Steinway Project


Here is a link to a Discussion on the sampling of a Steinway Grand Piano by Rob Sherratt of Korg Forums

The Steinway Grand Piano Discussion

Thanks to Rob for all his many hours of work lnvolved in this project and to the Department Head of Iowa University's Electronic Music Studio Department, Mr Lawrence Fritts for their kind permission in providing the samples to enable this project to go ahead on behalf of  Korg pa2x/800 Keyboard Owners.

 

 

Quote from Rob's  post on Korg Forums.....

''The Steinway piano project is something I wanted to do for a long time, and Reuben (John) pointed me in the direction of the University of Iowa Electronic Recording Studios, who have published 264 high quality stereo .aiff samples of their Steinway Grand Piano, each one up to 10 Mbytes in size. I wrote to the University and the department head Mr Lawrence Fritts has given consent to use these samples to make a Steinway Piano free give away to all Korg Forum members.''

Here is the copyright release statement he sent me in email on 12th Feb 2008:

Lawrence Fritts wrote:
The Steinway Piano samples were recorded in November 2001 by the University of Iowa's Electronic Music Studio department. http://theremin.music.uiowa.edu/MIS.piano.html The samples are made available for non-commercial use on the Korg Pa series keyboards, by permission of the department head, Mr Lawrence Fritts.


 

An update from Rob:

Free Steinway Piano for Pa800 and Pa2x

I'm reposting this info as a new thread because of feedback from several forum members telling me either they can not find the info, or that the original links did not work. The original thread is here if you want to read the whole story.
 The original Thread here:

Best regards,
Rob

1. This is the full Steinway sample set for the Pa2x and it requires 71 Mbytes of sample RAM all by itself. It takes about 2 minutes to load on the Pa2x. This file will not load on the Pa800 unless you have one of the Pa800's that has been modified with 128 Mbytes RAM, for example by EMO in Turkey. The Steinway piano is constructed using a double set of 30 layered stereo samples, one set recorded FF and the second set recorded MF. So there are 60 samples in total. This is provided free of charge to all Korg Forum members by Rob Sherratt and the University of Iowa Electronic Music Department. The files must not be resold or redistributed without permission. File size = 33.64 Mbytes

Select the link here and option that says "SteinwayPa2x"  [Sorry files no longer available for download]
2. This is the cut down sample set for either the Pa800 or the Pa2x. It requires 31 Mbytes of free sample RAM. It takes about 1 minute to load on the Pa2x. This version of the Steinway piano is constructed using 30 stereo samples, recorded FF. It gives a very bright sound, but without the nuances of less percussive MF samples that are present in the 71 Mbyte version. This is provided free of charge to all Korg Forum members by Rob Sherratt and the University of Iowa Electronic Music Department. The files must not be resold or redistributed without permission. File size = 17.64 Mbyes.
 
Select the Link here and option that says  "SteinwayPa800"  [Sorry files no longer available for download]

3. This is a demo recording called "Messsin About" by Rob to give a preview of the full Steinway sound for the Pa2x.

Steinwaydemo.mp3


To Download the mp3 Demo - Right click file below and 'save link as..'

Steinwaydemo.mp3 Steinwaydemo.mp3
Size : 2.004 Kb
Type : mp3


4. This is a help file in Microsoft Word 93 format, written by Rob Sherratt in Feb 09 to tell you how to merge the Steinway sounds and samples with any other sounds and samples on your Pa2x or Pa800. This file will eventually be incorporated on the forum's new Wiki site.
 
Microsoft Help File
Select the option that says "Merging PCM samples from various sources".

5. If you don't have Microsoft Word on your PC or MAC then you can download a free viewer from Microsoft here:
Microsoft Word Viewer


 

 

The Samples here:

 Quote from Rob Sherratt....

Even though the free version is nice, I'd like to make people aware of
the shortcomings which I am well aware of, and I'd also like to wet
everyone's appetite for the "perfected" commercial version which Sharp
(Irish Acts) and I are currently developing.  I think it will be ready
for release at about 50 Euros in July this year.  It's a lot of work
this time - several weeks effort for both Sharp and me......


