PMI Piano Magic Bundle - finest realistic piano samples, church organs
and harpsichords for Gigasampler, Kontakt, EXS24 and other samplers.
Consists of:
- The OLD LADY an incredible Model 1923 Steinway D;
- PMI EMPEROR a Model 290SE Imperial Grand Bosendorfer;
- PMI GRANDIOSO BOSENDORFER 290 (full version);
- PMI GRANDIOSO STEINWAY D (classic version);
- PMI POP/ROCK YAMAHA C7 CONCERT PIANO;
- POST ESTONIA CONCERT GRAND (full version);
- PMI PIANO SUITE: Orchestral Instruments, Steinway D, Prepared Piano (full version);
- PMI HISTORIC KEYBOARDS: Fortepiano, French & Flemish Harpsichords and Virginal
Overview:
Unique features of PMI piano libraries:
- Sympathetic resonance; the singing of the non-struck resonating
strings(+) - Sostenuto and softpedal; (+) - IR-based ambience and
stereo imaging; - IR-based body resonance; - Seemingly unlimited
dynamic range and responsiveness; - 24bit samples for pristine audio
quality; - Total freedom of tuning; - Surround Sound Mixing + Kontakt 2
Scripts
Pianos:
EMPEROR
This library brings you an incredible Bцsendorfer 290 SE as the most
realistic sample library available today. The piano has a huge dynamic
range, with very subtle pianissimo and thunderous fortissimi. 12
recorded velocity layers, with 12 separate sustain pedal down layers
and release triggered samples. OLD LADY: This library brings you an
amazing Model 1923 Steinway D grand piano. Sampled with 10 recorded
velocity layers with 10 separate sustain pedal down layers and release
triggered samples.
The recorded pianos for OLD LADY and EMPEROR were equipped with an
advanced computer operated playback mechanism that was designed by
mathematician, scientist and inventor Wayne Stahnke. The mechanism
actually operates the piano keys and pedals with over 1.000 steps
accuracy for inverse hammer velocity. The Stancke computer system
enabled Amsterdam based sample library producer Michiel Post to capture
each velocity layer for this library with absolute velocity levels.
These levels guarantee a totally even response across the whole
keyboard for all velocities. The programming of this piano is designed
to take full advantage of the possibilities of the new GigaStudio 3
software. This results in more programmed velocity layers. The Emperor
has 24 recordings for each key. These recordings were further divided
in 64 velocity groups, each a slight variation of the underlying
velocity layer sample. These libraries use a new programming to create
the sustain pedal effect. Traditionally, conventional piano libraries
use the sustain pedal as an ON-OFF switch, which has to be pressed
before a note is played. These libraries lacked the possibility to
re-pedal as in a real concert grand piano. Now this barrier has been
broken. The PMI EMPEROR & OLD LADY libraries allow the user to
press the sustain pedal at any time while playing notes or chords to
start the sympathic resonance of the non-struck strings. There is a
choice of convolution using the impulse response of the body resonance
of the actual piano and a programming technique that adds the recorded
resonance as an extra layer. GigaPulse (the convolution engine in
GigaStudio 3) is also used for recreation of the original acoustics of
the piano hall where the pianos were recorded. * Special features for
GigaStudio 3 and Kontakt 2: Body resonance for reproduction of the true
body resonance upon sustain pedal use, Hall resonance, true
re-pedalling, sustain pedal triggered pedal noise etc.
Bosendorfer 290
This Bosendorfer library provides the greatest possible control during
the softest pianissimo, through crescendos to the reserves of power
needed for the loudest fortissimo. By utilizing new technology to
optimise the mechanical performance of the action, Post Musical
Instruments has created a product which leaves the pianist in total
control of dynamic response, timbre and touch. PMI has finally captured
a grand piano with "breath". They recorded both dry samples and ambient
samples. The dry samples are recorded fairly close to the piano
strings. The wet samples are recorded at a distance so that the hall
acoustic is captured. You can experience a concert hall type of sound
and control the amount of ambience until you play it absolutely dry.
