Nocturne in C-sharp Minor, Op. Posth. F. Chopin

Obviously, I had some typos while typing. Often when I have to write 18xx I make a mistake with 19xx, maybe because it's a century that I use more often...

I have corrected it, anyway, thanks for the report

It happens to me while writing that it automatically inverts some pairs of letters ... galloping dyslexia ...

As far as I'm concerned, it's a habit. If I say it, I'm not wrong; if I write it, I am wrong, since it is true that in the post I made mistakes three times out of three.

Regarding velocity, I "learned the hard way" with a standalone piano a long time ago; I don't know how many curves my digital piano has, but I think few, however I thought that once connected

to a VST, just as it would be to a standalone one, it would be the dynamic curves of the latter that would be used.

Do you know what was happening to me?

But perhaps there were problems both at the audio interface level (how it was set up), and with the loaded sample (the slowness of the PC as well, I'm talking about touch response in this case),

it happened to me with Piano One by Sampletekk (which I still cannot use, I don't have Gigastudio 3 and converting the sounds is a mess; I used Chicken Translator but it doesn't work very well, quite the opposite; I use Reason and for this program the conversion does not allow the importation of velocity curves, basically the most important parameter for me

to optimize the touch).

Thank you so much "TheSimon", I will apply myself much more to improve.

As far as the keyboard connected to the PC is concerned, it is an "RD-700SX" interfaced to the PC via USB, alas; since you have experience, can you tell me if there is a lot of difference interfacing it via MIDI? And if so, how do I connect it via MIDI if my integrated sound card (Realtek) does not allow it?

Could you please post the optimal settings for Imperfect Samples, please?

I am also trying the "OldBlackGrandPleyel" but, unfortunately, I have only had time to install it; I hope it is a beautiful library, do you know it? It is an honor to play, even if virtually, the piano preferred by Chopin, who is also my favorite composer.

Many thanks to you too, Piccinesco

Hi, if I may (since Simone, but also others, have been using recording equipment for longer than me, especially external microphones and not integrated software

a PC that records directly while playing with a digital piano or synthesizer, I mean that the use of external microphones is a more complex matter) I tell you that the use of

usb without a doubt improves sound latency; in practice, when you play there is always a slight delay (in milliseconds) between the key pressed and the sound emitted, the usb port

allows for a reduction of this latency compared to the normal midi port, but you can install asio4all which allows you to reduce latency to a minimum, try it if you haven't already done so.

Thanks for the advice Piccinesco, indeed asio4all reduces latency problems, I installed them about four years ago.

So for the latency you are all set, for the settings of these pianos wait for Simone and maybe others who use them.

Adagiociccio wrote:

As far as the keyboard connected to the PC is concerned, it is an "RD-700SX" interfaced to the PC via USB, alas; since you have experience, can you tell me if there is much difference when interfacing it via MIDI? And if so, how do I connect it via MIDI if my integrated sound card (Realtek) does not allow it?

Could you please post the optimal settings for Imperfect Samples, please?

I am also trying the "OldBlackGrandPleyel" but, unfortunately, I have only had time to install it; I hope it is a beautiful library, do you know it? It is an honor to play, even if virtually, the piano preferred by Chopin, who is also my favorite composer.

The keyboard is a good Roland! As far as MIDI connections are concerned, I assume you have a MIDI to USB interface cable. It is perfectly analogous to MIDI to MIDI via an external sound card. It is just a data connection; consider that millions of data points could pass through that cable per second, whereas playing on the keyboard with 10 fingers—and perhaps even using your forearms and glutes by sitting on the keyboard to crush a few extra keys while fidgeting—you could send at most a hundred per second!

So don't worry, your MIDI interface is more than fine!

I will see about sending you the settings for Imperfect this evening; I am not in the hole (my studio) right now, I will be there in a couple of hours.

I have the Pleyel. The reproduction of a piano (this time I won't be wrong regarding the date) from 1928. The sounds are nonetheless very different and already much improved compared to those of the Pleyels played by Chopin. On YouTube, I seem to have seen not long ago a recording of two nocturnes played on a Pleyel from around 1800, if not actually one of Chopin's own Pleyels. (Chopin played on several Pleyels also because he often held concerts in the "Salle Pleyel," which was indeed a theater built by Mr. Pleyel for concerts)

Imagine, I played on some Pleyel grand pianos in Puglia at the conservatory of Rodi Garganico. However, I couldn't properly appreciate the sounds because unfortunately the rooms had truly terrible acoustics! I do remember, however, that the mechanics did not displease me at all, even though they were also very poorly regulated.

What can I say Simone,

you are always very cordial and helpful, your competence in the musical and IT fields is excellent

I will try to get a midi to usb cable then, but is there a difference in quality and/or latency compared to the current connection I am using? (i.e., in normal usb)

But excuse me, then maybe I misunderstood... You aren't already recording in MIDI with a MIDI to USB interface? It seems to me that in one post you wrote that you have a MIDI keyboard and it connects to the laptop via USB... From MIDI to USB -> MIDI to USB

As far as the keyboard connected to the PC is concerned, it is an "RD-700SX" interfaced to the PC via USB, alas; since you have experience, can you tell me if there is much difference when interfacing it via MIDI? And if so, how do I connect it via MIDI if my integrated audio card (Realtek) does not allow it?

