***UPDATE April 2024: If you love this and my other pianos, check out the UPGRADED versions of them at:

Home

Happy Holidays 2022 everyone! The latest addition to The Experience series is the NY S&S Model B, also known as the New York Steinway Model B semi-concert grand piano. Steinway B’s have actually been around since 1878, but have had many upgrades and iterations since then. One such innovation is the “treble bell” which helps keep the treble section strong by reinforcing the soundboard crown. This 7 foot grand was a recent purchase by a friend of mine, and it was in impeccable shape.
Technical Stuff: I’ve recorded this piano using a similar technique as the Fazioli F308 and Yamaha S6. This way, you can truly compare these magnificent instruments in an apples to apples comparison. This time, I’ve coded sympathetic resonances to augment the tone of the instrument, and even simulated the exact piano’s overtones using recordings of those overtones that I made myself. I’ve also added pedal noise to add to the realism.

* Performance and VR/Ambisonic Perspectives using 12 microphones capsules
* 7 Velocity Layers to capture the entire piano’s dynamic range
* Modeled sympathetic resonance
* Ambisonic VR routing
* Action noise AND Damper release triggers
* Pedal/damper mechanical noise
* Half Pedaling
* Separate SFZ files for each microphone pair
* Performance Perspective recorded using SE8 SDC’s and hand built U87 clones.
* Ambisonic VR Perspective recorded using hand built six capsule array specially made for the ambisonic rendering in the player position.

Every time I sample a new piano, I take the opportunity to add a new feature or two. This time, there is adjustable sympathetic resonance, and pedal/damper noises. Sympathetic resonance is really what sets a genuine acoustic piano apart from a sampled instrument. A real piano has overtones that are triggered when multiple strings are struck and left undamped. This creates limitless interactions that are impossible to sample and thus must be numerically modeled. It also creates a randomness that easily surpasses round-robins. Play a chord without pedal and turn up/down the Resonance slider to see what I mean. Note: unfortunately, the Resonance only works in the Kontakt version of the instrument.

For a more detailed description of the other features, refer to previous instruments, the Fazioli F308 and Yamaha S6 – especially if you’re interested in the Ambisonic/VR perspective setup. As always, special thanks to my beta testers.

Contributors

Dore Mark