Group Buy Piano Price List

[Worra]

Current Group Buy Piano Price List:

ALL PIANOS UNDER $100!!!!

Click on piano name to get more info and demos! (D/D = DrectDownloads)
White Grand (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=9) - Normal Price $139, Group Buy Price $69.50
White Grand D/D (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=9) - Normal Price $119, Group Buy Price $59.50
White Grand II (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=25) - Normal Price $189, Group Buy Price $94.50
White Sister (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=39) - Normal Price $139, Group Buy Price $69.50
White Sister D/D (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=39) - Normal Price $119, Group Buy Price $59.50
Black Grand (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=10) - Normal Price $199, Group Buy Price $99.50
Black Grand Close D/D (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=10) - Normal Price $49, Group Buy Price $24.50
Black Grand Medium Ambience D/D (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=10) - Normal Price $49, Group Buy Price $24.50
Vertikal (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=27) - Normal Price $150, Group Buy Price $75
Vertikal Pop D/D (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=27) - Normal Price $79, Group Buy Price $39.50
TBO (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=32) - Normal Price $199, Group Buy Price $99.50
7CG (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=42) - Normal Price $199, Group Buy Price $99.50
WG Jr D/D (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=21) - Normal Price $49, Group Buy Price $24.50
Steiny D D/D (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=24) - Normal Price $39, Group Buy Price $19.50
Steiny D Close! D/D (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=26) - Normal Price $39, Group Buy Price $19.50
Rain Piano D/D (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=20) - Normal Price $49, Group Buy Price $24.50
TSO D/D (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=36) - Normal Price $49, Group Buy Price $24.50
SG88 Mk II D/D (http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=40) - Normal Price $49, Group Buy Price $24.50

This plus 50% on everything else in our online store, including all upgrade paths. Other instruments including brass, recorders, marimbas, organs and more!

[alanb]

Arf, arf, arf... So you're a Zappa fan, are you?

[Worra]

So you're a Zappa fan, are you?

He, he.... as a matter of fact, it's about my old avatar, (my dog!), but yes, I'm a Zappa-fan too!
Actually, I saw ZPZ with Dweezil + band a couple of weeks ago in Stockholm.
Amazing show! Dweezil proved to be a great gutarist, better then I thought. The band was sooo tight, Napoleon Murphy Brock was fantastic and Stevie Vai played a solo on "Zombie Woof" that totally blew my mind, (and probably some elses too)!

[musical.matthew]

How about a package price on the pianos?

[fizbin]

...just picked up the Tubed Wurli multi download for like $25

...sheesh

...smokin' deal

...fat keys

...K2 and GS 3

...wow

[Worra]

How about a package price on the pianos?

There's a couple of bundles, TBO/7CG, White Grand & White Sister and PianoPack 1-3

[Worra]

...just picked up the Tubed Wurli multi download for like $25

...sheesh

...smokin' deal

...fat keys

...K2 and GS 3

...wow

Glad you like it, nice price too....!

[football]

I don't see these piano bundles anywhere on the site.

Can you please be more specific how to find them. The navigation has always confused me on your site.

[Worra]

Pianopack 1:
http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=33

Pianopack 2:
http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=34

Pianopack 3:
http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=35

WG II (White Grand & White Sister):
http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=25

7CG & TBO:
http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=42

[Bruce A. Richardson]

This is a great deal, folks. If you don't have a piano library you love, I would strongly suggest looking at Seven Seas. I think I like it even better than TBO, which is definitely saying something.

These are tremendous libraries at their regular prices, and are no-brainers at this special price.

The White Grand is great for cutting through a pop mix, where you want a jangly kind of sound. The Black Grand is also a lovely library, another fantastic color to use in all sorts of settings.

Exceptional praise for exceptional quality and value!!!!

[ddarwin7]

Hi Worra:

Thanks for this generous offer, wow 50% off piano libraries that are already a bargain to begin with. A while back I just started with one of your pianos for testing, and now I own quite a few of your piano libraries. Yesterday I just put in my order for another one. The white grand, SG88, and TBO, are my favorites, and I find myself playing these more than any others.

I highly recommend Sampletekk pianos. You will not be disappointed.

Thanks Worra

[karmacomposer]

Worra,

As a purchaser of your entire BOB Brass line, I love your sample collections.

My problem is that I have Vintaudio's C7 and uprights and The Emperor from PMI.

Which piano collection or bundle would best serve me from your company? I create new age, game music, techno/trance/dance and rock/pop.

I want to take advantage of this great deal. Can you please advise?

Mike

[Laurent]

The white grand, SG88, and TBO, are my favorites, and I find myself playing these more than any others.
Hi,
Anymore comments about this old new SG88 ?
I'm a bit curious, it's the only piano missing to my extensive sampletekk pianos collection (don't tell my wife...:o ).

[Worra]

Worra,

As a purchaser of your entire BOB Brass line, I love your sample collections.

My problem is that I have Vintaudio's C7 and uprights and The Emperor from PMI.

Which piano collection or bundle would best serve me from your company? I create new age, game music, techno/trance/dance and rock/pop.

I want to take advantage of this great deal. Can you please advise?

Mike

Hi Mike.

Glad you like BOB!
You might wanna try out our new 7CG or TBO. It's a Yam C7, but it has a unmatched dynamic response with it's 31 velocity levels. (93 samples/recorded note).
The TBO is miked close, giving you a really contured note, but by using vintage Neuman mics, we still kept the warmth.
7CG is miked a bit further away. Still pretty close, but a bit more ambience.
This gives you a great palette of sound just by playing with different attack and strength, like you would on a "real" piano.
Since it's silly cheap, try out the Rain Piano. It's really, really unique!

