This is not criticism, quite the opposite – this implementation is more than a little impressive. Suffice it to say that there will be a very non-trivial learning curve to achieve true virtuosity. Some options, like Slide and Glissando, may be self-explanatory. I won’t even try to explain the possibilities available in the keyboard layout shown above. The guitar mode has two sub-modes: (so called) easy and advanced. The other option is to use the guitar keyboard configuration, seen above in the above image copied from the documentation. You can play the guitar on a regular chromatic keyboard configuration (like a piano – and the sustain pedal acts as it does on a piano). But again, I had no issues with the previous UI, so that enhancement is appreciated but not producing an “at long last!” response here. The UI is noticeably changed in a nice way. I think it was better, but only to a subtle degree – and in something like this, blind testing is the only way to get a trustworthy conclusion. I tried to carefully evaluate the previous and current Steinway Model D. Users will have to draw their own conclusions as to whether the improvements merit an upgrade. It’s not like they didn’t already sound great, though. But there are several other features that might make a Pianoteq user who’s not interested in the guitar, for which version 8 is required, wish to upgrade.Īt the top of the list of new features is that the pianos, both acoustic and electric, and the harp have been revoiced. The big news, of course, is the new guitar instrument. So, what’s new in version 8? This may not seem like a huge update, but on the other hand, Pianoteq 7 is already huge, so a major enhancement may not seem like much in comparison. In that review, we get into a lot of detail you won’t find here, so if you’re seriously interested, you can find the earlier review here and here. Our earlier Pianoteq 7 review was in two parts – that’s how multifaceted the platform is and how extensive the list of supported instruments is. One more point: the $29 upgrade to Pianoteq 8 does not include the new guitar instrument pack – that must be purchased separately. Instrument pack prices are $59 USD (but often found moderately discounted). The three Pianoteq versions come with 2, 3 and 4 instrument packs of your choice respectively included. Once an instrument is purchased, the demo restrictions are lifted. Significantly, all versions come with all instrument packs accessible, but hobbled in a way that makes them nevertheless easy to audition/evaluate. An instrument pack might contain one instrument, like a Steinway Model B grand piano, or might contain a collection like a celeste, a glockenspiel, a toy piano and a kalimba. Pianoteq instruments are contained in instrument packs. Sales do happen last Black Friday brought a 25% across the board discount, for example. Upgrades from previous versions to the same version are $29. Prices for new purchase are Studio – $139 USD, Standard – $269 and Pro – $399 respectively. Standard offers a lot of tweakability and will be sufficient for all but the most demanding of users. Studio is least expensive and offers little tweakability (but importantly does allow editing of effects). Pianoteq is sold in three versions: Studio, Standard and Pro. We’ll see an example of an external instrument rendering when we examine the new guitar instrument in a bit. What we do see is important parameters exposed that allow us to customize the instruments implemented using the modeling engines that are linked internally to devise a virtual instrument. Is there a single modeling engine for vibrating strings or multiple engines? We don’t know and we probably don’t want to know given the deep complexity of the mathematics behind all the modeling. Pianoteq is a software application that contains a number of physical modeling engines for things that vibrate, things that resonate, things that cause things that vibrate to do so, and possibly more engines like ones for things that go “ka-thunk” or things that squeak. Pricing and similar information will follow that. We reviewed the previous version in considerable detail, so here we’ll offer a quick summary overview. Now with Pianoteq version 8 we have a deep and meticulous implementation of a virtual acoustic guitar. While pianos (from concert grands to a humble upright to a collection of antique piano models) are predominantly featured, a wide variety of other instruments are also on offer, from vibraphone to concert harp to harpsichord and more. Pianoteq is the extraordinary platform which delivers the sounds of a host of diverse real-world instruments via computer computations based upon physical modeling.
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