Sostenuto pedal on synchron pianos

[Michael C.]

Is there a way to slowly depress a key on a synchron piano and get no sound, like on a real acoustic piano? I need to play some pieces that use the sostenuto pedal, but no matter how slowly or softly I play a key, there is always sound. How do I change that? Thanks, Mike

[Jane Fleming]

LOL...   Your thread title is a bit misleading, Mike.  You're really asking about the "silent key" (or lack of same) issue.

I think you want to join the chorus of voices in this thread (particularly the last page or so):

https://www.vsl.co.at/community/posts/t48702-Synchron-Piano-sympathetic-resonance-and-silent-key

There are also some threads on the pianoworld forum about VSL's lack of implementation of this functionality.

Cheers,

Jane

[Michael C.]

@Jane Fleming said:

LOL...   Your thread title is a bit misleading, Mike.  You're really asking about the "silent key" (or lack of same) issue.

I think you want to join the chorus of voices in this thread (particularly the last page or so):

https://www.vsl.co.at/community/posts/t48702-Synchron-Piano-sympathetic-resonance-and-silent-key

There are also some threads on the pianoworld forum about VSL's lack of implementation of this functionality.

Cheers,

Jane

Glad you were amused! 😊. But frankly, I find “silent key” kind of a strange term. Perhaps “silent attack” is better? It’s not the key that’s silent, it’s the result of a slow enough attack to not cause a sound. Regardless, I’m shocked and appalled that there is no way to depress a key and get no sound. Come on VSL, get on it! Mike

[Jane Fleming]

Hey, Mike, I just mindlessly parrot the terminology I've heard 😕

If you want to do some more reading, this was a thread involving some experiments with VSTs - specifically trying to start with a silent keypress that's held with the sostenuto pedal.
Several VSTs required a script (because of the strange way my Avant Grand N3's extended MIDI works).  But I could not get the VSL to work because of the inability to have it receive a key-depressed signal without creating sound. 

This is another thread mentioning various VSL topics.  The discussion about lack of "silent key" capability in VSL begins around this post and subsequent: http://forums.pianoworld.com//ubbthreads.php/topics/3225690/re-vsl-synchron-steinway-d-resonance.html#Post3225690

And for reference, this is for the script that worked with the N3's MIDI (but as mentioned, not for VSL):  https://community.cantabilesoftware.com/t/midi-translation-perhaps-like-disklavier-xp/7312/15

Jane