[Worra]

Hi,
Anymore comments about this old new SG88 ?
I'm a bit curious, it's the only piano missing to my extensive sampletekk pianos collection (don't tell my wife...:o ).

c'mon Laurent, you got the rest..... I wont tell your wife!

[Bruce A. Richardson]

Mike,

I think you would really love Seven Seas. TBO is great as well, but for the genre you compose in, the bit of extra air in the Seven Seas sound might be just what you're looking for. It's an exquisitely good sound.

[karmacomposer]

Worra, Bruce - thank you.

I have a AMD 64 2.8Ghz with 2GB ram and a EMU 1820M audio solution running the absolute latest drivers - and use Kontakt 2 and Sonar 5 among others.

Do I have good enough system specs to reliably use 7seas?

I just purchased EWQLSC and without the DFD in Kontakt 2 it would truly be unuseable!

Let me know because I want a "go to" piano. I LOVE The Emperor, but I want another quality piano.

I get strange note off errors with The Emperor - I am sure it is my setup and cannot figure out why - if I hold down a chord and a bass note, it's like I run out of polyphony - strange considering my polyphony should be through the roof!!!). I just want to play quieter passages with long phrases and have the piano react like my piano in my living room. My real piano does not suddenly turn off (obviously), so I want my sampled piano to react the same. If I hold down the notes and have the damper pedal pressed, the note should sustain until the end of the sample, not abruptly (and quickly), as in The Emperor. I am not sure if this happens with the Vintaudio pianos I have. I'll also test it with the Steinway that came with Kontakt 2 and the piano that came with Emerald and EWQL Silver.

How does 7seas differ from the Yamaha C7 from Vintaudio (of which I can only run the player perspective for whatever reason - the other two mic positions crash Kontakt 2 every time (and yes, I did pose this question through Vintaudio with no response for, like, EVER).

Is it more reliable than the other C7 I own (Bob Brass never causes me grief).

Also, I was looking at the White Grand - is 7seas a better choice than the White Grand? Are they two different beasts? I really only want to buy one piano, not 2 - but at these prices . . .

Mike

[Worra]

Worra, Bruce - thank you.

I have a AMD 64 2.8Ghz with 2GB ram and a EMU 1820M audio solution running the absolute latest drivers - and use Kontakt 2 and Sonar 5 among others.

Do I have good enough system specs to reliably use 7seas?

I

Yes, you should have no problems!

[karmacomposer]

I just tried out all of my pianos I have:

The EWQL Steinway sounds ok and plays fine. No kontakt 2 problems there. I'm not in love with the sound of it, but it plays as expected. Not many velocity layers - that's obvious.

The Kontakt 2 pianos - a steinway and another one (forgot the name) - play fine, sound ok - not going to win any awards. No kontakt 2 problems. Last resort because lack of enough velocity layers and the tonality is moderate - not great - but playable.

The KHSO Emerald Piano is the only negative thing about KHSO Emerald. I really HATE how it sounds. Believe me, I am a HUGE promoter of KHSO Emerald because I believe it has the best orchestra sounds for the price and in general - but the piano is BARELY passible. Almost no velocity layers and too bright for me. Sounds like a circus piano. No Kontakt 2 problems.

PMI's The Emperor - Kontakt 2 problems abound for me, but I LOVE the tonality - it's what sold me. Sounds great but I cannot get it to work right for me no matter which .nki instrument I choose. I will talk to PMI, but have not had the time to do so - so tech support is not their fault (I just bought it recently).

Vintaudio Uprights - the Steinway and Clinton work fine for me. No Kontakt 2 problems. Sound great for uprights and totally useful in rock/pop.

Vintaudio C7 - Only the player perspective works for me. Works fine and no kontakt 2 problems with polyphony or anything else. HOWEVER, the other two mic positions crash Kontakt 2 every single time. They also seem to be missing one ambient sample that does not exist on the DVDs I received. I have not been able to resolve this with them as of yet, although I did email them several times. By the way, I'm also not in love with the tonality of this C7 - I'm really not. After hearing The Emperor's Bosendorfer 290 SE, I am spoiled rotten.

It is important to note that I chose the instruments or multis with no convolution reverb or effects of any kind. It is also important to note that, for me, instruments work better than multis. They just seem to load faster and have less headaches.

So, my question is, will the 7seas cause me similar grief or can I get a piano that I can actually play and like the tone of (from the demos, it sounds great).

Worra, Thank you for your suggestions and I apologize for my questions. I have bought so many it's not funny. I just seem to have bad luck with pianos. Funny thing is, eveyrthing else works fine. From guitars to orchestras, zero problems, but Pianos never seem to work right or sound right to me!!!!!!

Thanks for your help.

Mike

[ddarwin7]

Hi,
Anymore comments about this old new SG88 ?
I'm a bit curious, it's the only piano missing to my extensive sampletekk pianos collection (don't tell my wife...:o ).

Hi Laurent:

I was acutally really impressed with the sound of SG88. Check out the sampletekk demo "Autumn Leaves" Very clean, distictive and still different from WG, BG or TBO. I think it may be the same piano as the white grand (Malmsjo). What I really like about this piano similar to the white grand is its bell like quality. This piano also sounds great on its own, as well as in a mix. Laurent, I've heard you music before, and this will be a perfect addition to the type of music you do, which is similar to the type of music I play.

Good Luck

[ddarwin7]

Laurent:

Sorry, I think I misidentified you for someone else with similar name. I am not really sure if I've heard you music before. Anyway, good luck.

Dd

[Laurent]

not a pb...

thank's for the comment ! :D

[karmacomposer]

I am listening ot The White Grand and it STILL blows me away!

