Solo Piano Composition [Solitude]

I guess that’s what I was hinting at in a way when I suggested:

I actually wondered too if the ending could benefit from re-introducing that nice wee section between 0:12 - 0:22

:sunglasses:

I have good internet connection, but this just buffers endlessly. Can everyone else play this?

Hi bane…worked ok for me…Kevin

My browser doesn’t like this bandcamp site, so I was able top listen to it on Broadjam.com. Everything sounds good, I like the style, and see all kinds of instruments in the mix. Thanks for sharing. :slight_smile:

Cheers. :slight_smile:

I wonder what browser you use? I have problems with FLASH content with both IE and Firefox (current versions). The ONLY browser that works consistently and reliably for me wherever I go seems to be Chrome…

:sunglasses:

I’m using IE 8. When I sat next to my router, everything worked okay. I have talked with Dell and it seems my Wi-fi card is screwed up somehow.

Sounds better close without the stereo enchances on to me. Player mic with stereo enhancer on just sounds horrible :stuck_out_tongue:

There are other mastering things you can do to brighten the sound up the way you want anyway.

When the stereo enhancer is bypassed, the reverb dries up considerably. This apparently adds a bit of clarity, but I’m not sure whether the width suffers, since I don’t have any tools to analyze this except my ears. :wink:

I’m guessing you speak of EQ?

Nope, EQ is a small part of mastering and when it comes to my orchestra stuff I barely touch EQ at all. Although for solo piano I don’t know whether altering EQ is good or not, especially with the different kinds of piano and piano libaries available. You’d have to research that a bit.

Ozone 10—Audio Mastering Software | iZotope Download the guide “mastering with ozone” and have a read. Even if you don’t own Ozone it’s a good read.

Even the kind of reverb you use can make the same piece of music sound muddy with little clarity or definition. The best reverb I’ve ever used is QL Spaces. If the reverb “dries up” though, then you probably don’t have it set correctly to reflect that of the kind of piano hall it might be recorded in. Room size as well as the other factors make just as big a difference as dry/wet.

A good thing to do is to find a similar recording you really like, a professional one, and try to match your sound with that. Ask yourself what size of hall/room does it sound like it’s recorded in? etc

I have done a massive amount of reading on EQing pianos, and the conclusion is that unless you are an anal professional that can sense minutely delicate differences, it’s best to leave it alone!

I downloaded the Mastering with Ozone manual, looking forward to reading it. Alot of pianists do drown their recordings with reverb. I’ve tried some of the plate reverbs and the long halls/chambers, but most of these are way too large, leaving the piano kind of muddy. Other folks recommend keeping the reverb so that no one can tell you’ve used any. Personally, this I’ve used on this track is a nice balance I think, not too thin, but also not dripping muddy!

I’ve seen EWQL Spaces before; I’m a big fan of their sample libraries. There are so many reverbs out their though, Lexicon’s, Waves’, SSL’s, and so on. Do you have experience with some of these other highly acclaimed reverbs plugins?

It entirely depends on the project and sound you want as to how much and what kind of reverb you use. The piece from the movie ‘The Notebook’ that I linked above wouldn’t have the same emotional affect as a listener if it were so dry you couldn’t tell if it had reverb on it, but using big reverbs for any kind of song with drums/bass/vocals just doesn’t work well of course.
The amount of reverb you have on does sound round about right yes, but it’d sound even more pristinely clear if you were using Spaces :stuck_out_tongue:

I can’t compare it to any of those you listed but unless they have recent products they won’t compare really, but if you scroll to the very bottom and look to the right side at; http://www.soundsonline-europe.com/ download the QL Spaces - Pianos video and have a listen to see what you think. As far as I know other reverbs don’t have impulses recorded specifically from the actual halls. Spaces has impulses from some of the top piano studios/recording halls in the world, so your piano will sound pretty much like it’s been recorded in those top locations.

Anyway, if you like the sound of it, buy it :stuck_out_tongue: (Check out the Pianos sample library video just above it too. I didn’t see this video before but it seems he talks about the 3 mic positions a bit and how to get a good sound. They sound a bit different to your piano library though, your player mic sounds a lot more central)

Edit: Oh I forgot, there is a 10 day free trial of Spaces, download it after the video and try it out and compare for yourself ;D Watch the video first though, there are a lot of different halls in the library. I don’t think it says but the FR stands for front mics and RR for rear mics, in general the RR mics have a bit of a darker sound and the FR mics have a bit of a brighter sound.