Several Gigabytes of samples, up to 16 recorded layers of velocity,
separate sustain pedal up and down samples, multiple release samples...
separate "dry" and "wet" samples that can be mixed for ultimate
ambience control. 24 bit samples, real-time sustain pedal, increased
dynamics, smoother velocity response and GigaPulse body resonance make
this library your ultimate sampled piano! PLEASE NOTE: You will need at
least 1 GB of free RAM when playing the GRANDIOSO libraries from a
RAM-based soft-sampler platform. When operating the samples on a disk
streaming sampler (Giga, Kontakt with DFD, EXS24 with Virtual memory on
and HALION) you need 512 MB.
Steinway D
We recorded the best grand piano we could find. This particular
instrument is in premium condition, a Steinway model D3 with serial
number 393210 which was built in 1965. It was fully refurbished by
Steinway Hamburg in 1999. This piano served the Rotterdam 'DOELEN'
concert hall for several decades, where hundreds of famous musicians,
from Claudio Arrau to the Rolling Stones, performed for live audiences
and broadcast concerts. We captured up to 6 articulations (PPP, PP, P,
MF, F, FF and FFF) for sustain pedal up, sustain pedal down and 4
articulations for the release triggered samples. We recorded the
samples using the finest digital equipment available. Prism Sound, a
24-bit ProTools TDM Mix+ system and Waves processing was used. We have
mapped up to 16 levels of velocity, true multiple velocity release
layers, ultimate staccato, and sustained pedal-down samples with a
carefully chosen amount of resonance. The library has 5 GB of samples.
The end result was tested by several concert pianists, who helped us
develop a sampled instrument which could meet their highest
expectations. There is no doubt in our minds that this is the best
sampled piano ever.
YAMAHA C7
This Yamaha C7 library provides the greatest possible control during
the softest pianissimo, through crescendos to the reserves of power
needed for the loudest fortissimo. By utilizing new technology to
optimise the mechanical performance of the action, Post Musical
Instruments has created a product which leaves the pianist in total
control of dynamic response, timbre and touch. PMI has captured the
final pop grand piano. We recorded both dry samples and ambient
samples. 8 GB of 24 bits samples, up to 16 recorded layers of velocity,
separate sustain pedal up and down samples, multiple release samples...
and best: dry and wet samples that can be mixed for absolute ambience
control.
ESTONIA
Estonia Concert Grand piano is a multi-velocity level chromatically
sampled piano of the highest realism! The Grand Piano of ESTONIA has an
unique SOUND which comes from the superior spruce timber that grows
only in extremely cold areas. The large 9' instrument was sampled with
multiple velocity layers and sustain pedal sampled individually. There
is even a multiple velocity layer release layer for ultimate realism!
The instrument was sampled with 4 layers of velocity (both pedal up and
pedal down) also 4 layers of velocity were used to capture the release
key action of this piano. The 15 instrument variations give the options
of playing the piano with sustained notes only (!), no sustained notes,
no release layer, special 'dark' settings etc….All white keys
are sampled (55 for each layer). Back to top of page
HISTORIC KEYBOARDS
This dynamic library features: Flemish Harpsichord, Frensh Harpsichord,
a Virginal and a unique Fortepiano. The harpsichords have been sampled
so that you can get both manuals separately and combined. You can even
use a key switch to change the registration (from upper manual only, to
lower manual to both at the same time) while playing. All instruments
are captured with their release sounds, giving them an unbelievable
realistic quality. The Sampled Fortepiano Making a beautiful instrument
more available by Howland Auchincloss Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1732)
invented the piano during the period 1680-1720, but its acceptance,
especially in his native Italy, was very slow, and it is said that he
was very disappointed. However, in Germany and Austria very active
development took place, and by 1770 there was an instrument, now
universally referred to as the "fortepiano," sometimes as the "Viennese
fortepiano," which was enthusiastically accepted in the general area of
Austria and southern Germany. By far the most important aspect of the
subject today is that Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven wrote many
compositions for the fortepiano, and some of these compositions were
for their students and therefore vary greatly in technical difficulty.