I am going to have to make a serious decision on which to buy, White Grand or 7CG.

Hmmmmm.

Hard choice.

Mike

[Worra]

I am listening ot The White Grand and it STILL blows me away!

I am going to have to make a serious decision on which to buy, White Grand or 7CG.

Hmmmmm.

Hard choice.

Mike

...both....both...both......:D

You can get WG Jr silly cheap, then upgrade later on and also get 7CG.

[karmacomposer]

Not a bad idea actually.

Trying to spend under $100

Mike

[Bruce A. Richardson]

Mike, if you're responding to the White Grand that way, it's certainly a great piano. You can also warm it up quite a bit if you need to, by using one of the instrument mappings that knock off the top layer or two.

That said, if playing the piano is your thing, you would sure enjoy Seven Seas or TBO. I am giving just the slightest edge to Seven Seas right now, just because I am enjoying it from a playing standpoint so much.

The only thing you have to consider is which way you'd want to EQ. White Grand is a sweet tone, but definitely a waist-up kind of sound. Seven Seas and TBO are more full-spectrum, fat, and grounded. You can EQ them into a different tone. White Grand is a Malmsjo as opposed to a Yamaha, and has a degree of EQ imprinted from the mic'ing and postproduction choices.

From a quality standpoint, there is no practical difference, except the White Grand has fewer layers. TBO and Seven Seas are hugely layered. It is difficult to trigger the same sample twice in a row. So, they have a unique elasticity of feel under the fingers, and a very realistic dynamic sweep. It's almost unfair to compare them to others.

I don't want to prejudice you at all. I prefer TBO and Seven Seas, but it is partly my personal preferences in tone and partly the way they feel when playing, so that is a filter you should know that I am applying. If White Grand is a tone you're attracted to, depending on how important the feel is to you, there is probably no reason you shouldn't jump on it. It still has as many or more layers as most of the state of the art libraries. TBO and Seven Seas are just over-the-top on depth, so the comparisons are very different considering all the SampleTekk pianos against each other, versus against the general marketplace. The sampling depth of the lightest SampleTekk instruments exceeds many of the flagship products in other lines. You can hardly go wrong.

[Ashermusic]

Well, Mike, you probably already know what I am going to say from the other thread:) but...

I would go with the Seven Seas because of its versatility. It is almost impossible to make it sound bad.

[karmacomposer]

I can't thank you enough for your advice. I am going to buy the 7CG AND The White Grand.

He he he.

Mike

[karmacomposer]

By the way, how BIG are these pianos? Is 7CG a 30GB library? Only 5GB? How big are each of them (7CG and The White Grand)? I need to know to make sure I have room.

Mike

[matto]

Mike,

I think the 7CG is about 11.5 Gigs and the White 5.3...(correct me if I'm wrong Worra).

[Laurent]

From a quality standpoint, there is no practical difference, except the White Grand has fewer layers. TBO and Seven Seas are hugely layered. It is difficult to trigger the same sample twice in a row. So, they have a unique elasticity of feel under the fingers, and a very realistic dynamic sweep. It's almost unfair to compare them to others.

For a player feel/pleasure perspective, TBO/7CG are for sure the most desirable pianos. For solo playing pleasure, I load TBO or 7CG. To produce a mix, other piano sounds could be wiser, depending on your style of music and orchestration.
I have spent hours of "normalizing" sampletekk piano programming to my play. I can now play TBO and swap the produced midi file to another piano with a very good "feel/play realism" match...

By the way... remember this thread ? There is still a White Grand 2 project in Worra bag...
Let's dream : 31 layers Malmsjo, all 88 notes sampled, new breakthrough miking perspective... stop this man...:n:

[kitekrazy]

There was a file mssing called:How to make a GS3 Version.pdf

I really need that.

[karmacomposer]

I agree with you. My purposes are more for playing piano as part of a song or instrumental and not for solo pleasure. As such, I really feel white grand would mix well (the demos I heard are not far off from what I do).

I will get white grand and maybe next go round buy 7CG.

Once again, thanks for everyone's help.

Mike

[karmacomposer]

I bought White Grand.

I more than likely buy other pianos, including the 7CG as the need arrises.

Mike

[K Lundquist]

How big are the files? I'm looking at the Black Grand Medium Ambience DD, and I'm wondering if a 1mbit connection is enough?

[football]

Worra, thank you for showing me where the piano bundles are.

I did go back to the site (after viewing them) just to see if I could know find them and I still can't.

I have found the navigation confused me every time I have visited the site.

It might be something to consider changing in the future. That being said, I have never seen one concern about it in the past so it very well may be just me.

Either way your pianos are amazing :-)

[cwa]

I'm interested in picking up several of the bigger piano libraries. I have a dual xeon 3.2 GHz DAW with 2 Mb RAM and Kontakt 2, as well as a Gigastudio 3 computer with 1 Gb RAM. I'm not sure which platform will be best (particularly with the monster 7CG), and I'd like the flexibility of having the libraries in both formats. Is this somehow possible?

Thanks a lot,
Chris

[Worra]

I'm interested in picking up several of the bigger piano libraries. I have a dual xeon 3.2 GHz DAW with 2 Mb RAM and Kontakt 2, as well as a Gigastudio 3 computer with 1 Gb RAM. I'm not sure which platform will be best (particularly with the monster 7CG), and I'd like the flexibility of having the libraries in both formats. Is this somehow possible?

Thanks a lot,
Chris

Hi Chris.