My opinion... I think that the 'free' Steinway that Rob Developed was really expressive and a great piece of work. Now that He has joined up with 'Sharp' from Irish Acts to create an even better piano sample, it certainly should be a Sample worth owning and at around 50 Euros a really keen price. Probably a 'must have' for people that are really pianists first and foremost!



Irish Acts Website here 
« on: 22 April 2008, 22:26:46 » Rob Sherratt, CSS Forum

Here are some "improvements" that can be made on the Pa2x to what is arguably one of the best "Grand Piano" sounds on any keyboard on the market.  Firstly, select the Grand Piano RX sound, and go into Sound mode on your Pa2x. Press Menu and go to the "Sound Basic" screen.  You will see that 15 oscillators are used, and the priority of 5 means that Osc 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (RX noises) will be the first to go if we run out of polyphony.  If you look in the other two screens "OSC Basic" and "Vel/Key Zone", you'll see that sample assignments and usage are as follows:

Osc | MultiSample | Velocity| Level |. Usage
 1 .. | GrandPiano_L .. | 104-127 |. 127 .| L speaker piano note, played ff
 2 .. | GrandPiano_R . | 104-127 |. 127 .| R speaker piano note, played ff
 3 .. | GrandPiano_L .. | 089-103 |. 122 .| L speaker piano note, played f
 4 .. | GrandPiano_R . | 089-103 |. 122 .| R speaker piano note, played f
 5 .. | GrandPiano_L .. | 045-088 |. 115 .| L speaker piano note, played mf
 6 .. | GrandPiano_R . | 045-088 |. 115 .| R speaker piano note, played mf
 7 .. | GrandPiano_L .. | 002-044 |. 115 .| L speaker piano note, played pp
 8 .. | GrandPiano_R . | 002-044 |. 115 .| R speaker piano note, played pp
 9 .. | Tailpiece_L ..... | 002-127 |. 127 .| L speaker piano resonance if sustain/damper is on
10 . | Tailpiece_R ..... | 002-127 |. 127 .| R speaker piano resonance if sustain/damper is on
11 . | FX Key Off_L .. | 002-127 |. 005 .| Percussion noise when you release a note
12 . | FX Pedal On_L .| 002-127 |. 060 .| L percussion noise when sustain/damper is depressed
13 . | FX Pedal On_R .| 002-127 |. 060 .| R percussion noise when sustain/damper is depressed
14 . | FX Pedal On_L .| 002-127 |. 060 .| L percussion noise when sustain/damper is released
15 . | FX Pedal On_R .| 002-127 |. 060 .| R percussion noise when sustain/damper is released

The note range utilised for the GrandPiano samples is C1 to D#9. You will see that the "pedal on" event is mapped internally to the note E9 and the "pedal off" event is mapped internally to the note G9.  It seems likely that the new "half pedal" facility will reduce the level of the piano resonance sound "Tailpiece" to approximately half the normal level of 127. This will be tested when a Korg DS-1H pedal arrives later this month.

There are one or two things I wanted to improve:

a) Even when you try to play very quietly, the actual sample volume is played at a loud level (115).
b) The FX Key Off_L sound is not audible when you release the keys.
c) The piano sounds too "chorused" compared with a real Grand Piano.

To fix problems (a) and (b), you need to modify the OSC Level settings for some of the oscillators/ multisamples.  All you do is go into the Sound -> Basic -> OSC Basic screen, and for the High OSC Multisample, touch the "Level" parameter and adjust it with the wheel to the new Level values below. You have to make sure you've selected the correct OSC number from the right scrolling list of radio buttons first.

