And kudos to Modartt for including unique instruments like the Hohner Pianet N and T, and a model of the RMI Electra-Piano. I wasn’t disappointed.įrom a Queen-era reed piano entitled “You’re My Best Friend” that nailed the bark and bite of the original, to a convincingly processed Rhodes MK1 model named “Sweet Flanger” that sounded straight out of a Styx song, Pianoteq 6’s electrics are bound to impress everyone from a jazzer to a Prog fan. For those of us who will never get a chance to hear many of these rare keyboard instruments in person, Pianoteq 6 affords the opportunity to experience their essence at home.īeing no stranger to the world of Wurlitzers, Rhodes pianos and Hohner Clavinets (my trusted Wurly 200A sits beside me as I type), I was interested to hear what Pianoteq 6’s electrics had to offer. It featured historical models like those by Broadwood, Pleyel and Erard keyed percussion such as vibraphone, celesta and toy piano and predecessors to the piano such as concert harp and harpsichord - each with its own singular sound. The Studio bundle arrived stocked with instruments beyond just standard grand and uprights. For instance, some of the Steinway B varieties include those named Recording, Close Mic, and Cosmic, each with its own character and sonic imprint. Acoustic and electric offeringsĪs someone who has gigged for the past decade with, generally, hardware-based digital pianos (typically offering only a handful of presets), Pianoteq 6 is a veritable cornucopia of pianistic possibilities - from Steinway B and D grands (approved by the instrument manufacturer, itself ) to more esoteric models by Grotrian, Steingraeber and others.
This mission control-style GUI helps the user navigate the myriad of customizable parameters quite well, and I found myself diving into different sounds and tone-shaping options right away. Next, you are taken to Pianoteq’s main screen, which displays the current keyboard preset, as well as options for instrument tuning, voicing and design. It can be used in standalone mode or as a plug-in (AAX, AU, VST2 and VST 3) and it supports the Native Instruments NKS format.Īfter installation and authorization, you select and calibrate your MIDI controller and audio output interface.
Pianoteq 6 works under Mac OS X 10.7 or Windows 7 or later, as well as Linux (x86 and ARM). But your answer will also depend on just how deep you want to get into sound shaping and editing. Although my review copy was the Studio bundle and contained just about every conceivable option under the sun, I am quite sure, as a gigging pianist, that even the Stage version would have worked for me. How much Pianoteq do you need? Only you can answer that question.
At the very top is the Studio bundle ($899), which includes everything in the Pro package along with free instrument updates and upgrades for one year. That is to say, if a preset is selected in the Pianoteq plugin that has (for example) only outputs 1 and 2 enabled, those outputs correspond to outputs 5 and 4, respectively, in Ardour's routing grid.Īnd, there may be an issue with the Pianoteq 7.5.The Pro version ($519), which includes even more instruments, supports audio resolutions up to 192 kHz and provides a wide array of adjustable parameters such as overtones, reverb and note-by-note editing. In Ardour, all five Pianoteq (LV2 or VST) outputs are listed in Ardour's audio routing grid (so that individual outputs can be routed to the Master bus or elsewhere), but seem to be numbered in reverse order. Reading player:Pianoteq 7 took 6 microseconds, final size = 0
Scanning folders for bundled LV2s: /opt/Ardour-6.9.0/lib/LV2 Loading ui configuration file /opt/Ardour-6.9.0/etc/clearlooks.rcįound nothing along /home/Me/.config/ardour6/templates:/opt/Ardour-6.9.0/share/templates Ardour6.9.0 (built using 6.9 and GCC version 6.3.0 20170516)Īrdour: : Your system is configured to limit Ardour to 1048576 open filesĪrdour: : Loading system configuration file /opt/Ardour-6.9.0/etc/system_configĪrdour: : Loading user configuration file /home/Me/.config/ardour6/configĪrdour: : AVX with FMA capable processorĪrdour: : CPU brand: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G with Radeon GraphicsĪrdour: : Using AVX and FMA optimized routinesĪrdour: : Loading plugin meta data file /opt/Ardour-6.9.0/share/plugin_metadata/plugin_tagsĪrdour: : Loading plugin statistics file /home/Me/.config/ardour6/plugin_metadata/plugin_statsĪrdour: : Loading default ui configuration file /opt/Ardour-6.9.0/etc/default_ui_configĪrdour: : Loading user ui configuration file /home/Me/.config/ardour6/ui_configĪrdour: : Loading 452 MIDI patches from /opt/Ardour-6.9.0/share/patchfilesĪrdour: : Loading color file /opt/Ardour-6.9.0/share/themes/lorsĪrdour: : Loading ui configuration file /opt/Ardour-6.9.0/etc/clearlooks.rcĪrdour: : Loading bindings from /opt/Ardour-6.9.0/etc/ardour.keys