I'd go with the Kontakt version, since you have 2Gb RAM in that and 1Gb is probably a bit small for these pianos.
There will be free crossgrades between GS3 and K2

[Deak]

Worra, I must say thank you in a big way for always offering these great incentives. Thanks also for the advance email. I must second football's comment on your website. It took me a lot of getting used to and quite frankly I still have trouble. Maybe just me and football? Then again, you focus more on putting out killer product so maybe less time to worry about the website. On the other hand, the webstore is very easy and the email notification system with the order number and order status link work really nicely and I was just thinking yesterday upon checking my order status how cool it was that the download link just popped up so quickly and how easy it is to download. Thanks!

[Nigel W]

Hi Chris.

There will be free crossgrades between GS3 and K2

Hi Worra

i just bought 7CG in both exs24 & Kontakt formats (as I like the comfort of exs24 in Logic, but Kontakt scripting is also very cool).

Not wishing to be a cheapskate, as these are fantastic prices for sure, but did I unneccessarily buy a second format when crossgrades are free?

Thanks!

Nigel

[Richard Berg]

Are there any plans for the SampleTek pianos to support advanced scripting as seen here: http://www.postpiano.com/products/K2.htm ?

In any case, the price war that seems to be happening in sampled pianos is much appreciated :)

[alanb]

He, he.... as a matter of fact, it's about my old avatar, (my dog!), but yes, I'm a Zappa-fan too!
Actually, I saw ZPZ with Dweezil + band a couple of weeks ago in Stockholm.
Amazing show! Dweezil proved to be a great gutarist, better then I thought. The band was sooo tight, Napoleon Murphy Brock was fantastic and Stevie Vai played a solo on "Zombie Woof" that totally blew my mind, (and probably some elses too)! You know, I had you pegged as a man of distinctive taste from the very beginning... :D

Well, the "thinly-disguised" Zappa reference in your .sig file is as good a secondary meaning as one could possibly ask for (I can't help but picture poor Fido from "Stinkfoot" every time I read it)...

The Dweeze is a pretty good shredder, I must admit, but he's got a lot of loosening up to do if he ever hopes to play with the same amount of "garlic" that his dad brought to the stage on a regular basis...

You know, I've inadvertently been going crazy on Swedish music lately...

Opeth, Meshuggah, Entombed, Bathory, Dark Tranquility, Mats/Morgan, Jonas Hellborg, Mattias Eklundh, Mats Gustafsson, Esbjörn Svensson, Lars Danielsson, Änglagård, Samla Mammas Manna, the Leather Nun (oops... gave away a good clue about my age with that last one...) have all graced my stereo in the last week.

I hadn't thought about connecting the geographical dots until I recently became obsessed about when I would receive a certain package from SOMEWHERE IN SWEDEN . . . . . at which point everything suddenly fell into place.

Speaking of which: when when when oh when when WHEN WHEN WHEN when when AAAAUUUUUUUGHHHHHHH?!?!?!?!? The wait is killing me..... :o

Ahem. Excuse me. Now, let's see... how will I get the TBO/7CG sets to fit into these molds... may have to veer more towards Bo Hansson... ;-)

[kstevege]

How do these pianos compare the the pianos included in Collosus or the Kontakt 2 Library or even the piano included in GPO for that matter.

If I have the above pianos, is it even worth looking into the Sampletekk pianos?

[Laurent]

How do these pianos compare the the pianos included in Collosus or the Kontakt 2 Library or even the piano included in GPO for that matter.

If I have the above pianos, is it even worth looking into the Sampletekk pianos?
It depends on what you are looking for. The libraries you refer to have decent piano sounds to mockup busy mixes.
Beside providing other piano type/sounds, Sampletekk pianos provide you with the greatest dynamic range / nuances you can find, thank's to extensive layering. If you are a piano player, it's really something else !

[matto]

How do these pianos compare the the pianos included in Collosus or the Kontakt 2 Library or even the piano included in GPO for that matter.
If I have the above pianos, is it even worth looking into the Sampletekk pianos?
I don't have Colossus. Sampletekk Pianos are clearly better than the K2 library pianos and beat the one in GPO by a mile.
For any work where the piano sound is critical, you'll hear a substantial improvement. They are also a lot more inspiring to play.
At the current prices I think you should certainly consider them if you use piano a lot in your music.

matto

[Worra]

You know, I had you pegged as a man of distinctive taste from the very beginning... :D

Well, the "thinly-disguised" Zappa reference in your .sig file is as good a secondary meaning as one could possibly ask for (I can't help but picture poor Fido from "Stinkfoot" every time I read it)...

The Dweeze is a pretty good shredder, I must admit, but he's got a lot of loosening up to do if he ever hopes to play with the same amount of "garlic" that his dad brought to the stage on a regular basis...

You know, I've inadvertently been going crazy on Swedish music lately...

Opeth, Meshuggah, Entombed, Bathory, Dark Tranquility, Mats/Morgan, Jonas Hellborg, Mattias Eklundh, Mats Gustafsson, Esbjörn Svensson, Lars Danielsson, Änglagård, Samla Mammas Manna, the Leather Nun (oops... gave away a good clue about my age with that last one...) have all graced my stereo in the last week.

I hadn't thought about connecting the geographical dots until I recently became obsessed about when I would receive a certain package from SOMEWHERE IN SWEDEN . . . . . at which point everything suddenly fell into place.

Speaking of which: when when when oh when when WHEN WHEN WHEN when when AAAAUUUUUUUGHHHHHHH?!?!?!?!? The wait is killing me..... :o

Ahem. Excuse me. Now, let's see... how will I get the TBO/7CG sets to fit into these molds... may have to veer more towards Bo Hansson... ;-)

Wow, you know your way around Swedisg prog music! I know a guy who played with Samlas. Leather Nun is, (was) a great band, specially their singer.
Bo Hansson, well, you have to get a B3 for that one!
Actually, Hansson & Carlsson (Hammond and Drums!), did a reunion tour a couple of years ago. They where GREAT!
H & C also used to jam with Hendrix back in the 60's. Jimi even recorded one of their songs: Taxfree!

