PMI GOLD BUNDLE GS3
The GOLD
Bundle includes 2 amazing new grand piano libraries:
The OLD LADY
and The EMPEROR
A new class
of hybrid ‘digitally sampled’ + ‘convolution modelled’ instruments.
The Emperor
and Old Lady libraries in GS3 offer both sampled and modelled methods to
get the most amazing piano libraries.
FEATURES
-- All ‘pedal
down’ and ‘release/staccato resonance’ elements are created with convolution
impulse models (i.e. more than half of the traditional digital samples can be
left unused!) and with traditional sample based recordings. Overall
responsiveness is greatly improved. The traditional limitations of sample based
pedal dynamics, continuously varying note release have been transcended, with
far greater dynamic accuracy, playability and sonic detail.
-- The
libraries use all 24bit samples with TASCAM DXL disk acceleration, and 32bit
impulse responses, a 16bit version can be extracted by the user in the editor.
-- Includes
Both Stereo and Five channel surround versions (via convolution)
-- Multiple mic placement and room/venue selections via precise GigaPulse impulse models
-- Twelve
recorded velocity levels (digital samples) for pedal up and 12 levels for pedal
down and nearly infinite, continuously variable resonance based on dynamic
playing
-- Sustain
pedal triggered samples, via iMIDI damper up (pedal
down), damper down (pedal up)
Hammer on (pp), Hammer off recoil (via release trigger)
Listen to the
GS3 audio demos on our dedicated GOLD BUNDLE DEMO PAGEVisit our product pages for product
details
or go to our secure on-line store.
Compare this
bundle with the other great pianos from PMI: PMI Piano Comparison
Page
ABOUT: The
EMPEROR and The OLD LADY
CREDITS
Produced
by: Michiel Post for Post Musical
Recording
engineer, samples programming & artwork by Michiel Post
EMPEROR
The owner achieved to install a very high-tech
mechanism in the piano designed by Wayne
Stahnke that
operates the piano keys and pedals with more than 1.000 steps accuracy and is
controlled by a computer system. This allowed me to capture each velocity layer
of this perfect instrument with unequalled precision. By utilizing this new
technology to optimize the
performance of the action, we have created a product which leaves the pianist
in total control of dynamic response, timbre and touch. This library provides
the greatest possible control during the softest pianissimo, through crescendos
to the reserves of power needed for the loudest fortissimo.
Old Lady
In the PMI Old Lady history and future meet
each other and the result is stunning!
In
1876 Theodore Steinway achieved to present the world with the first concert
grand piano that had a duplex scale, bent rim case, cupola iron frame and a
special action to lift enlarged hammers. When he died in 1889 he left behind a
piano design that could hardly be improved upon. The Steinway D is called THE
grand piano by both musicians and composers. The 1920´s models are considered
to be absolutely superior to any piano produced after that date. I discovered
this Old Lady in a lovely little village in Kent (UK). The owner of this unique
musical instrument has a collection of some 20 grand pianos in several sizes
but chooses The Old Lady to stand in his living room.
The
owner achieved to install the same very high-tech mechanism in the piano
designed by Wayne Stahnke that operates the piano keys and pedals with more than
1.000 steps accuracy and is controlled by a computer system.
Wayne Stahnke
Mathematician, scientist and inventor Wayne Stahnke became fascinated with the idea of designing his
own reproducing piano when he visited
ABOUT GIGASTUDIO 3
A new generation of sampling software
GigaStudio 3
adds a list of new features designed to produce the most authentic acoustic
simulations ever created.
´ GigaPulse: This processor models the
resonance of the recorded instruments body for the most realistic sampled
instruments ever. The body resonance IR patches are encoded in this library gig
files for convenient loading. The separate fx-banks
are also available for more flexibility.
` More dimensions: GS3 offers far more dimensions than the previous
version. This allows us to program a piano in as many as 64 velocity layers!
`
´ Unlimited
Polyphony: whatever your
system can deliver. This is very important for sampled piano, where keeping the
sustain pedal down for a prolonged period will cause the polyphony to rise
spectacularly! GS3 now delivers more voices from your CPU than any other
application.
