Román Vega
We have talked many times about Toontrack's developments. Its research into sample technology, applied to percussion and its virtual instruments, has been especially brilliant in recent years. It is one of the most powerful families of virtual drums on the market, thanks to its precision, ease of use, versatility, convenient library loading, a fantastic architecture for combining the supplied loops and grooves with our own editing, and the care taken in selecting the source (recorded) instruments and the musicians who play the parts, etc.
Now they surprise us by moving into melodic instruments, specifically the piano family. They keep their original architecture, but take it a step further, since now, in addition to tempo and dynamics, special attention has to be paid to the notes, chords and melodies themselves. How have they pulled it off?
Introduction
Personally, I consider Toontrack to have been one of the market leaders for this type of product. Not only because of the quality and professionalism of the samples, but because of the conception of an especially versatile architecture. It saves us hours of drum programming, and on top of that we get much better results, without losing the flexibility to adapt it exactly to our song.
After its various releases, powerful companies in the industry have taken note of many of the ideas introduced by the dazzling EZdrummer tools and related products.
Now they are "attacking" with pianos. Surprising.
The EZKeys interface
When the product landed in my hands, I thought it would be a commercial "move" to cash in on the popularity of EZdrummer and SDX. The moment of surprise came when I tried it.
The graphical interface is the same as that of its percussion "cousins." We see the piano window, the instrument drawn on screen and, at the bottom, the few (all the better) but effective controls.
Sounds
In short, the instrument offers us a fairly satisfying collection (considering the price) of piano sounds. From the most classic to the "fattest" ones for ballads, purist jazz sounds, vintage, tremolo modulations and even a curious overdriven piano that tempts your creativity.
So far, nothing unusual: we select the piano and the type we want to use. Very quick, intuitive and easy. No strange, hidden library loading.
Digging deeper into the sonic possibilities, we have a series of virtual knobs that let us shape each of the instruments or "presets" described. I really like how these controls are designed, since they are very simple and basic but well thought out for mixing. We control, for example, the piano's "density," which is essential in a mix when it gets too "fat" and "eats up everything." However, we can also "pump it up" so that it takes up two stereo tracks in a "beastly" way.
We also act on the reverb (as you would expect) and other controls such as the detail control, which brings out "brilliance in the presence and highs." In fact, these are various EQ settings, but the process is simplified for the user, since they skip the fuss of 12-band EQs that users (in some cases) don't know how to use optimally, and offer faster results with controls that are easier to handle.
Included piano types: Presets
Standard
The default sound. A very rich, fresh tone that will fit perfectly into any kind of contemporary pop/rock, country or classical composition. "Customize" the reverb and compression levels with the controls.
Raw Tweaks:
A true preset that represents how the piano sounds from the raw recording. With this preset you can also adjust the level of "hammer noise," sustain pedal and releases, as well as the piano's tone.
• Swedish Jazz:
A blend of the basic elements of a jazz atmosphere: a good reverb and the tone typical of classic jazz records.
• Retro Space Ballad:
Combines a retro spring reverb with tape delays: a true classic.
• Swedish Pop:
It has the vibe of '70s Swedish pop, with spring reverb.
• Old Time Boogie:
The sound is processed through 15 IPS tape, plus spring reverb and a certain delay in the hammering. A nostalgic '60s tone.
• On Stage:
Enhances presence for listening through a stage monitor.
• Drive In Cabinet:
Respects the definition but has certain touches typical of an overdriven speaker.
• Electric Dirt:
They came up with the idea of running it through a guitar amp with a distortion pedal and a good spring reverb: awesome.
• Grand Tremolo:
You can imagine, right? Springs, a pretty thick delay and a powerful tremolo.
• Atmospheric Depth:
Classic piano sound blended with a pad. A contemporary ballad vibe.
• Dreamscapes:
"Swelling," atmospheric ambiences.
• Dreampads:
Along the lines of the previous one, but with certain variations.
Architecture, loops and grooves
In this case, I think it is incorrect to talk about loops, since these are not closed cycles. It is the same concept as in the percussion instruments of this family (Toontrack).