The Dweez is a shredder, yep! But you should have heard his solo on "Inca Road" on the ZPZ tour! It was great!!!!!

[Worra]

Are there any plans for the SampleTekk pianos to support advanced scripting as seen here: http://www.postpiano.com/products/K2.htm ?

In any case, the price war that seems to be happening in sampled pianos is much appreciated :)

There already are 3:rd party developers that has written scripts for sympathetic resonance for mos of our pianos.
Check out the works of Xavier Bidault, Mezo, and Olivier Frappier

[alanb]

Who should folks harass to find out whether their orders have shipped (or when they will ship)?

:cool:

[Worra]

Who should folks harass to find out whether their orders have shipped (or when they will ship)?

:cool:

You can harass me...:D
Anyway, first batch have shipped, and the last orders, (the ones that has been made the last couple of days, will ship monday.

[Richard Berg]

Is 7CG available for Direct Download? I can't find it.

[Worra]

Is 7CG available for Direct Download? I can't find it.

No, not yet, but it will be, next week. Buy it on DVD and you'll get it faster, (if you buy it today!)

[Worra]

There's been quite a lot of you buying the Rain Piano in the groupbuy.
It makes me happy! It's not our biggest piano, not the one with the best dynamics (why, it ha only a puny 8 level velocity....:D), but it's one of my favourtites, and at the GB price at $24.50, it's really a no brainer!

The piano, a upright, was set up by the piano tuner after me having listening to Tom Waits "Mule Variations", really heavily a while!
The tuner guy was told to make it sound like the piano on that CD. Sort of out of tune but still not.....
It has to be in tune, since it's supposed to work with other instruments, but still lot and lots of overtones.
Anyway, we achieved this by detuning one of the 2 or three strings that most of the notes are made up from.
Load it up, pour yourself a glass of wine, burboun, beer, coke or whatever does it for you.
Dim the lights, light a cigarett, or a candle, and play your favourite ballades,
It's sooooo fun!!!!!

[Aaron Dirk]

I just love the Rain Piano! It is so much fun to play! I get lost for hours playing it!
Reminds me of going to my grandmothers as a kid and playing her suffering upright (the neglected poor thing was reduced to showing off family pictures and holding house plants)
The Rain Piano is way more in tune though.... fun,fun,fun!

[Richard Berg]

No, not yet, but it will be, next week. Buy it on DVD and you'll get it faster, (if you buy it today!)
I will, but I need my instant gratification. I'll just have to get the Rain Piano DD too...darn! :)

Is there any reason I wouldn't want the 24bit version? What's the $30 16bit product?

[karmacomposer]

Worra,

I LOVE YOUR PIANOS!!!

I dim the lights and play The White Grand all night. I just close my eyes and BE!

The Rain Piano is awesome. It sounds EXACTLY like my now out-of-tune Baldwin (except the Rain Pianos is IN TUNE - lol). What a cool sound!!! There really is nothing quite like it.

I am eagerly anticipating my 7CG DVD and I also bought the Piano Pack 3 (Rain Piano, Steiny D and WG, Jr).

I love them all. Some of my clients recently heard The White Grand as I was showing them a song I composed for them and they were literally blown away - they said they could not believe the big and awesome sound of that piano - a piano that could easily be in a concert hall and cost more than I make in a year or so. Just fantastic.

I plan to own every Piano you sample.

Mike

[Richard Berg]

Welp, bought the 24bit 7CG. Hope it works...too bad the timing on DD didn't work out but I guess it'll be nice to have the DVDs regardless. Love the Rain Piano!

[Worra]

Welp, bought the 24bit 7CG. Hope it works...too bad the timing on DD didn't work out but I guess it'll be nice to have the DVDs regardless. Love the Rain Piano!

Cool Richard! Glad you like the Rain Piano! I'm sure you'll love 7CG too! (Yes, it has shipped...:))

[sinkd]

Picked up the Black & White with this offer, which pretty much rounds out the set for me. The only thing left is TBO, but I am pretty thrilled with Seven Seas.

Thanks, Worra!

DS

[Matt Wilson]

Which of the smaller-scale pianos are the best for a jazz feel/recording? I only have 768 megs of RAM so I can't really opt for the mega-big pianos (TBO, WG, 7C).. I'm limited to TSO, WG Jr, Rain, Steiny D, etc.

I'd like something full and warm... Too many free/cheap pianos out there are hollow and plinky dinky. Their mid octaves dont have that full sound to them.. the notes don't melt into each other, they sound like someone is playing each key on a separate piano at the same time. The only cheap/free pianos that have sounded good to me are PMI Old Lady sf2 (which is too lacking in velocities to be useful) and Maestro Malmsjo (which lacked warmth, and was too plinky).

[Worra]

Which of the smaller-scale pianos are the best for a jazz feel/recording? I only have 768 megs of RAM so I can't really opt for the mega-big pianos (TBO, WG, 7C).. I'm limited to TSO, WG Jr, Rain, Steiny D, etc.

I'd like something full and warm... Too many free/cheap pianos out there are hollow and plinky dinky. Their mid octaves dont have that full sound to them.. the notes don't melt into each other, they sound like someone is playing each key on a separate piano at the same time. The only cheap/free pianos that have sounded good to me are PMI Old Lady sf2 (which is too lacking in velocities to be useful) and Maestro Malmsjo (which lacked warmth, and was too plinky).

