My Desert Island Piano VST - VI Labs Modern D

David B You can try adjusting the continuous pedal values on the Modern D. The min/max is set at 54/74 by default. you can try adjusting that parameter either narrowing or lowering. Hopefully, you'll get it resolved.

Thanks for that, David. I can definitely improve the situation by changing those parameters. Enough so that it only occasionally bites me. But even then the unexpected sound sometimes startles me, so I'm thinking my best solution is to disable half-pedal altogether - that definitely fixes my issue. (Or I could get rid of my N3 and try to buy another controller to work better with this VST.... no, my lunacy has some boundaries...)

With my original settings (half-pedal limits at defaults), when I stopped playing something loud and got that long after BOING I tried quickly pressing the sustain pedal a couple of times to see if that would reset it... but not.

I got another useless reply from VI Labs -

Hi Jane,
THanks for your update,
It is maybe due to the fact that you are using two close mic positions in your example, or simply because the Steinway Model D has longer natural resonance in the lower register compared to the other pianos.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Best regards,
VI Labs, LLC Support team

I'm sure they're nice and are trying to be helpful... 🙄

Jane Again, Jane, it sounds like you are the only person I've heard that has this problem. Not sure how your pedal values are on your N3. But I guess, if push comes to shove, turning off half pedaling is perhaps the only way.

Thanks for letting me know that you can't turn the feature on without loading samples. I thought it can be done…

jdg78 Sounds great! It's like sitting in front of the piano, in a very realistic way. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

David Lai Jane, it sounds like you are the only person I've heard that has this problem. Not sure how your pedal values are on your N3. But I guess, if push comes to shove, turning off half pedaling is perhaps the only way.

I'm special, David!
I seem to recall a movie where Gene Wilder was at a train station and there were hundreds of people dressed just like him and he yelled, "I am UNIQUE!"
(Or maybe just my senile confabulation?)

But if I'm the only person who has this problem, I can bask in happiness for the rest of the world 🙂

Jane Haha, I love the way you put it! 🙂

Yeah, indeed your problem is a puzzler… Kept me studying for a while. Well, at least you can still enjoy the piano… or somewhat… I guess… 🙂

jdg78
that's one of the very best piano sounds I've ever heard with a virtual piano
great setting

Jane Thanks for that, David. I can definitely improve the situation by changing those parameters. Enough so that it only occasionally bites me.

If you have Ivory 3 or Pianoteq you can determine exactly where the your pedal voltage/irregularities are occurring. Ivory 3 gives this helpful graph.

The "vertical" line currently starts at midi value 54 (just like Modern D default) and 74 at the top just as it shifts into horizontal. From 0-100% represents the full 127 midi range. The little dot at the bottom represents active pedal position. If this was a video you would notice the dot moving erratically back and forth (jittery) when the pedal is not pressed. That's because my Roland DP10 pedal doesn't work well with the my Numa. Sometimes when I press and release the pedal that little dot will not immediately go all the way to the bottom horizontal line and there will be a lingering sustain trail just like you experienced. I remedy it by adjusting that "vertical" line from 54 to 64. That solves the problem for me. You can keep increasing that a first number in the Modern D until you finally reach the point where you don't get the lingering sustains anymore. Of course, increasing the second number in proportion will keep the range the same. I've got mine setup at 64-94. I'd play around with those values a little more and you might solve your problem.

God Bless,
David

jdg78 Can you try this preset on your Numa and tell me what you think? Thanks.

jdg78

A lovely performance of my favorites from WTC Bk I. I really enjoy the accompanying fugue as well. Thanks for sharing!

jdg78
it kinda reminds me of the c.bechstein digital grand which i adore, but without some of DG's flaws.
i love how intimate it is, and the tone is super balanced to my ears, not very bright and not very dull either which is a little boring (that's a positive word among producers and sound engineers 🙂 )

sidenote : i love the interface a lot, not only because it's user friendly but it actually looks so nics

Unlike Bechstein 280 in EWQL Pianos, both C. Bechstein DG and Akoustik Pianos Berlin have thin tone. Wish the next great piano vis from VILabs or hopefully Garritan or any other promising brands, will bring some thick creamier tone like PV 300 or Kawai Legend or Embertone Walker 1955.

pianow
The Bechstein DG is really impressive in lots of ways, but I've never quite gelled with it. It's a sign of how good the Modern D is that it makes even a VI as good as the Bechstein seem a bit ordinary.

CraigNZ t's a sign of how good the Modern D is that it makes even a VI as good as the Bechstein seem a bit ordinary.

i personally think that they're not comparable at all (eventhough i'm a fan of the digital grand myself)
yea they're in the same price range but the modern d has so many more "necessary" features, all the resonances, all the pedals, all the noises, best release samples on the market
and yes the modern d is very good, undeniably underpriced for what it is (it can do what some 600$ pianos can't)

I downloaded that piano yesterday and Im not so impressive. For recording it is ok, sounds nice but not for live performance. I prefer playability of pianoteq. I can sell the license for 140 Euro.

Ambrozy17 before you give it up, try and experiment with creating a velocity curve. That’s the most important step to get any library, sampled or otherwise, to the playability you like.

Ambrozy17 I downloaded that piano yesterday and Im not so impressive. For recording it is ok, sounds nice but not for live performance. I prefer playability of pianoteq. I can sell the license for 140 Euro.

🤔

Pete14 here we are again, being suggestive with an emoji. I can hear what you’re thinking, yes, let him be converted. And no, I’m not going to let him just throw away beautifully sampled and scripted piano like that.

David B Timbre shift doesn't drop any notes in the VI Labs Modern U/D like it does in VSL Synchron products.

However it can drop the release samples of the last treble notes equipped with damper : this occurs because the notes after (without damper) are shifted down (if timbre setting is negative). So these samples don’t have any release samples and are cut abruptly as the ADSR envelop is remained unchanged (ie. release time = 0).

This is confirmed with Ravenscroft iOS (and by UVI support) but I don’t know for desktop versions.

Maybe you should not even try to check this to avoid any disappointment 😅

David B Can you try this preset on your Numa and tell me what you think? Thanks.

I like it! Very crisp and clean, close overall perspective but still with a good sense of air around the notes.

Maybe just a touch bright for me in the treble, which I why I usually set the tone knob to -1.0, but this is just a personal preference.

I'm going to keep this one saved as one of my presets - thanks.

Argyris A lovely performance of my favorites from WTC Bk I. I really enjoy the accompanying fugue as well. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! Hard to go wrong with the WTC, and this is also one of my favorites.