Wilh. Steinmann Upright
A Wilh. Steinmann upright recorded with three microphones: an AKG P120 condenser, a Pyle PDMIC78 dynamic microphone, and an Audio Technica MB2k. Sampled with two velocity layers.
ByGeorge Griffiths
The story
This piano is a Wilh. Steinmann upright. My parents bought this piano secondhand in the early 2000s for me and my siblings to learn to play piano on. I never took piano lessons as a child but enjoyed occasionally playing and composing songs on this piano. I have recenly returned home after many years living away and have enjoyed playing this piano once again.
I recorded the piano with three microphones: an AKG P120 condenser microphone at the back of the piano near the soundboard, a Pyle PDMIC78 dynamic microphone to the left of the player’s head and an Audio Technica MB2k dynamic microphone to the right of the player’s head.
I sampled at 2 velocity layers and in a cycle of fiths from C1. I included a script which allows you to adjust the microphone levels in Kontakt. I didn’t do any processing to the raw audio samples.
I think the sampled piano has a nice mellow sound when played quietly. I found it difficult to blend the two velocity layers together well because of the big difference in tone between my piano and forte samples; maybe the pianobook community would like to try and better blend the two velocity layers.
Reviews
I really dig the character
It's heavy and I like it. When I played it I really felt the weight of each note. It was a bit too hard for me to play it live in a convincing way, but when I programmed the midi it delivered nice results.
Not particularly inspiring for me
Im more a fan of felt pianos for their muted cinematic and warm vibe. I often find non felts to lack character and be too bright. While i acctually do think this piano is warm and has character theres just something missing for me. It feels a little too roomy, the signal isn't as clear and as close as i would like it to be. Its also not that dynamic which is really important to me in pianos. Its still a good sounding piano but there are many i would reach for on pianobook before this one. Good job anyway though.
A kind of lo-fi piano that could offer a lot!
This piano has quite a lot of character to offer and feels very nice to play on. It has this kind of lo-fi quality to it in all three microphone options provided. In some cases the noise might feel too much in higher velocities, but if your playing is consistent you won't notice it that much. If you manage to handle it, the piano actually sounds lovely! The instrument wallpaper is also out of proportion, but that obviously doesn't interefere with the character of the instrument whatsoever.