I'd try the Steiny D or wait for the upcoming 7CG Jr. You can also listen to the 7CG demos. The 7CG family is pianos that has a nice brightness, yet they are full and definitly not "plinky"
Considering you can pick up these "smaller", (well 24 unique samples/recorded note....) pianos at $24.50 with the current groupbuy, you can't really go wrong!

[Laurent]

BTW, one perspective of the full Black Grand DD is also at $24,50...
Then you can make your own Steiny if you are RAM-limited ;)

[pmwaring]

I just love the Rain Piano! It is so much fun to play! I get lost for hours playing it!
Reminds me of going to my grandmothers as a kid and playing her suffering upright (the neglected poor thing was reduced to showing off family pictures and holding house plants)
The Rain Piano is way more in tune though.... fun,fun,fun!

When I was at school the two music rooms had good quality uprights that were always perfectly in tune. The practice room around the corner contained another upright that was not as well maintained as the the two classroom instruments, and consequently was never quite in tune. The Rain piano reminds of this piano which I played for six years.

It is too easy to say that the Rain Piano is simply a slightly detuned piano. It has it's own sound, there is something about it that I can't quite put into words. I think it's lovely, check it out.

Paul.

[Worra]

When I was at school the two music rooms had good quality uprights that were always perfectly in tune. The practice room around the corner contained another upright that was not as well maintained as the the two classroom instruments, and consequently was never quite in tune. The Rain piano reminds of this piano which I played for six years.

It is too easy to say that the Rain Piano is simply a slightly detuned piano. It has it's own sound, there is something about it that I can't quite put into words. I think it's lovely, check it out.

Paul.

Glad you like it! Actually, the Rain Piano is not out of tune in that way. It's perfetly in tune, but the strings are set up to produce more overtones. So what you get, is a piano that SOUNDS a bit out, but IS in tune. It took a bit of experimenting to get it right, but together with Jussi, the piano tech, we made it!

Talking about pianos that are a bit off but have character:
In Abbey Road studio 2 they have two uprights. One Challen and one Steinway. Both pianos where used heavily on the Beatles recordings. Remember the end chord on "A Day In Life"....?
That's actually THREE pianos: Challen, Steinway and a Steinway Grand. Played by Lennon, Ringo and Mel Evans.

The Steinway upright, called "Mrs. Mills" after the woman who owned it in the 30's is only maintained carefully and not tuned as such.
Rumours are that Sir Paul comes in now a then and plays away on Mrs. Mills and he wouldn't be happy if it was "perfectly" in tune.......

[lallis]

Which of the smaller-scale pianos are the best for a jazz feel/recording? I only have 768 megs of RAM so I can't really opt for the mega-big pianos (TBO, WG, 7C).. I'm limited to TSO, WG Jr, Rain, Steiny D, etc.



"Jazz feel" covers a lot of ground, but for ballad and bebop piano either live or recorded, I really like the Steiny D Close. The TSO is good in places where some extra bite is a benefit. I suspect the "small" 7CG will be really fine, since the full-sized one is so absolutely splendid for my stuff.

Even when you possess the big ones, these junior pianos are often preferable, because they load up so much quicker, while giving similar results. I fairly often load a different sample between live numbers, a situation where waiting for the full TBO would mean the bandleader has to keep talking until the audience wants to kill her.

[Worra]

I fairly often load a different sample between live numbers, a situation where waiting for the full TBO would mean the bandleader has to keep talking until the audience wants to kill her.

He, he...it's faster then rolling in a new piano anyway.....:D

[lallis]

He, he...it's faster then rolling in a new piano anyway.....:D


Especially if it's a Steinway and needs tuning after each roll. It's one or two kroner cheaper, too.


But Worra, for my purposes, this 7CG is absolutely the nicest work you have yet done. That's saying a great deal, since the Black Grand and TBO were already stunningly good.

Nevertheless, for the reasons I mentioned, I'm looking forward to the 6.98CG you have promised. I'm much too lazy and ignorant to make one myself.


Larry

[karmacomposer]

WORRA!!!!!!!!!!

I am in 7CG HELL.

I have not received it yet.

(just kidding on the hell statement).

When do you think it will reach my neck of the woods?

Mike

[Worra]

WORRA!!!!!!!!!!

I am in 7CG HELL.

I have not received it yet.

(just kidding on the hell statement).

When do you think it will reach my neck of the woods?

Mike

Hi Mike.

Your 7CG has been shipped, and you should have it any day now. Hang in there.....

[karmacomposer]

Thanks Worra.

Man, your pianos are THAT good.

I am so sold on your company, you have no idea.

I have told HUNDREDS of people about BOB Brass, The White Grand and the SG88 as well.

Let me know whenever you create a new sample set. I'll buy it.

Mike

[Worra]

Thanks Worra.

Man, your pianos are THAT good.

I am so sold on your company, you have no idea.

I have told HUNDREDS of people about BOB Brass, The White Grand and the SG88 as well.

Let me know whenever you create a new sample set. I'll buy it.

Mike

Mike, I bow in your general direction!

[Worra]

Mike, are you in 7CG heaven yet...???

[linwood]

I got mine yesterday and I've gotta say, I love it. I'm looking forward to working today.

[karmacomposer]

No 7CG for me . . . YET!

Mike

[Aaron Dirk]

Mike,

It took approx 2 weeks for mine to show up.

[karmacomposer]

Thanks Aaron.

Until then, I have White Grand, SG88, Rain Piano, Steiny D and WG, Jr. to keep me company.

One day I WILL own them all (he he he he)!

