New computer software

[Mark Schecter]

In about 1983, Kurzweil Music Systems circulated a PR video of their 
flagship model 250, playing the Mozart 2 piano Sonata in duo with a 
Steinway something. Their challenge, "You can't tell the difference" was 
a bit overblown at the time, but still, the recording was surprisingly 
effective, especially since nothing like it had ever been attempted 
before. That was 25 years ago.

Since then, every electronic keyboard manufacturer has been working to 
improve the sound and feel of their products, and I would have to grant 
that they have been succeeding, however incrementally. No, it's not "as 
good as the real thing", but I listened to most of the demos of the 
Garritan samples, and some of them, especially the Pro, I thought were 
at the least, very good. OK, it might not suffice for Murray Perahia's 
next live performance, but for a lot of folks, in a lot of situations, 
it could be very useful, and persuasive.

It's easy to turn up one's nose and sneer, but there have probably been 
quite a few recordings and performances done on virtual instruments so 
convincing that it never occurred to the listener to wonder whether it 
was "real". Don't forget, when you're listening to a recording, it's not 
the "real thing", it's ... a recording.

Also, in many live performance situations, the sound from the "pianist" 
would be much better coming out of a virtual box, than the awful, 
honking, imbalanced sound sent to the house from the microphone aimed 
either into the "soundhole" or four inches from the octave 5 hammers.

I'm not saying, "Be afraid", I'm saying, give credit where credit's due. 
I for one, would rather listen to the piano samples on the site below 
than just about any spinet so-called piano. Is it perfect? Of course 
not. Is any piano? Well, we aim for that, but ...

-Mark Schecter

stuka at mindspring.com wrote:
> Yeah, you ever wonder why none of the software and hardware 
> manufacturers and sales folk ever offer a side-by-side comparison 
> between their product and a real piano of *any* kind, even the junkiest 
> spinet they pulled out of a garage...?
> 
> 
>     -----Original Message-----
>     From: Kent Swafford
>     Sent: May 6, 2008 6:18 PM
>     To: Pianotech List , College and University Technicians
>     Subject: New computer software
> 
>     Behold the Authorized Steinway Virtual Concert Grand:
> 
> 
> 
>     http://tinyurl.com/673gzu
> 
>     http://garritan.com/steinway_demos.html
> 
>