Osc | MultiSample | Velocity| Level |. Usage
 1 .. | GrandPiano_L . | 104-127 |. 127 .| L speaker piano note, played ff
 2 .. | GrandPiano_R . | 104-127 |. 127 .| R speaker piano note, played ff
 3 .. | GrandPiano_L . | 089-103 |. 115 .| L speaker piano note, played f
 4 .. | GrandPiano_R . | 089-103 |. 115 .| R speaker piano note, played f
 5 .. | GrandPiano_L . | 045-088 |. 100 .| L speaker piano note, played mf
 6 .. | GrandPiano_R . | 045-088 |. 100 .| R speaker piano note, played mf
 7 .. | GrandPiano_L . | 002-044 |. 080 .| L speaker piano note, played pp
 8 .. | GrandPiano_R . | 002-044 |. 080 .| R speaker piano note, played pp
 9 .. | Tailpiece_L ..... | 002-127 |. 127 .| L speaker piano resonance if sustain/damper is on
10 . | Tailpiece_R ..... | 002-127 |. 127 .| R speaker piano resonance if sustain/damper is on
11 . | FX Key Off_L .. | 002-127 |. 018 .| Percussion noise when you release a note
12 . | FX Pedal On_L .| 002-127 |. 060 .| L percussion noise when sustain/damper is depressed
13 . | FX Pedal On_R .| 002-127 |. 060 .| R percussion noise when sustain/damper is depressed
14 . | FX Pedal On_L .| 002-127 |. 060 .| L percussion noise when sustain/damper is released
15 . | FX Pedal On_R .| 002-127 |. 060 .| R percussion noise when sustain/damper is released

Then to fix problem (c) go into Sound -> Effects -> FX Select, and note that FX2 is currently set to "26 - Stereo Chorus". Change the FX type to "110 - PianoBody/Damper". Then set the FX parameter settings as follows:

  • SoundBoard Depth - 50
  • Damper Depth - 30
  • Src - Damper #64
  • Tone - 90
  • Mid Shape - 20
  • Tune - 0
  • FX Amount - 86
  • Src - Damper #64

After making these changes, don't forget to write the modified sound - for example with with the revised name "Grand Piano RX 2" to one of your User bank sounds.

For members of this forum, you will see that I uploaded the .SET file here. If you are viewing this message as a "guest" then you will not see the attachment. Inside the .ZIP file is a .SET file which auto-loads the GrandPiano RX 2 sound into User 1-1.  If you want to load it elsewhere then kindly Open (not Load) the .SET file, Open the Sound folder, Open the USER01 folder and you will see the sound "Grand Piano RX 2" which you can then Load and you will be prompted for where you want to store it.

Best regards,
Rob Sherratt

 

The Sample

Grand_Piano_RX.zip Grand_Piano_RX.zip
Size : 0.001 Kb
Type : zip


Great Thanks to Rob Sherratt for giving his permission to post all information, Links and his mp3 Steinway Demo 'Messin about'

Hi everyone.
Rob Sherratt and I have been working on several new "Irish Acts" commercial pianos for the Pa2x. Rob just sent me a couple of demos which he played and recorded earlier today on the MP3 recorder in his Pa2x. If you'd like to hear and comment on the work in progress, here are the links to the demos he sent me ...

Link 1 - Rhodes Narrated demo demonstrating some of the features
 
Link 2 - Rhodes - Irish Dolly - First time complete with tune, second time as a sing-along
 
Link 3 - Irish Grand
 
Link 4 - Irish Grand 2
 
Smile
More information about the Grand Piano sounds can be found HERE, and some demos will be posted to that thread in the next few days. Pa2x owners should order your EXB-M256 sample RAM expansion cards now, because the Grand-daddy of all Pianos will require 162 Mbytes sample RAM!

Kind regards
Sharp



Irish Acts New Commercial Piano Sample

 

Q: What is the difference between the commercial "Irish Grand Piano" and the free "Steinway" piano Rob published earlier this year?

A1: The stereo samples used in the commercial piano were recorded in an anechoic chamber and the user can add variable amounts of reverb later. This piano has four sample layers P, MF, F and FF and the tone progression as you play louder is very smooth.

A2: The stereo samples used in my "free Steinway" were recorded in a concert hall and I've been unable to remove the high level of reverb. Because of this, it is of limited use for mastering or for use in a band where the final mix is via a mixer desk. The "Steinway" has two sample layers PP and FF, and the tone progression between them is not smooth.

 





 

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