New Piano from NI - THE GIANT

[Dan Worley]

This could be very versatile for all you guys looking for something different. I very much liked the sound of this piano in some of the examples.

I think I'll wait for a sale (hopefully).

THE GIANT

[jloeb]

I'll bet dollars to doughnuts this will be one of those inducements to pay for the next Komplete update. (They need to get moving on those, b/c there has not been a lot of filler released this year.)

[Prime Mover]

Very interesting sound, not sure how "versatile" it will be in the traditional sense, though, as its sound is very unique and will be immediately recognizable as "different".

Question... what's the purpose of having a giant piano that's vertically mounted as apposed to horizontally? Upright Grands make sense because of their space-saving characteristics, but if you're planning on making something special, where you even have to construct a special platform, space obviously isn't an issue. So why didn't they just make a 20ft horizontal grand?

[Dan Worley]

Very interesting sound, not sure how "versatile" it will be in the traditional sense, though, as its sound is very unique and will be immediately recognizable as "different".

The Cinematic layers should keep things interesting. I bet those are a huge hit on the CPU, though.

Question... what's the purpose of having a giant piano that's vertically mounted as apposed to horizontally? Upright Grands make sense because of their space-saving characteristics, but if you're planning on making something special, where you even have to construct a special platform, space obviously isn't an issue. So why didn't they just make a 20ft horizontal grand?

I'm sure they had many reasons, but I could only guess what they are and I'd probably be wrong anyway. I think it's cool it's even available.

[Prime Mover]

Needless to say, it's an awesome sound, just something slightly "off" about the attack, in a good way.

However, after looking around this week at different kinds of high-quality piano VIs out there, I think what NI needs to focus on next is normal pianos with really great character. They've done the prestine concert grand thing with Alicia's Keys (which works great as a classical piano, too), and to a lesser extent, their other acoustic pianos. They've got a good standard upright that screams "UPRIGHT!" when you need it. And now they've got their giant, immense, different high-fi piano. Next, let's hear some normal pianos with interesting character. Maybe not honkey-tonk like what I've been looking for, but some sweet old smokey thing like the SampleTekk Rain Piano, or the things that Imperfect Soundworks is doing.

When I first heard Alicia's Keys, I thought to myself, "I want to make that MY piano, I want to integrate that sound into my personal style". And I still do, to a large extent, but there may come a time when I want to branch out a bit, and integrate other sounds as well. And for those of you out there that haven't found "their sound" yet, it's always nice to have lots of interesting options.

It's really an exciting time to be a piano player. All you guitarists, violints, and other portable acoustic musicians out there take your sound for granted. A good guitarist spends years working his style into his guitar sound. Pianists have always mostly had to make do with what's available at a perticular venue or studio. Since the 50s, we've been able to do that with electric pianos, but not real pianos. Now we can join the rest of you in being able to have one particular sound that we learn how to work with.

[Shooshie]

I really like that piano! It has the sound that I am always seeking to pull out of grand pianos when I record them. It also sounds very much like multiple pianos playing at once. I say this, because I used to arrange music for 5 grand pianos in a touring concert for which I was also the music director. When our 7' grand played rock bass lines in unison, the sound they achieved was much like the one produced by The Giant. Therefore, the sound of this piano is actually a familiar one for me. But I'd love to get it. I just don't want to deal with Kontakt for the time being, so I probably won't get it soon, but someday.

Shoosh

[mhschmieder]

I've been working crazy lately, so only had one brief moment to listen to the demos a week ago or so, but recall being very impressed. Then I saw mostly negatives on the 'net, so was glad to see some positive press here.

To my ears, it sounds like what it is: a big upright. Actually, it sounds a bit to me like a Beatles piano. I can definitely see this coming into play now and then, as a "concept piano".

Most of the negatives are from people who are disappointed it doesn't sound like their favourite piano. Duh! The whole point of this is that it sounds different. Like Roland's V-Piano and the "silver strings" setting.

We should welcome new ideas in piano design, as something to add to our tonal palette, vs. limiting every piano to a preconceived notion of what a piano should sound like. It's not like The Giant is replacing a traditional grand piano or is intended to put them out of business!

Having said that, unless I have a project need for this shortly, I will of course wait for it to be included in a Komplete upgrade.

[Prime Mover]

Yeah, don't get me wrong, it's a nice sound, I just think NI could benefit from concentrating on getting a bit more organic "normal" pianos first. I think that besides Alicia's Keys, all their current grand pianos are A) boring, and B) not pleasant to play or listen to. In fact, if I'm not using Alicia's Keys, I go back to their original Kontakt 2 grand, as I think it sounds better than the 3 they currently bundle. I think Alicia's Keys is the right approach: find a piano that has something special about it, but also fits a wide range of uses. The Giant just strikes me as a one trick pony and would be very easy to overuse. I do applaud them doing something really out there, but I'm kinda thinking that we're not ready for "out there" yet, as we've bearily begun to even get the essentials right.