I've been a big fan of Pianoteq since 2009. For those who don't already know, Pianoteq (PTQ) is a modeled piano software/plugin from French company Modartt and developer Philippe Guillaume. I have to admit that there were few years when I didn't practically touch PTQ at all. My Nord Stage 2 with all those quite nice sampled pianos was all I needed. Quite resently, some of my new musical ideas needed another type of piano sound, something which was outside my Nord's territory, I went back to check PTQ again. Luckily enough, same time I discovered that there was a new update available: Pianoteq 5.
Pianoteq 5 - a quick review:
First and most importantly, Pianoteq 5 seems to be a great improvement over version 4! It has more brightness and natural character of acoustic piano sound. If I A/B switch rapidly from my favorite (sampled) Nord piano sound to (modeled) PTQ, I can hear that there's still a difference in 'basic tone quality' between sampling and modeling but modeling has become little closer. To me this is a clear sign of improvement. With 'basic tone quality' I mean listening to individual notes played separately. I feel that modeling has still room for improvement for making it as warm and natural as it is in real life. On the other hand piano can sound very clear and punchy too; most often heard in pop, rock or jazzy situations. This ain't the best part of PTQ. Pianoteq is better for mellower sounds, more distant sounding concert hall pianos or cinematic piano sounds. But for that kind of tasks it's brilliant!
When listening to PTQ 5 I think there's one improvement over earlier versions: sound quality is more even all across the keyboard. I remember well that I have had hard time especially with PTQ's low mids area - going down from middle C and especially when played with forte or fortissimo. Still this low mids isn't the best part of the new model but it's not that artificial sounding anymore. In fact I have long felt that secret for finaly nailing 'it' lies in catching attack. Many PTQ users have asked for more 'woodiness' or whatever to call it. I believe Modartt should still pay more attention to the attack part of the puzzle. I strongly believe that this very first moment when hammer hits strings is very important for giving piano its personal sound. Of course, all this happens in a special acoustic space (wooden cabinet etc.).
Anyway piano sound isn't only individual basic notes which live in isolation. In fact piano is a complex structure where allmost all of its parts are affecting to other parts. It's all those complex hammer/damper/string interraction features where modeling clearly beats sampling. To get a better picture, just check this page: https://www.pianoteq.com/pianoteq5#new
Quite often lack of these features make sampled pianos sound 'sterile' or 'dead'. On the other hand, if modeling has improved in basic tone quality, it's fair to say that also sampled solutions have improved in this interraction area. Best sampled pianos have pedal down samples, pedal noises and even string resonance. How does they implement the latter, is not known to me. Is it somehow sampled or modeled? Anyway there's lot of feeling of whole piano resonating when you play PTQ and not that much when you play Nord (which have pedal down samples and 'string resonance'). PTQ feels like real piano and it's easy to understand why so many classical oriented players appraise it. In my opinion PTQ is best in solo piano, when it's easier to hear all these interaction features. On the other hand, band situations favor more punchy basic piano sound and this can be little difficult for mellower or more distant sounding PTQ. Fortunately there are great tools for adjusting the sound: hammer hardness, EQ, effects (compressor, reverb etc.) just to mention few. Still I have to admit that I wouldn't probably use PTQ for jazz piano trio recording at its current state. There are clearly limitations what kind of sounds you can get out of it and what not. With too much EQ, for example, it just gets unnatural.
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| Pianoteq Effects panel |
One thing is sure. Pianoteq is fascinating way of learning things and just for having fun. You can play and record your perfomance with one piano and then listen to it with another. Using all those mic settings etc. you can really put it to another perspective. I have to admit that in these few years Pianoteq has taught me more about those features like string resonance and half pedaling than my acoustic Kawai. PTQ has opened my ears to listen to all those different things which make piano so special instrument. If you wanna dig into real classical stuff, you can experiment with different tunings or try to play Bach or Mozart with some historical instrument:
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| check: https://www.pianoteq.com/kremsegg1 |
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| Pianoteq and tuning possibilities |
Couple of things deserve a special mention here. First: Pianoteq's user interface. It's just amazingly beautiful and so intuitive to work with. Everything is in right place and it looks marvellous. It has tons of features and parameters, but still it looks simple and not too technical. In my opinion this is very important for satisfying user experience. Second: Pianoteq user forum. I don't know any other software which has so devoted users and so lively forum. Developers are also interested to take part in those threads and all this gives you a nice feeling of things going further.
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| Pianoteq main User Interface |
To sum it, I am so glad that Pianoteq story continues and I will definitely see what's the next step in this evolution!
