Galaxy II Grand Piano Collection

[daw32965]

Just heard and watched the QuickTime trailor on this new piano library and it sounds WONDERFUL to me.

http://www.galaxypianos.de/home.htm

I will wait for the Garritan's new piano and Quantum Leap's 64 bit piano before deciding which to buy, but it will be hard to beat the sound quality, control, price and variety found in this new sample library.

[Chaim Goldman]

Quantum Leap's Piano is not 64 bit, the engine (PLAY) is.

But maybe that's what you meant.:hp:

[ColdSteel]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad that you enjoyed the trailer. :)

Best regards,
Klaus Baetz - GalaxyInstruments/TheBadroom

[Hannes_F]

BTW your signature is wrong. Just to let you know.

[daw32965]

BTW your signature is wrong. Just to let you know.


I'm confused. What do you mean "signature"? Wasn't sure if that was meant for me or for one of the responses. Thanks.

[wqa]

Hi daw32965,

i think Hannes_F was talking about ColdSteel's signature (links to Galaxy pianos' site).

Regards.

Laurent

[Hannes_F]

Sorry, yes I meant ColdSteels signature. www.galaxypianos.com (http://www.galaxypianos.com) leads into nothing. Should have written clearer.

Hannes

[daw32965]

I went ahead and purchased the Galaxy II Pianos and received it a few days ago. Sounds as good as I had expected. Also....using it in stand alone mode, it plays smooth as silk. I truly love the different pianos and the amazing pads and effects, etc. It has tons of presets and more controls than I could ever want.

I give it two thumbs up!!

Thanks ya'll.

[ddarwin7]

Sounds as good as I had expected. Also....using it in stand alone mode, it plays smooth as silk. I truly love the different pianos and the amazing pads and effects, etc. It has tons of presets and more controls than I could ever want.

Hi:
Have you had a chance to try any of the other leading pianos, Ivory, sampletekk, Akoustic, BDMO, etc. Wondering how this compares to those in sound and true piano behaviour. Also wonder how this stacks in playability to Pianoteq and Truepiano.

Dd

[daw32965]

Hi:
Have you had a chance to try any of the other leading pianos, Ivory, sampletekk, Akoustic, BDMO, etc. Wondering how this compares to those in sound and true piano behaviour. Also wonder how this stacks in playability to Pianoteq and Truepiano.

Dd

I have tried Pianoteg and Truepiano. I vote Galaxy II Pianos much better in depth of sound, control, and usefulness in a mix (IMHO).

I've had no experience with Ivory (other then listening to lots of demos), sampletekk, Akoustic, etc.

I had been using GigaPiano I with GigaStudio.

[tomhartman]

I still don't hear what I'm looking for.

I use Ivory. It's fine.

But I do a lot of cover work, tracks for clients who want soundalikes, so it seems like I'm always covering a pop tune with piano in it, etc. The pianos I hear on some of the recordings (like Tori Amos "Some Sorta Fairytale") and many others just have this THING about them. Especially in the highs. There is some kind of almost bell like quality to some of the pianos (no it isn't EQ) that I still haven't heard captured in a sample. I hope I hear it eventually because it is quite elusive. I think pianos are a bit ahead of trumpet samples right now, but not by miles;)

TH

[ddarwin7]

I still don't hear what I'm looking for.
There is some kind of almost bell like quality to some of the pianos (no it isn't EQ) that I still haven't heard captured in a sample. I hope I hear it eventually because it is quite elusive.

Hi Tom.

Bingo, you hit the nail on the head. That is exactly what I've been searching for in samples and have not found yet, "The bell like quality" This is where the samples seem to lack with real piano recordings. Samples by themselves sound OK, but only when you A/B it to a well recorded real piano, it just does not stack up. I am still struggling to get that perfect piano sound, and have not found that in any sample library yet. I really hope for a breakthrough soon. I am really looking forward to the new Garritan piano, and I hope it lives up to my expectation.

The sample pianos usually sound better for classical type music burried in reverb or pop music burried in the mix. But nothing out there current availabe IMO can stand on its own for intimate solo work.

BTW Thanks for you feedback daw32965.

Dd

[Jake Johnson]

I have to agree that the hard strikes are often lacking: the upper harmonics and transients are there, but the sound is often thin. Makes me wonder if in recording samples, engineers do not use the same methods as those used by engineers recording a performance of, say, Diana Krall. The exact same methods are of course available. But, no, I don't know what they are. Mic placement? Mic choice? (Many stage sound engineers seem to like several pencil mics on a piano instead of the big diaphram mics often used for sampling projects.) A little multiband compression here and there? (I suspect this is one ingredient missing in sample libraries. Not a pure sound, but instead the sound used to record popular jazz music these days when the piano is in the foreground.

The engineers for the sampling projects are of course excellent, but they may have more of a classical background, a natural choice when choosing an engineer--find someone with the best background in the most complex music that uses the best, for classical music, piano--the big Steinways and Bosendorfers and Yamahas.


I wonder if anyone has approached the engineers who've done Krall and others about a sampling project? Who else, if Krall's sound is similar to what we want, has a good piano sound? I'd vote for Krall and the Joni Mitchell of the Blue album. (Yes, I've posted about the piano sound on Blue before...)

Other artists\albums\engineers with the sound we want?

[Tomdini]

The White Grand (and the White Sister), by Sampletekk. End of debate.

Well, maybe not. But I picked up these two pianos when they were on sale a couple weeks ago or so, and they are awesome.

They were recorded and engineered for pop work unlike, say, the Black Grand, which is a decidedly classical-sounding Steinway.

For pop, jazz, and rock pianos... these two libraries have THE sound, for me. The White Sister especially has that twinkling, bell-like quality that is just gorgeous for pop ballads and the like.

I'm not sure if there are other libs recorded and engineered specifically for no-hassle pop piano purposes, but these two certainly were and they kick ~~~. Just an opinion, but a very satisfied one nonetheless. :D

-Tom