Mike

[fizbin]

Glad you like it! Actually, the Rain Piano is not out of tune in that way. It's perfetly in tune, but the strings are set up to produce more overtones. So what you get, is a piano that SOUNDS a bit out, but IS in tune. It took a bit of experimenting to get it right, but together with Jussi, the piano tech, we made it!

Talking about pianos that are a bit off but have character:
In Abbey Road studio 2 they have two uprights. One Challen and one Steinway. Both pianos where used heavily on the Beatles recordings. Remember the end chord on "A Day In Life"....?
That's actually THREE pianos: Challen, Steinway and a Steinway Grand. Played by Lennon, Ringo and Mel Evans.

The Steinway upright, called "Mrs. Mills" after the woman who owned it in the 30's is only maintained carefully and not tuned as such.
Rumours are that Sir Paul comes in now a then and plays away on Mrs. Mills and he wouldn't be happy if it was "perfectly" in tune.......

The Rain piano works great for those Beatles sounds. I love it. I would like to hear more imperfect pianos. On my list are:

1. An actual out-of-tune upright piano. Out-of-tune, with character, but not so far as to be unplayable. (rougher around the edges than the Rain piano) - probably sampled in a couple different out-of-tunings.
2. A well-sampled honky-tonk piano. Most honky-tonk samplings are very velocity-layer-limited.

[macmuse]

These pianos are lovely. I am having a hard time choosing. I wish I could buy them all but the wallet says no. The pianos I have sound too warm=muddy and don't seem to sit in the mix as I'd like to hear them.

I am definitely going to get RainPiano, and am debating among WGJr., Steiny D, Steiny D close, Black Grand close or medium, and have listened to the demos. I realize WGJr is Jr. but what do you see as difference versus full White Grand? People mentioned the WG particularly is good in pop/mixes. For you people who have used the above, any comments are appreciated.

My other option is the EW Ultimate Piano where there are the Steinway D, Steinway C, Fazioli F228 and the Boesendorfer 225. Anyone have those and compared to the WG etc?

Thanks.

[lallis]

I realize WGJr is Jr. but what do you see as difference versus full White Grand? People mentioned the WG particularly is good in pop/mixes. For you people who have used the above, any comments are appreciated.


It may take you quite a while to feel any lack of depth in Worra's junior pianos. They are big samples, well programmed. If the even bigger versions did not exist, you'd think these were the last word. If you do begin to think you need more expression and realism someday, an upgrade is not hard to get. In the case of the Steiny D, I like it better than the full Black Grand and no longer load up the latter nowadays. Those juniors are a splendid bargain, and you shouldn't fear them.

White Grand is bity and VERY bright (too much so for anything I do). If you are being annoyed by warmth and mud, White Grand Jr would surely ease that problem. It certainly ain't warm.

Impossible to describe these things, really, but I know how it feels to be groping for an idea of what to get. Demos are little help, and what I say is probably less. You might try a few junior versions, since they're so cheap now.





My other option is the EW Ultimate Piano where there are the Steinway D, Steinway C, Fazioli F228 and the Boesendorfer 225. Anyone have those and compared to the WG etc?



That Ultimate was a fabulous set of samples for what it was. Very rich stuff in its time, and considering its size. Their Steinway D especially seemed a mammoth sound, not especially playable because of its few velocity layers. One was always getting unexpected results, innocently bumping into the next layer. Played from MIDI files edited to avoid jumps in timbre, it still sounds great.

Those samples were programmed for specific hardware samplers, you know. If you don't have those, conversions to other formats seem problematic. I've tried and mostly failed. I did make a reasonable soundfont from the EMu Steinway D, but it was too much work for what I got.


Larry

[macmuse]

Thank you! Your comments were very good and helpful to me.

Well unfortunately I found a couple others on the list as direct download that I didn't realize before. I loved TBO but it is too big for me right now, but I didn't know it had a Jr. version. So added to my list of what to buy, is the TSO. And Vertikal Jr.

I can buy 1 more direct downloads right now besides RainPiano at the Jr price and so it is between TSO, Steiny D, Steiny D close, WG Jr. and Vertikal. I may have to choose 2. If the sale were a little longer I would swing them all, oh well.

The other pianos I have as I mentioned are too warm/too ambient for both pop/rock and for classical-type soloing. They just sound cheaper/no detail to me, even though they're decent (from Roland and EXS) but I guess my tastes and expectations are higher. I want a piano to cut through the mix, but also if soloed I'd like one to sound like a beautiful piano. I'll probably need 2 separate pianos for that. I'm wondering what two could give me that, maybe Vertikal Jr. and TSO? WG Jr. and TSO? WG Jr. and Steiny D? You get the picture.

[RiffWraith]

Hi - are these offers still good, or did I miss out? If so, which would anyone suggest to compliment an orchestral setting? I use Kontakt2, btw.....

Thanks! :)

[lallis]

Mac:

You might as well try 1.) White Junior and 2.) either TSO or Steiny D Close. Steiny D has close-mic detail good for soloing, with Steinway thump. TSO is equally nice, but a brighter Yamaha twang. All good. Toss a coin. You sound like you'll have more of them soon, anyway.

Bear in mind you can do a fair amount to tweak any of these samples using velocity curves and digital reverbs. Change response and room-ambience respectively. Much more flexible than your good old Roland samples.

After you score from Worra, you'll think you need a better keyboard to do justice to the better samples. Might as well face it. There's no end. You're doomed, in a cheerful sort of way.

[macmuse]

After you score from Worra, you'll think you need a better keyboard to do justice to the better samples. Might as well face it. There's no end. You're doomed, in a cheerful sort of way.

Yep, I've already put a new controller on my list as of last week. It doesn't end, nope. Never.

