Piano Magic Bundle 24BiT [6 DVD]

PMI Piano Magic Bundle 24BiT [6 DVD] [Multiformat]

Formats: Kontakt 1.5, Kontakt 2, Giga 2 and GigaStudio 3, HALION, EXS 24.

The OLD LADY an incredible Model 1923 Steinway D
PMI EMPEROR a Model 290SE Imperial Grand Bosendorfer
PMI GRANDIOSO BOSENDORFER 290 (full version), the 5 stars awarded superb PMI piano library
PMI GRANDIOSO STEINWAY D (Classic version),
PMI POP/ROCK YAMAHA C7 CONCERT PIANO (Ambient),
POST ESTONIA CONCERT GRAND (Full version),
PMI PIANO SUITE: Orchestral Instruments, Steinway D, Prepared Piano (Full version),
PMI HISTORIC KEYBOARDS: Fortepiano, French & Flemish Harpsichords and Virginal

Unique features of PMI piano libraries:

- Sympathetic resonance; the singing of the non-struck resonating strings(+) - Sostenuto and softpedal; (+) - IR-based ambience and stereo imaging; - IR-based body resonance; - Seemingly unlimited dynamic range and responsiveness; - 24bit samples for pristine audio quality; - Total freedom of tuning; - Surround Sound Mixing + Kontakt 2 Scripts

Pianos:

EMPEROR

This library brings you an incredible Bцsendorfer 290 SE as the most realistic sample library available today. The piano has a huge dynamic range, with very subtle pianissimo and thunderous fortissimi. 12 recorded velocity layers, with 12 separate sustain pedal down layers and release triggered samples. OLD LADY: This library brings you an amazing Model 1923 Steinway D grand piano. Sampled with 10 recorded velocity layers with 10 separate sustain pedal down layers and release triggered samples.

The recorded pianos for OLD LADY and EMPEROR were equipped with an advanced computer operated playback mechanism that was designed by mathematician, scientist and inventor Wayne Stahnke. The mechanism actually operates the piano keys and pedals with over 1.000 steps accuracy for inverse hammer velocity. The Stancke computer system enabled Amsterdam based sample library producer Michiel Post to capture each velocity layer for this library with absolute velocity levels. These levels guarantee a totally even response across the whole keyboard for all velocities. The programming of this piano is designed to take full advantage of the possibilities of the new GigaStudio 3 software. This results in more programmed velocity layers. The Emperor has 24 recordings for each key. These recordings were further divided in 64 velocity groups, each a slight variation of the underlying velocity layer sample. These libraries use a new programming to create the sustain pedal effect. Traditionally, conventional piano libraries use the sustain pedal as an ON-OFF switch, which has to be pressed before a note is played. These libraries lacked the possibility to re-pedal as in a real concert grand piano. Now this barrier has been broken. The PMI EMPEROR & OLD LADY libraries allow the user to press the sustain pedal at any time while playing notes or chords to start the sympathic resonance of the non-struck strings. There is a choice of convolution using the impulse response of the body resonance of the actual piano and a programming technique that adds the recorded resonance as an extra layer. GigaPulse (the convolution engine in GigaStudio 3) is also used for recreation of the original acoustics of the piano hall where the pianos were recorded. * Special features for GigaStudio 3 and Kontakt 2: Body resonance for reproduction of the true body resonance upon sustain pedal use, Hall resonance, true re-pedalling, sustain pedal triggered pedal noise etc.

Bosendorfer 290

This Bosendorfer library provides the greatest possible control during the softest pianissimo, through crescendos to the reserves of power needed for the loudest fortissimo. By utilizing new technology to optimise the mechanical performance of the action, Post Musical Instruments has created a product which leaves the pianist in total control of dynamic response, timbre and touch. PMI has finally captured a grand piano with "breath". They recorded both dry samples and ambient samples. The dry samples are recorded fairly close to the piano strings. The wet samples are recorded at a distance so that the hall acoustic is captured. You can experience a concert hall type of sound and control the amount of ambience until you play it absolutely dry.