´ VST Plug-In
support: You can use
your favourite VST-effect plug-ins directly from within GigaStudio using the
channel inserts in the mixer. Add special effects, limiting, eq etc,
´ 24-bit
sample support: a new
dimension of detail, without affecting disk performance. GS3 can use new disk
acceleration to avoid polyphony problems when using 24 bit audio quality.
´ 96kHz sample support: 24-bit/96kHz for
stunning realism. Currently this library is 24-bit/48kHz but higher frequency
rates will become available when PC hardware has become more comfortable with
the extra power needed to perform the calculations involved in super high
resolution audio.
´ Quick Edit: You can edit most parameters without opening the
instrument editor. Convenient for setting a filter or adjusting the general
release times of a sample.
´ Surround placement: using a native version of GigaPulse
with extra channels for surround to place your sampled grand piano in any
position in a virtual space. The GigaPulse content
(IR-based banks) will become more and more available. This library includes GigaPulse banks of the original recording space.
GigaPulse
This
processor is a giant step forwards for the sampled piano. Convolution
technology is used to apply all kind of changes to an instrument sound based
upon an impulse response. An impulse response can be anything: the recorded
room response or the sound board resonance of a piano.
The first
option gives you the possibility to post-process the piano sound as if it were
recorded with 7 microphones from as many as 28 positions.
This is ideal
for piano in a surround mixing setting. You don’t have to load several
pre-recorded microphone position versions of the same sample but you can freely
adjust the exact position of each microphone during mix down. This gives you
more freedom over microphone positions since you typically don’t use player,
close and ambient recording positions in a surround mix but would rather have
close, front, rear and rear-facing microphone pairs for such a task. And the
nice thing about GigaPulse is that it uses very
little CPU overhead. Especially if you compare it to the overhead of loading
all these extra pre-recorded sample variations and playing them back for your
final mix.
The second
use of convolution is to realistically improve the behaviour of the sustain
pedal. In traditional sample libraries you use the sustain pedal as a simple
ON-OFF switch to select which sample to play (the sustain pedal up sample or
the sustain pedal down sample) and you have to operate the sustain pedal BEFORE
you play a note. This is a big problem for a real pianist who is used to
operate the sustain pedal any time while he is playing and immediately get the
body resonance. This is essentially what GigaPulse
does. You play a note or chord and hold the keys down. You then press the
sustain pedal and the impulse based resonance of the piano comes in. When you
release the pedal the resonance fades away- just as in real life! And this is
another resource saver: you don’t have to load two version of each note (the
sustain pedal up and the sustain pedal down version) to get the result you
want. You can load half as many samples and still get more realistic results
than with the traditional system.
But GigaPulse is not limited to these tasks. You can also use GigaPulse to actually change the microphones that were used
for the recording! Suppose you really want a typical Rode omni mic sound. All you do is select the right microphone in the
list of source mikes and select the Rode in the list of target mikes and there
you go: GigaPulse brings in the typical coloration of
the Rode microphone in your signal chain. You can even specify the capsule
settings and filters to make control over the microphone even more exiting.
THE PRESETS:
Detailed
preset details and a manual are available on our company website www.postpiano.com. You will also find
regular update files on our website. Content will be added when new features
become available.
GigaPulse Embedded Gig files: Gold Bundle GigaPulse
Pack.
Loading GigaPulse
encoded .gig files in a stack.
One of the convenient ways to use the GP resonance
content in the PMI Gold Bundle pianos is by stacking them in the midi channel.
You can mix and match rooms, resonance models in a modular way.
Each GP-encoded instrument can hold one or multiple GigaPulse-instances with dedicated rooms or resonance
models. By assigning them to a stack and routing them you can process all
instruments in that stacked channel to receive the same processing. For example;
you can load two of these embedded Gp files in the
stack; one for room ambience and one for the Pedal down resonance.