[macmuse]

How would Vertikal pop be compared to WG Jr., since they're both geared toward more pop - sitting well in the mix - type things?

[kstevege]

One more comparison question, and this is a toughy:

How do the higher end Sampletekk grand pianos compare to the big shot libraries of NI Akousitc Piano and Ivory Synthology?

Are the Sampletekk libraries older generation sample libraries compared to Akoustic Piano and Ivory?


Just looking for honest opinions from users who have tried both.

I really want a fantastic stand alone feeling for a grand piano. Perhaps I should try the Black Grand 'Close' or 'Ambient'? Will I be missing out buying these smaller versions of the Black Grand versus just buying the entire Black Grand package? If I buy the Black Grand "Close", maybe adding some reverb will provide a more ambient sound?

If the Black Grand does compare to the Akoustic Piano Steinway and Ivory Steinway, is $25 too good to be true oir do I need the entire Black Grand package?

The choices are torturing me!!!

Thanks!!

Steve

[Laurent]

Hi steve.

I have tried Ivory and AKP and I use mostly Sampletekk pianos.

Ivory and AKP have some improved programming compared to raw K2 version of Sampletekk pianos, but you can do almost the same by using some of the piano dedicated K2 scripts around (AKP is K2 based).

Talking about stand alone feeling, TBO and 7CG are the best thank's to the soooomany layers. This is really making de difference from a player perspective.

Compared to AKP and Ivory, Black Grand is a slighty mellower steinway with a specific miking (the close BG is closer than Ivory but less close than AKP) and more layers. The timbre evolution in the fff is typically "sampletekk sound". Maybe not the classical D sound, but I like it. It's really a matter of taste. Anyway at the current price BlackGrandClose in DD is a no brainer decision.

(PS I don't work for worra, and I'm not doing this to win next coupon lottery....;) )

[Jaspo]

Laurent, Thanks for the tip. Just picked up Black Grand Close DD.

Worra has got me for 3 pianos this time around.

[kstevege]

Thanks for the reply Laurent

I think I'm going to start with the Black Grand close mic and take it from there. For $25 you can't go wrong!

Any recommendations on good K2 scripts for the Black Grand?

[kstevege]

White Grand complete package for $69 or Black Grand close mic for $25?

HELPP!!!

[Worra]

White Grand complete package for $69 or Black Grand close mic for $25?

HELPP!!!

Check out the mp3 demos! Or.... buy BOTH.....:D
Otherwise you can get the Black Grand Close and the WG Jr, a subset from WG. You can the upgrade to the full WG if you want.

[kstevege]

OK. I just ordered Black Grand Close. Where do I download all the files? I am using K2 and I have a dedicated hard drive for my sample libraries. So I assume I should load all the zip files there in a Black GRand Folder which I create then follow the instructions in the pdf file?

[kstevege]

I guess I can add ambience reverb to the Black Grand Close for classical pieces or should I just order the Black Grand Ambience?

[kstevege]

I am very upset with the download instructions.

I finally downloaded all the zip files and luckily the RAR zip folder directed me to each respective sample folder. But in my Black Grand folder, I have old regular Kontakt .nki files and what seems to be newer version labled K2.nki. They lie side by side in the Black Grand folder. Am I supposed to delete the regular .nki files because they were for the Kontakt 1.5 player?

[Worra]

I am very upset with the download instructions.

I finally downloaded all the zip files and luckily the RAR zip folder directed me to each respective sample folder. But in my Black Grand folder, I have old regular Kontakt .nki files and what seems to be newer version labled K2.nki. They lie side by side in the Black Grand folder. Am I supposed to delete the regular .nki files because they were for the Kontakt 1.5 player?

Hi.

If you use Kontakt 2, you should use the files that has "K2" in the name. The other files are for Kontakt 1.5.

[Worra]

Hi - are these offers still good, or did I miss out? If so, which would anyone suggest to compliment an orchestral setting? I use Kontakt2, btw.....

Thanks! :)

Hi, no you didn't miss out! Groupbuy continues throughout July.
For orchestral work, I'd go for the Black Grand. A Steinway D Hamburg recorded in a concerthall using three different microphone settings.
48 unique samples/recorded note. 16 pedal up, 16 pedal down and 16 releasesamples. This gives you a dynamic response unmatched by any other sampled Steinway.
You can read more about the Black Grand here: http://www.sampletekk.com/bgresource.php

[RiffWraith]

Just ordered - thank you!

[kstevege]

Hi.

If you use Kontakt 2, you should use the files that has "K2" in the name. The other files are for Kontakt 1.5.

Thanks Worra

Thats what I thought and I removed all files in my Black Grand Folder except for the K2.nki files which reference the samples in the separate samples folder!

Cool. I opened Kontakt 2 and I rebuilt (re-scanned) my library drive then played the Black Grand! Yea!! Sounds great!

[kurzman]

Worra,

Any chance of a package deal with White Grand and 7CG? Seems like a lot of people (including me) would like to pick up on both of these.

Excactly how long will this sale last? Until the end of July?

Thanks,
Brandon

[Worra]

Worra,

Any chance of a package deal with White Grand and 7CG? Seems like a lot of people (including me) would like to pick up on both of these.

Excactly how long will this sale last? Until the end of July?

Thanks,
Brandon

Yes, sale continue to July 31:th.
So, you can pick up both WG and 7CG at a great price until then

[MMcD]

Since I already have some or Sampletek's grand piano sets, I picked up Vertikal in this group buy.

I am delighted with it - great clarity and presence. In the mid to upper range it rings like a bell. The Pop perspective really feels like it is right there in front of you - a pleasure to play.