Almost surely, anybody who has taken piano lessons for a few years or
more has worked on one of these works, but, almost always they were
playing a modern piano, not a fortepiano. In the period 1770-1790 the
steel frame had not yet been devised, and the metallurgy of string
manufacture was different than in the mid-19th century. These factors
combined to make string tension much reduced. In order to avoid
excessive force on the string, the weight of the hammers was much less.
The end result of these limitations and of the builders' adjustments to
them was, somewhat surprisingly, that the action of most fortepianos
was very light. The tone was clear and even penetrating, but the
sustain was much less. To like the fortepiano today, even if one's
pleasure is limited to listening to recordings, is to take a step
backwards in time. After about 1800 the fortepiano was gradually
replaced almost as completely as it had replaced the harpsichord.
Essentially, although the term "fortepiano" was still sometimes used,
the actual instrument came more and more to resemble the modern piano.
By 1860 the American Steinway Piano is said to have had virtually all
of the essential features of the modern piano. It is not a great
exaggeration to say the the fortepiano disappeared in the same way that
the harpsichord and the lute disappeared. Even more unfortunately, the
revival of interest in "early music" at the turn of the 20th century
did not include the fortepiano. Major credit for the return of the
fortepiano to the concert stage and to recordings belongs to a
relatively small group of scholars, performers, builders and restorers
in Europe and in America dating from the 1970s. Malcolm Bilson, now at
Cornell University, was the driving force in Norht America. However,
the price of a new fortepiano reconstruction is high, the instrument
requires frequent tuning, and the number of keys is considerably less
than is the case for the modern piano. It is therefore not satisfactory
as a general-purpose piano. As a result, it is still difficult for most
pianists, amateur or professional, to gain personal experience with the
very special qualities of this instrument which was so popular in
Vienna more than 200years ago. With the present disk there are now two
available sampled fortepianos, and we no longer can say that the
acoustic instrument is indispensable to the ability of a pianist
attempting to create the sound of a Haydn sonata on the fortepiano.
Certainly, the acoustic instrument will be seen as essential for the
concert hall. The Boldersounds Fortepiano (www.boldersounds.com) has
been available since 1999 and originated with a sampling session in
1997. The fortepiano used was the personal instrument of Malcolm
Bilson, a noted teacher, scholar, performer who helped me arrange the
sampling session. The sample editing was done by Dennis Burns of
Boldersounds after some less than satisfactory efforts by me. The
instrument was a copy of a fortepiano by Anton Walter, one of the best
builders of the 18th century. The fortepiano used for the present disk
is also a Walter piano, but in this case the instrument is a restored
original. The sampling and editing were done in 2001, almost 4 years
later. The later efforts benefit at a minimum from improved technology
and also, probably, from the availability of a better instrument, but
rather than look at the two disks as competitive with eachother, I
would urge that they are complementary, because the fortepiano was not
a standardized instrument. Together with the Post harpsichords and
virginal they get the Gigasampler owner off to a good start with 18th
century keyboard instruments. A frequent initial reaction to the sound
of the fortepiano is that it is less beautiful than that of a fine
modern concert grand piano. I believe that such a reaction will usually
be changed if the player listens to good recordings. The clear sound
and reatively short sustain of the fortepiano tends to favor the
special elements of style in the music of Haydn and Mozart. The sound
is different but not inferior. Another complaint often voiced is that a
sampled piano is not (and probably cannot be) the sonic equal of the
acoustic instrument as it was at the time of sampling. This is part of
the general dictum that live music is better than recorded music. One
answer to this complaint is that the sampled fortepiano is good enough
to be an alternative to the modern piano, which is simply an
"incorrect" instrument for playing music written long before it was
available. Each player will make his or her judgment about what kind of
"piano library" they want to have. Malcolm Bilson has told me that
there are many fine pianos of both 18th and 19th centuries which
deserve attention, and we can be optimistic that a library started now
will grow in the years to come. There is one aspect of the fortepiano
for which there is at present no simple way of copying at present. This
is the very light action of the fortepiano previously mentioned, which
facilitates extremely rapid playing. I have yet to find a digital
keyboard which has an action comparable to a fortepiano. Therefore, if
a friend was buying a MIDI controller, I would advise them to select
one with a light action if their main enthusiasm was 18th century music.
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