My Desert Island Piano VST - VI Labs Modern D

Pete14 Hi Pete. If you're didn't get the memo already, there's a thread I hope you'll read before returning here and posting daydream-like posts, thanks.

Pete14

Sadly no demo version. None of the piano libraries I’m most interested in have trial versions (Premier Kawai Legend, Garritan CFX and Ivory 3).

David Lai

Deflection, a common strategy……”look at the other hand, Pete.”

But thank you for your “non-answer,” because now I know that VI-Labs doesn’t offer a free trial, but do you know who does? 😁

Okay, I’ll see you at “the other thread,” for it seems like my objective perspective is no longer welcome ‘round here!

Pete14 Okay, I’ll see you at “the other thread,” for it seems like my objective perspective is no longer welcome ‘round here!

Nope, not here. You've been digressing, and introducing a synth into the thread. I'm only moving discussion topics to related threads. So, have a good read there before you post, as your default position is known well by me, and I don't want to hear another praise of PianoTeq from you! Read it my concerns, listen to the video, and bask in the synthetic qualities of this "piano" sound. You're welcome!

David Lai and I don't want to hear another praise of PianoTeq

pianoteq is great and it sounds identical to real acoustic pianos, and i need a doctor RN

pianow LOL, it's alright… I'm tired of blind PianoTeq worship and dreaming, too. I'm glad we have more beautiful sounds to listen to on the likes of Modern D. And the almighty acoustic itself, which you can find in performance halls and professors' studios.

David Lai

yup, but in some demos i find it to be a little hard in some areas, it reminds me of vsl 280vc in those particular demos with more openness (the 280vc is very boxed in)

although it wasn't what i expected to hear (based on other American Ds I've heard and played) but it was quite interesting and i think it has something to do with the actual piano never being used before, it's brand new

i liked the roundness a lot, it sounds like every steinway I've heard in that regard, the first thing that hits your ears is not the sharp partials but the actual fundamental frequency that's both percussive and rounded, it's beautiful, these kinda pianos are excellent for most arrangements including what i do.

pianow True. Well, this D uses the new Renner action, like their Hamburg members. So the clarity is, I think, because of that.

After playing with this new Modern D for a couple of days, it has quickly become my most favorite VI. Its playability and sound are simply amazing. I'm so thankful to enjoy playing this virtual instrument with my N1X. 🙏

God Bless!

This walkthrough is great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDmdD6J10Kc

jenpal Very happy for you!!! Did you have to build your own curve?

Mindbullets Yes, almost an hour. This is something special!!!

Mindbullets

this guy's fantastic, he explained everything that i needed

and then David's playing videos, vi labs knows how to introduce/present a piano

pianow I've quickly become a fan of Charles! His arrangements are really cool. That first piece you hear in the trailer video (and that which closed it as well) is from his arrangement of the famous Mission Impossible theme.

David Lai
woah, i should listen to it again then, thanks for the reply🤍

Thank you David Lai . 😊

I only use the light touch 2 curve for Modern D, which seems better than the default, but might explore custom curve later on. I also like giving it a little bit of reverb and sometimes expand the width to 100%.

Hi,

For Apple and Logic 11 user, and MODERN D and PIANOTEQ 8 owner, you can try my LOGIC11 presets :

MODERN D for the main sound, PIANOTEQ for the real RESONANCE (sidechained to the MODERND internal sound to produce MODERN D SR/sustain Resonance) and repedal and Damper fx for N1X (aftertouch): (sampling + modeling), works nice together

V1.03 updated :

OlivierW V 1.04 even better :

Audio demo 🇦

mozart-modern-dpianoteqchromaverb-logic11.mp3

Although I don't really need it (worklife has been so hectic that I barely practiced in the last 6 months and I continue to play piano worse than I play doorbells), GAS hit me and I bought Modern D yesterday thinking that it may help me in not letting dust accumulate on the keys (GAS excuses are the lamest…).

The tone is nice, but to my untrained ears the mics all sound very similar, while in VSL the mic selection make an immediate difference. I had the same feeling with the Modern U… The room mic is very dry, and I much prefer a room mic to any reverb, so I miss a distant mic that I can use at 10-20% to add space to the sound. Overall, it is more "in the room" than the VSL pianos, and it will probably become my main practice VST, because I feel it is less forgiving than the VSL pianos. My unrefined touch is much more obvious than in the VSL CFX, for example. Then, after playing for a few minutes, I launched Garritan CFX just to compare and after 2 notes I switched Garritan off because I could not stand the sensation of playing in a cathedral.

Although I now use a M1 macmini (baseline model that is enough for me), I also installed Modern D in my old windows i5 laptop (2015 maybe???) just to check its performance, and with 3 mics and max symp resonance (no custom EQ or reverb), I had no glitches (audiobox GO interface at 32 samples).

A final question to UVI / VILabs experts: is there a way to delay one of the mics by a few msecs? In the VSL engine, the room mics come with a standard large delay that highlights the roominess of the mic and acts as a reverb, but that delay can be adjusted in the GUI; when set to zero or only a few msecs, it adds body and early reflections to the tone without too much of a reverb/echo effect. Is this possible on the VILabs pianos? I would like to try adding a 4-8 msecs to the side mic (I know I can do that by setting separate mics to separate DAW tracks and adding the delay in the mix… Simply asking if there a direct way to do that within the standalone UVI-VILabs).

vagfilm Although I now use a M1 macmini (baseline model that is enough for me), I also installed Modern D in my old windows i5 laptop (2015 maybe???) just to check its performance, and with 3 mics and max symp resonance (no custom EQ or reverb), I had no glitches (audiobox GO interface at 32 samples).

That's really good to hear! Looks like they've taken care of the CPU load quite well.

I'm not sure about delays on mics, though. I just slap on a cathedral reverb, mix the room mic high like on the complete classical preset and go from there.