FOLLOW-UP ARTICLE FOR "HOW A PIANO SHOULD SOUND, AND WHY"

[♔Chello]

FOLLOW-UP ARTICLE FOR "HOW A PIANO SHOULD SOUND, AND WHY"

All musicians should be concerned that the instrument they are playing is perceived as authentic - by themselves.
If you play the piano, you should clearly hear the hammer hit the strings, and just as clearly perceive the entire course of the resonance from the note begins until it ends.

At the same time, you should perceive the acoustics from where you are sitting, and not somewhere else in the room.

In order for this to be realized, the sampling must be recorded with a very special microphone technique consisting of 3-4 microphones inside the piano itself, in addition to several placed in the immediate vicinity. This technique is both expensive to use and requires a great deal of knowledge from the person preparing the recording; not least because the piano is the most dynamic tonal instrument in existence, with very large dynamic fluctuations.

When all this is arranged, the correct resolution for the recording must be chosen - what is to be chosen by bit depth; 8,16, 24 or 32?

Bit depth determines the height of the resolution (including dB and expression).
Sample rate (number of measurements per second) or the width of the frequency range determines which frequency range to cover - 44,100Hz covers, for example, quite precisely the range 20Hz to 20kHz.

Bit depth is clearly the most crucial parameter, because it determines the details of the covered frequency range.


If 8 Bit is selected for a piano, this will result in that a note sounds almost the same no matter how hard you press - the expression is limited, much as if you had selected the Soft setting for touch sensitivity on the keyboard.

16 bit has been standard for many years, but this resolution covers just basic expressions.

The music industry has now for many years used 24 bits, which gives far greater details in expression - precisely that's why Korg Kronos is so much better than others.

There is a huge difference in 8, 16 and 24 bit resolution.

In recent days, I have converted many samples from Kronos from 24 to 16 bits, and found that the samples lose a lot of expression.
The samples from Kronos are in any case better than those found on other synthesizers and keyboards, because the previously mentioned microphone techniques are often used for recording.
Most of the world's best samples are found on Kronos.


Another reason why Kronos outmaneuvers everything else on the market is that 9 sound engines are used, each of which has its specific instrument group to reproduce.
Piano and related instruments, for example, have their own sound engine.

Most keyboards use a sound engine that favors organs and related instruments, resulting in other instrument groups being compromised and inadequately reproduced.

Users can - and should - question why keyboard manufacturers use only a single sound engine; what is the problem with using more?
Korg Kronos costs far less than Yamaha Genos, although Kronos has a technology that is a light year ahead.
Why should Yamaha have so much money for so little?
A single organ-based sound engine in 16-bit resolution is all Yamaha has to offer - at a blood price.


Ketron is even worse, because they should have even more money, while using outdated hardware that was developed in the early 2000s.

Korg is without a doubt the best, because several models offer 24 bit via digital output; even the now old Pa2X.

This means that even Pa2X is technically better than Genos, which only has 16 bits; ie there is a coax output, but spesifications is not provided, which is completely meaningless.

I have also converted many sounds from Wersi, and am not very impressed.
This is not so strange, because Wersi is based on 8/16 bit.
Drums from Wersi are really cruel, but I am of the opinion that this applies in general to all Wersi sounds - including organs.

Now I have offended many users, I would think; but my ears control my brain - not what everyone else is saying.



It's high time to bury 16 bits, and replace this with 24 (or even 32) bits.
This out of respect for musicians who need to fully express their music, which is not entirely possible with today's outdated technology.

At the same time, they can remove Mp3 (and Wave) as standard for alternative recording formats, and replace this with FLAC, which is capable of reproducing all of today's high resolutions with minimal disk space.