No, the keyboard in question also has a normal USB-to-USB connection, but do you recommend that I use MIDI-to-USB or is it the same thing?

If you record in MIDI by connecting it USB to USB, it means your keyboard already has an internal MIDI interface. What more could you be looking for than that?

Thanks Simone, so, from what I understand, with the midi to usb cable I wouldn't have any improvements compared to a normal usb to usb, or am I wrong?

Sorry again for my incompetence

Have a good evening.

P.s. looking forward to the settings then

But why are you apologizing? You don't have to apologize; none of us were born knowing everything in this world...

Regarding the interface, it is perfectly fine as it is now.

We finally arrive at the long-awaited settings for the Imperfect. I've kept you waiting a bit, but when I do things, I like to do them properly, and doing them properly takes time!

I'll start from the premise that I, at least in the case of libraries (where I can choose between several million euros worth of pianos), don't just pick one and use it for everything. In my opinion, every sample has its own color, and every color suits a specific circumstance. To paint something expressing happiness, would you ever use black? Perhaps a beautiful orange, a blue, a green, a red (bright colors). To depict death, that is where I would use black.

However, when we find ourselves having to play with only one piano, then I try to indulge myself (it goes without saying that if we have to make a record, we must record on an acoustic piano which has only one image).

For this reason, I have created two settings for the Fazioli: one for Mozart and one for Chopin, since you told me he is your favorite composer.

Let's start with Mozart.

The sound of Mozart, I imagine it as clear, fun, but at the same time eloquent.

In the Fazioli, we have three different mic images to mix. Let's look at the differences between the three.

INSIDE: Microphones inside the piano positioned above the strings. The characteristic is a sound with quite a bit of attack, very Dry; you can hear the noise of the mechanics (acting nearby).

PLAYER: Microphones behind the pianist's shoulders. It provides an image as if we were sitting there playing. Defined but not excessive attack, you can hear the key noises and there is a small amount of ambience.

ROOM: Microphones positioned in the hall; practically zero attack transient, no key or mechanical noise, very much ambience, different in nature from the PLAYER.

For each recording, we have two parameters: the volume of the recording and the release time, which is nothing more than the sustain time of the note's tail once the key is released.

For the Mozart sound, I used more of the INSIDE image to make it bright while keeping it eloquent, with a good dose of PLAYER to give it body and a touch of ROOM to give it naturalness.

To blend the sound well, I then used a convolution reverb. What I used is a plugin included with the Garritan Authorized Steinway library; you can use any other plugin or none at all if you are playing with a standalone VST. In short, ambience is an added value; if you have the possibility, set it following the parameters in the next photo, otherwise, never mind.

To let you hear the result, I recorded a small fragment of Mozart's Variations K. 265.

http://www.pianoconcerto.it/condivisione/mozartvariazioniexample.mp3

Now we come to the settings for your favorite composer: CHOPIN.

The sound of Chopin, in my image, is more dreamy.

As you can see, unlike Mozart, I used more ambience by utilizing the ROOM perspective and decreasing INSIDE and PLAYER.

Regarding the convolution reverb as well, I changed some settings to make everything feel more suspended in the air.

Here is also, in this case, a short fragment, using the new adjustments, of the Waltz of the Farewell dedicated to Maria Wodzinska (Chopin's old flame before he became engaged to the writer George Sand).

http://www.pianoconcerto.it/condivisione/chopinwaltzexample.mp3

I hope everything is clear to you. If there are any problems, do not hesitate to ask.

Thank you so much Simone !!!!!!!!!

As far as the convolution reverb is concerned, I found a free plugin called "dasample glacereverb". I managed to install it, but how do you use it? Do I have to open it with a particular program?

This is exactly the difficulty I was referring to, in fact. To use these plugins, you must install them within a music production software DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), also called an MPS (Music Production System).

Examples for PC can be: Cubase, ProTools, Nuendo

For Mac: Logic (the one I use), ProTools

There are many others as well, but I'm not going to list them all here.

Well, I have Cubase, so how can I use it? Do I need to open Cubase and then what? Does the piano library need to be opened at the same time?

Things get complicated here and become difficult to explain via forums, I would even say impossible. I advise you to watch my tutorials on using Logic. The logic of DAWs is more or less the same for everyone. If you follow the Logic tutorials, you will see that you won't feel completely lost when switching to Cubase.

Otherwise, you should opt to start reading some books, but to begin, even just to understand if this path is suitable for you (which is very rocky), take a look at the tutorials.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeelp!!!!!!!!!!!

How do I apply convolution reverb? Do I have to open the piano library in Kontakt and the reverb in Cubase at the same time? How do I interface them? Total panic