I was very struck by the fact that they carried their developments over, almost identically, to melodic instruments. In this case, it involves recording a player performing various styles: standard, ballad, rock/pop, jazz, bossa, funk…
The library offers various grooves for each style (just like with drums) that adapt to the set tempo. We can also halve or double that playback tempo; that is, if we have our tempo set to 80, the piano groove can play back at 40 or 160.
We also find, just as in their MIDI offerings for percussion, performances divided into "intro," "verse," "bridge," "pre- or post-bridge" and "chorus." In fact, it's like a bunch of song puzzles, split into little pieces that can be rearranged in lots of different ways. And counting our own editing and adding our own playing on top of the grooves, I would say the possible reconstructions of that puzzle are infinite.
Following this manufacturer's approach, we drag the grooves into the track (arrange) window and get our hands dirty editing them to our liking. We move notes, lengthen them, play over them, delete, mix some parts with others, etc.
Conclusions
Obviously, the limitations are somewhat greater than with percussion instruments, since controlling the tempo still leaves the melodic possibilities completely open. However, when chords come into play, let's say we are somewhat more "constrained." For players or creators who need things more "ready-made," the idea is fantastic. It's also great for putting a song together quickly: we have to build something and have little time, so we grab a bit from here and there, grooves here, editing there, a couple more tracks and off we go (with pretty "nice" results).
This development paves the way for a whole series of new libraries that I imagine will arrive to feed Toontrack's new piano engine, with thousands of options for having your own "keyboardist" / "pianist" at home. Professional support tools for when we need to put together "work" projects, and even for stimulating our own creativity.
To finish, I'll say that for its price, and considering that there are countless library and virtual instrument options for pianos, the sound results are very satisfying. I believe it costs around €139; if I compare it with others (undoubtedly better in sound quality) costing €1,000, the quality/price difference is certainly not proportional at all.
Interesting. Take a look at the demo.
Specifications
-32- and 64-bit VST, AU and RTAS instruments, as well as low latency for a standalone application
-On the computer, drag and drop standalone MIDI to create song tracks
-On the computer, click and select support for your own MIDI "party" in EZkeys
-Drag and drop MIDI from the song track, or directly select the song from the browser and drop it into your DAW or onto your desktop
-EZkeys will analyze and separate the chords of any MIDI on the fly
-Real-time chords let you instantly see which chords you are playing
-The chord selector, based on the circle of fifths, lets you change chords instantly
- It has presets for using the most common chord types
-"Customize" the color of each chord by opening the detailed view
-Transpose individual song blocks or entire songs with a single mouse click
-It includes a theory document to properly understand how it works, including MIDI examples
-Ability to "tune" the piano by octaves and semitones
-Dynamic controls that let you adjust velocity response to match your keyboard and your style
-Three pedals: sustain, sostenuto and soft
-MIDI learn and automation
-Thirteen ready-to-use presets using high-quality effects from Overloud. The presets range from "raw" and unprocessed to "heavier" distortions
EZkeys - MIDI overview
-It has an extensive MIDI library played by a professional pianist in a session
-All styles are covered (Pop, rock, soul, RnB, Country, Gospel, Jazz, Blues, Boogie, Funk)
-All songs are built with increasing intensity across intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus and bridge variations
-It also includes unique songs, rhythmic parts and broken choruses in different variations, as well as FX and endings
-Variations in 4/4 and 6/8
-An intuitive browser that lets you add your favorites and organize them in folders
EZkeys - Sound library overview
-Recorded in a famous studio using only the very best of the most modern and most vintage gear
-All sounds are designed to be mixed. Pick a preset and the sound will sit in your mix.
-Dynamic response for great playability
-Includes resonances based on real samples
-Thanks to its low-compression TPC algorithm, EZkeys Grand Piano has extremely low system resource requirements, needing only 500 MB of RAM. Its load time until ready is less than ten seconds
To see the specifications and rating table, download the magazine in PDF