someone so long to figure it out.

I suppose I should have come clean earlier, but it was fun to read all these supposed experts pontificate about the timbre of this and that vintage instrument.

I had a few good chuckles creating the legend, but I’m glad it ended ‘cause it was truly starting to affect my schoolwork.

I hope you won’t hold a grudge.

Ethical issues aside, the pianos are neat, aren’t they?