Several Gigabytes of samples, up to 16 recorded layers of velocity, separate sustain pedal up and down samples, multiple release samples... separate "dry" and "wet" samples that can be mixed for ultimate ambience control. 24 bit samples, real-time sustain pedal, increased dynamics, smoother velocity response and GigaPulse body resonance make this library your ultimate sampled piano! PLEASE NOTE: You will need at least 1 GB of free RAM when playing the GRANDIOSO libraries from a RAM-based soft-sampler platform. When operating the samples on a disk streaming sampler (Giga, Kontakt with DFD, EXS24 with Virtual memory on and HALION) you need 512 MB.

Steinway D

We recorded the best grand piano we could find. This particular instrument is in premium condition, a Steinway model D3 with serial number 393210 which was built in 1965. It was fully refurbished by Steinway Hamburg in 1999. This piano served the Rotterdam 'DOELEN' concert hall for several decades, where hundreds of famous musicians, from Claudio Arrau to the Rolling Stones, performed for live audiences and broadcast concerts. We captured up to 6 articulations (PPP, PP, P, MF, F, FF and FFF) for sustain pedal up, sustain pedal down and 4 articulations for the release triggered samples. We recorded the samples using the finest digital equipment available. Prism Sound, a 24-bit ProTools TDM Mix+ system and Waves processing was used. We have mapped up to 16 levels of velocity, true multiple velocity release layers, ultimate staccato, and sustained pedal-down samples with a carefully chosen amount of resonance. The library has 5 GB of samples. The end result was tested by several concert pianists, who helped us develop a sampled instrument which could meet their highest expectations. There is no doubt in our minds that this is the best sampled piano ever.

YAMAHA C7

This Yamaha C7 library provides the greatest possible control during the softest pianissimo, through crescendos to the reserves of power needed for the loudest fortissimo. By utilizing new technology to optimise the mechanical performance of the action, Post Musical Instruments has created a product which leaves the pianist in total control of dynamic response, timbre and touch. PMI has captured the final pop grand piano. We recorded both dry samples and ambient samples. 8 GB of 24 bits samples, up to 16 recorded layers of velocity, separate sustain pedal up and down samples, multiple release samples... and best: dry and wet samples that can be mixed for absolute ambience control.

ESTONIA

Estonia Concert Grand piano is a multi-velocity level chromatically sampled piano of the highest realism! The Grand Piano of ESTONIA has an unique SOUND which comes from the superior spruce timber that grows only in extremely cold areas. The large 9' instrument was sampled with multiple velocity layers and sustain pedal sampled individually. There is even a multiple velocity layer release layer for ultimate realism! The instrument was sampled with 4 layers of velocity (both pedal up and pedal down) also 4 layers of velocity were used to capture the release key action of this piano. The 15 instrument variations give the options of playing the piano with sustained notes only (!), no sustained notes, no release layer, special 'dark' settings etc….All white keys are sampled (55 for each layer). Back to top of page

