Missing Silent key function...

[hazend_18867]

 

Somewhere back in May the issue of the missing silent key function in the Synchron Steinway was brought up in this forum. There were no developments since then. The Steinway is superb, but there is still one crucial element missing to make it completely realistic and that is the silent key function... 

Will this function be implemented and if so, is there an estimate as to when this will happen?

Thanks for any information!

All the best

Roeland

[Paul]

Hi Roeland, 

Currently, there are no plans to implement a silent key function. 

Best, 
Paul

[bbelius]

Hi Roeland,

you can try something like the Logic Editor in Cubase to filter out all midi notes with a velocity lower then your threshold. Wouldn't this solve your problem?

Best, Ben

[hazend_18867]

@Paul said:

Hi Roeland, 

Currently, there are no plans to implement a silent key function. 

Best, 
Paul

 

That is really sad, but may be there is hope? You write 'currently' which make it possible that the silent key function will be implemented in a foreseeable future. Other piano’s (the Garritan CFX for instance) have the silent key function, so it should be possible to let the VSL piano's also have it... Could you try and get it on some sort of agenda?

 

Thanks in advance  and all the best!

 

Roeland

 

 

 

[hazend_18867]

@bbelius said:

Hi Roeland,

you can try something like the Logic Editor in Cubase to filter out all midi notes with a velocity lower then your threshold. Wouldn't this solve your problem?

Best, Ben

 

Hi Ben,

 

Thanks for your suggestion. Sadly this does not work. Filtering out midi values in Cubase’s logical editor result in them not sounding, which means that it is as if you did not press the keys beneath the threshold value at all. You don't hear anything while the silent key function makes it possible that you hear the key pressed down and the hammers lifted.  When you press down and hold a major chord without making it sound with the silent key function on an instrument that has it (the Garritan CFX for example) and you play the same chord not silently an octave higher, you can hear the chord of the keys you hold down resonate - just like you would on a real piano. Modern composers from Bartók to Boulez. Ligeti, Berio or Stockhausen used this feature often, but you can also us it to accentuate the out the voicing in for instance Bach’s counterpoint.

 

Thanks anyway!

 

All the best,

 

Roeland

 

[hazend_18867]

@Paul said:

Hi Roeland, 

Currently, there are no plans to implement a silent key function. 

Best, 
Paul

 

That is really sad, but may be there is hope? You write 'currently' which make it possible that the silent key function will be implemented in a foreseeable future. Other piano’s (the Garritan CFX for instance) have the silent key function, so it should be possible to let the VSL piano's also have it... Could you try and get it on some sort of agenda?

 

Thanks in advance  and all the best!

 

Roeland

 

 

 

Hi Paul,

Could you please let us know if there's any hope the implementation of the silent key function could be on the list for a future update of the VSL piano libraries? As  Stated earlier, the Steinway D is absolutely superb, but it would be even better if it had the silent key function that the top competitors (all less great!) do have - Garritan CFX, all Synthogy piano's, all True Keys instruments, the Galaxy II...

Thanks for your answer in advance!

Best Roeland

[hazend_18867]

@Paul said:

Hi Roeland, 

Currently, there are no plans to implement a silent key function. 

Best, 
Paul

 

That is really sad, but may be there is hope? You write 'currently' which make it possible that the silent key function will be implemented in a foreseeable future. Other piano’s (the Garritan CFX for instance) have the silent key function, so it should be possible to let the VSL piano's also have it... Could you try and get it on some sort of agenda?

 

Thanks in advance  and all the best!

 

Roeland

 

 

 

Hi Paul,

Could you please let us know if there's any hope the implementation of the silent key function could be on the list for a future update of the VSL piano libraries? As  Stated earlier, the Steinway D is absolutely superb, but it would be even better if it had the silent key function that the top competitors (all less great!) do have - Garritan CFX, all Synthogy piano's, all True Keys instruments, the Galaxy II...

Thanks for your answer in advance!

Best Roeland

 

Hi Paul,

It would be great if you could find the time to answer...

Thanks in advance,

Roeland

[Steve White]

Paul, any further info for us? It's been a couple of years or so. Can we please have silent key?

I was excited when I bought the Vienna Symphonic Library Bösendorfer 280VC. I was expecting a great virtual piano for $200. But it doesn't behave like a piano when you depress a key very softly. So to me this is not a virtual piano. I'd have thought you'd want to get the basic emulation/behavior of a piano first. And then after that focus on beautiful samples. As has been mentioned, other virtual pianos have achieved that.

-Steve

[Paul]

Hi, 

Thanks for the reminders!

We have not found the time to add this feature yet. Also an improved algorithm for sympathetic resonance is still high on the list for our Synchron Pianos. Also M1 Native Support...  

Can't give you an ETA, but I can tell you that we hear you.

Best,
Paul

[Steve White]

Thank you! :)

I hope you'll forgive me for adding just one more thought about this before I shut up about it. :) Given the shape of the normal distribution (Gaussian distribution, bell-curve), one would expect that there would be more beginner- and intermediate-skilled customers for the VSL virtual pianos than experts. So perhaps there's a large population of folks experimenting with a soft touch, in order to train themselves to do that expertly.

Let's imagine that the student (using a Kawai VPC-1 with the Vienna Symphonic Library Bösendorfer 280VC) puts the arm's weight on finger 1, and uses that stability to play very quietly with finger 2. As the key hits bottom, the arm's weight transfers quickly over to finger 2, which now acts as the point of stability so that finger 3 can play whisper-quiet. And so on. The student walks their arm weight back and forth from finger to finger. Making beautiful little sounds. And does that for a long time.

Then they realize, oh crap. What a waste of time! I just trained myself to play silently. Because what I was actually hearing was the sound of VSL receiving an absurdly low MIDI velocity, but playing a nice quiet sound anyway. And I know this for sure, because if I switch over to Pianoteq and repeat the experiment I hear nothing for more than half the keystrokes.

That happened to me. I had VSL starting up as the PC boots, I was so thrilled by it. Until that happened. Now I have Pianoteq as my startup piano. I'll wait a year or two until I've mastered quiet playing before I trust this software again. If it were me, I wouldn't care how many customers ask for this feature, I'd implement it as a matter of personal pride so that I knew I were developing a meaningful virtual instrument. Here's a survey of the virtual pianos I own.

True virtual pianos (these do have silent key): Garritan Abbey Road Studios CFX Concert Grand, Modartt Pianoteq 7, Native Instruments The Grandeur, VI Labs Ravenscroft 275.

Quasi virtual pianos (these don't have silent key; so they're ok to use after you're done learning and practicing, but IMHO you should avoid them for learning or practicing with): Ableton Live Grand Piano Pack, Waves Grand Rhapsody Piano, Vienna Symphonic Library Bösendorfer 280VC.

-Steve