On the PMI disk you will find the next resonance .gig
files and more will be added with free updates:
INSTRUCTIONS
- Make sure the stacked mode is active by clicking on the Stack
button
in the quick sound editor window.
* load your piano in any
given midi channel.
* then load the desired resonance .gig file in the
same midi channel on a stack and make sure both are routed to the same output
channels.
By clicking on the FX button you can open the GigaPulse instance that gives access to the resonance
controls.
This GigaPulse instance
shown here adds pedal down resonance to the Emperor piano set.
File format
notes:
Large
instrument files: the EMPEROR and OLD LADY are sampled pianos with a lot of
velocity layers and these instruments need far more disk space than the
conventional 2 GB file size that Windows allows. Previous solutions utilized
several gig files that had to be loaded at the same time, getting
`stacked`. This is no longer needed in
GS3. The files are split over several extension files so that file size
limitations result in a solution that is invisible for the user. You now have
an instrument file "Filename.gig" that is
accompanied by several files named "Filename.xx1" etc.
When you want
to relocate an instrument file on your hard drive you need to copy all related
files as a group or you will be unable to open the file.
The wavepool is now separated from the program parameters. This means that you can easily change
instruments or load articulations that update the program parameters and save
the resulting updated file without having to save the full wave pool. This will
save you a lot of time during a save process of a 5 GB piano.
24 vs16 bits
You can
change the bit depth of the wavepool with just one
mouse-click. You would typically do this to conserve polyphony and cpu load. So when your system is
not up to the recommended system level of 2.8Ghz for
this piano you may convert the entire wave pool in the Giga3 editor to 16bit
using HD1 dither. You can then use the resulting 16 bit file during tracking
and use the 24 bit file when mixing down. Or you can use a 16 bit version
for live performance and keep the 24 bit file for recording. You can choose
from several bit depth reduction values, each having merits.
To do this,
follow these instructions:
Use the
`convert entire wave pool' command in the Giga3 editor by right-clicking
anywhere in the wavepool and selecting this command.
Change the resolution to 16bit using HD1 dither and after completion use a
`Save As` command in the File menu to save the 16 bit version to a new file
with a unique file name. Then, in the main GS3 App, load the '24bit EMPEROR/Old
Lady Full Modeled.gsp' file,
unload the 24 bit.gig file and substitute with the 16
bit.gig version. Be sure to use the same midi channel
to get the routing through the convolution. Then, 'Save As' | '16bit
Emperor/Old Lady Full Modeled.gsp'. The 16bit
interpolators are shorter and use less cpu
per voice than the 24bit version.
Q: Minimal
System?
A: P3 or
higher, 1.8 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, WinXP SP1, GigaStudio 3
and 5 GB free disk space for each piano.
Q: How about
the ultimate GS3 system? What if I want to get crazy polyphony and
multiple GigaPulse instances?
A: The
limiting factor for polyphony is hard drive speed, so you'll get the best
performance with a RAID array for your drives. The following system was tested
with over 600 voices of polyphony
* Windows XP SP1 * P4 3.2 GHz * 2GB RAM
* Two-drive RAID using 10,000 RPM SATA drives & GSIF 2-compatible sound
card or ReWire-compatible host application
Q: Is it easy
to use or do I have to study a manual before I can start playing these pianos?
A: You don’t
have to be a computer wizard to start playing. The GOLD BUNDLE pianos were
designed for ease of use. The encoded GigaPulse
content enables fast and convenient loading of all required items. You don’t
have to set up complicated processors or plug-in effects to start playing. In
fact all it takes is just one mouse click.
Q: Can I use
this new bundle on my old PC?
A: Why not?
You may find out that your system delivers less polyphony but several options
enable you to compensate this. First you can use the 16 bits TASCAM DXL
accelerated voices, that can be encoded in the editor.
This will drastically improve polyphony on your less-than-fastest PC. Another
option is to disable GigaPulse and use the sample
based variations only. They result in the same features but need less CPU
power. Last you can load special “Light Versions”, variations that use less
velocity layers so that you can load them on any machine.