HISTORIC KEYBOARDS

This dynamic library features: Flemish Harpsichord, Frensh Harpsichord, a Virginal and a unique Fortepiano. The harpsichords have been sampled so that you can get both manuals separately and combined. You can even use a key switch to change the registration (from upper manual only, to lower manual to both at the same time) while playing. All instruments are captured with their release sounds, giving them an unbelievable realistic quality. The Sampled Fortepiano Making a beautiful instrument more available by Howland Auchincloss Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1732) invented the piano during the period 1680-1720, but its acceptance, especially in his native Italy, was very slow, and it is said that he was very disappointed. However, in Germany and Austria very active development took place, and by 1770 there was an instrument, now universally referred to as the "fortepiano," sometimes as the "Viennese fortepiano," which was enthusiastically accepted in the general area of Austria and southern Germany. By far the most important aspect of the subject today is that Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven wrote many compositions for the fortepiano, and some of these compositions were for their students and therefore vary greatly in technical difficulty. Almost surely, anybody who has taken piano lessons for a few years or more has worked on one of these works, but, almost always they were playing a modern piano, not a fortepiano. In the period 1770-1790 the steel frame had not yet been devised, and the metallurgy of string manufacture was different than in the mid-19th century. These factors combined to make string tension much reduced. In order to avoid excessive force on the string, the weight of the hammers was much less. The end result of these limitations and of the builders' adjustments to them was, somewhat surprisingly, that the action of most fortepianos was very light. The tone was clear and even penetrating, but the sustain was much less. To like the fortepiano today, even if one's pleasure is limited to listening to recordings, is to take a step backwards in time. After about 1800 the fortepiano was gradually replaced almost as completely as it had replaced the harpsichord. Essentially, although the term "fortepiano" was still sometimes used, the actual instrument came more and more to resemble the modern piano. By 1860 the American Steinway Piano is said to have had virtually all of the essential features of the modern piano. It is not a great exaggeration to say the the fortepiano disappeared in the same way that the harpsichord and the lute disappeared. Even more unfortunately, the revival of interest in "early music" at the turn of the 20th century did not include the fortepiano. Major credit for the return of the fortepiano to the concert stage and to recordings belongs to a relatively small group of scholars, performers, builders and restorers in Europe and in America dating from the 1970s. Malcolm Bilson, now at Cornell University, was the driving force in Norht America. However, the price of a new fortepiano reconstruction is high, the instrument requires frequent tuning, and the number of keys is considerably less than is the case for the modern piano. It is therefore not satisfactory as a general-purpose piano. As a result, it is still difficult for most pianists, amateur or professional, to gain personal experience with the very special qualities of this instrument which was so popular in Vienna more than 200years ago. With the present disk there are now two available sampled fortepianos, and we no longer can say that the acoustic instrument is indispensable to the ability of a pianist attempting to create the sound of a Haydn sonata on the fortepiano. Certainly, the acoustic instrument will be seen as essential for the concert hall. The Boldersounds Fortepiano (www.boldersounds.com) has been available since 1999 and originated with a sampling session in 1997. The fortepiano used was the personal instrument of Malcolm Bilson, a noted teacher, scholar, performer who helped me arrange the sampling session. The sample editing was done by Dennis Burns of Boldersounds after some less than satisfactory efforts by me. The instrument was a copy of a fortepiano by Anton Walter, one of the best builders of the 18th century. The fortepiano used for the present disk is also a Walter piano, but in this case the instrument is a restored original. The sampling and editing were done in 2001, almost 4 years later. The later efforts benefit at a minimum from improved technology and also, probably, from the availability of a better instrument, but rather than look at the two disks as competitive with eachother, I would urge that they are complementary, because the fortepiano was not a standardized instrument. Together with the Post harpsichords and virginal they get the Gigasampler owner off to a good start with 18th century keyboard instruments. A frequent initial reaction to the sound of the fortepiano is that it is less beautiful than that of a fine modern concert grand piano. I believe that such a reaction will usually be changed if the player listens to good recordings. The clear sound and reatively short sustain of the fortepiano tends to favor the special elements of style in the music of Haydn and Mozart. The sound is different but not inferior. Another complaint often voiced is that a sampled piano is not (and probably cannot be) the sonic equal of the acoustic instrument as it was at the time of sampling. This is part of the general dictum that live music is better than recorded music. One answer to this complaint is that the sampled fortepiano is good enough to be an alternative to the modern piano, which is simply an "incorrect" instrument for playing music written long before it was available. Each player will make his or her judgment about what kind of "piano library" they want to have. Malcolm Bilson has told me that there are many fine pianos of both 18th and 19th centuries which deserve attention, and we can be optimistic that a library started now will grow in the years to come. There is one aspect of the fortepiano for which there is at present no simple way of copying at present. This is the very light action of the fortepiano previously mentioned, which facilitates extremely rapid playing. I have yet to find a digital keyboard which has an action comparable to a fortepiano. Therefore, if a friend was buying a MIDI controller, I would advise them to select one with a light action if their main enthusiasm was 18th century music.

PIANO SUITE

A unique collection of Steinway D Concert grand and other orchestral percussion instruments. The main instrument is a Steinway D Concert Grand (the largest size Steinway makes) sampled with multiple velocity layers and sustain pedal sampled individually.

System requirements and notes 4 GB of Free Hard Disk Space for each piano, DVD drive. Each piano ships on a single DVD.

Recommended system: 1.0 GHz (MAC) / 2 GHz (PC), at least 1.000 MB of free RAM, recommended OS: Windows XP/Mac OSX.

Available formats: Kontakt 1.5, Kontakt 2, Giga 2 and GigaStudio 3, HALION, EXS 24.