The 2nd movement of Sonata K310 on this instrument from Mozart’s time
The 2nd movement of Mozart’s Sonata in A minor K310 contrasts intricate lyrical music with a dark dramatic development section. Hear how this late 18th Century fortepiano handles these contrasts in a very different way from the modern piano.
Experience the dynamic and exciting tone of this beautiful historic piano – Pianoteq’s Dohnai 1795
In this video I play the 1st movement of the wonderful Mozart K310 sonata in A minor, full of Sturm und Drang, with its driving rhythmic figures and contrasting dynamics. The 1795 Dohnai piano from Pianoteq’s Kremsegg collection gives even more drama and energy to this exciting, powerful piece.
Bach – Prelude and Fugue in D from Bk 2 on Pianoteq’s Neupert Clavichord
It is said that Bach liked the Clavichord best of all keyboard instruments. Its capacity for expression, despite its delicate sound and small dynamic range makes it a great solo instrument.
Pianoteq give us gorgeous, atmospheric Felt Pianos!
Pianoteq have introduced felted versions of their pianos. These beautiful, atmospheric pianos are incredibly expressive and playable, with all kinds of rich, complex colours possible. To demonstrate this, Phil improvises, exploring the range of sonorities, on the C. Bechstein DG Felt.
What kind of music sounds good on Pianoteq’s C. Bechstein DG Snappy?
In this video I explore the refreshing, clear sounds of the Pianoteq C. Bechstein DG Snappy preset and improvise to illustrate how its qualities really shine to create great musical textures in two different types of piano arrangement.
Resisting the urge to change presets too much
The presets in Pianoteq and Waves that I use are designed by highly skilled people. So I resist the temptation to fiddle too much with them as they work very well out of the box. A few subtle adjustments are often all that is needed to find just the sound you’re after.
Volume settings like a concert grand using Pianoteq
To recreate a realistic-sounding piano recording using Pianoteq, the experience must be very much the same. A concert grand piano is loud. To generate the same experience of playing one, we need to set the volume higher than normal listening.
How I make a classical recording using Pianoteq
To make a very plausible classical piano recording, I take the NY Steinway D Classical Recording but play it with the stereo width set to default (0), the mics in the player position and the reverb mix set to default (0). To make the recording, I revert back to the original preset and add subtle mastering dynamics using Waves C6 and L1.
2 velocity curves for Pianoteq’s Steinway B Gentle
Different velocity curves can bring out different playing characteristics. This video features the same basic preset with drastically different velocity curves and a few other changes to generate very different playing experiences.
Pianoteq’s Petrof Mistral – Rachmaninov Prelude in E flat Op 23 No 6
Pianoteq’s wonderful model of the Petrof Mistral – a piano with real beauty and character, warm, thick tones in the bass and sweet, bright, shimmering tones in the treble.