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VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 11:14 am
by vilabs
Hello Everyone,
We just started shipping our True Keys Pianos product at the NAMM show this year I wanted to make sure everyone here was aware of it since it works so nicely within MachFiveV3.
True Keys Pianos is our new high-end virtual piano software. It was in development for over three years and utilizes either the UVI Engine (included in the box) or Mach Five to run on your computer or inside your favorite DAW.
True Keys was featured during the MOTU demonstrations at NAMM this year. Here's a video that Keyboard Magazine got of Jordan Rudess playing True Keys and MOTU's new Symphonic Instrument V2:
http://youtu.be/xEIvUCqaOTc
Some Highlights:
- Over 50,000 samples over three grand pianos (Italian, German, American)
- True sampled sympathetic resonance
- Three separate microphone positions to choose from and a mixed "best of" position.
- Advanced pedaling features
Session players, composers, and pianists were blown away by the realism of the sound and the feel of the virtual instrument. Check out our website at
http://www.vilabsaudio.com for more information or ask any questions here and I'll be happy to answer.
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 11:38 am
by MIDI Life Crisis
Wow! The demos on your page sound amazing and the price is right given the quality.
Thanks for posting that.
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 12:24 pm
by MIDI Life Crisis
Ordered! How could you NOT?
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 5:11 pm
by mjmoody
It's more expensive than Ivory American Grand. Is it better? I can't tell from the sound clips.
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:35 pm
by Music4dw
I've had Ivory since it came out and am a fan and was looking at the Ivory American then stumbled onto True Keys at the MOTU booth at NAMM. I played them both (with headphones and speakers) at different times during the show. I really liked True Keys and wanted a more direct comparison so I went over and played the Ivory for a bit, ran over and immediately jumped on True Keys and after just a few seconds I stopped playing and gave them my credit card.
I'm not saying Ivory was bad, I just could tell a marked difference as soon as I started playing True Keys. It sounded richer, clearer and more dynamic than the Ivory to my ears and responded in a way where I really felt I could play very expressively with it.
I thought the VI guys (nice guys BTW) were going to get sick of me stopping by and playing (even after I bought it). It kept calling me back

I guess that's a good sign...
Danny
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:50 pm
by MIDI Life Crisis
The demos sold me. The NAMM video wouldn't have as it was not a controlled recording by any means, but it does show a bit of what the instrument can do. The site demos, OTOH, were quite nice. I don't cough up $350 too swiftly for something that I'm not certain is going to improve my recording, but it was clear to me that this VI was well worth the bucks.
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 1:11 pm
by bnz99
Symphonic Instrument v2? That kind of caught my attention a bit more as I knew true keys already. Is there any more information on that available?
Edit: nevermind. Google revealed a ton of youtube videos.
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 2:57 pm
by MIDI Life Crisis
After a bit of confusion over the ilok updates I was able to load the VI Labs instruments and so far they seem very nice. Of course some tweaking of settings is in order n any flexible VI but my initial experimentation is very promising!
Thanks again for posting this info just when I needed it the most.
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 3:39 pm
by MIDI Life Crisis
I take it back. These pianos are FABULOUS!
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:31 am
by buzzsmith
Dang! Something else I'm gonna have to check out...<dwindling studio bank account>
Buzzy
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:30 am
by MIDI Life Crisis
It's so worth it if you need the sound of a great grand ITB. And as much as I hate to say this, you Yamaha is longer than mine, but only by about 9". Oh, and then there's the C v. the G thing...

Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:53 am
by buzzsmith
MIDI Life Crisis wrote:It's so worth it if you need the sound of a great grand ITB. And as much as I hate to say this, you Yamaha is longer than mine, but only by about 9". Oh, and then there's the C v. the G thing...


Mine is the MIDI grand, but I haven't tried it as a controller yet for a VI.
It's all hooked up and online in my studio, just haven't felt the need.
It would be cool, however, to capture a real time performance in the MIDI environment and more easily edit if the VI really sounded really good!
Buzzy
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 9:31 pm
by MIDI Life Crisis
vilabs wrote:...I wanted to make sure everyone here was aware of it since it works so nicely within MachFiveV3.
UPDATE: TRUE PIANOS IS NOT TO BLAME - SEE NEXT POST. Sorry for the 'accusation.' It's a DP8 thing!
True Pianos was not loading correctly any longer when saved with a project in DP 8.01. If I manually reloaded the instrument, it worked, but initially it went through all the motions to appear to be loading the samples, but no playback. Other instruments in the V_Rack played back so thought it was this piano (American Side) isn't loading correctly. I was wrong.
Additionally, bouncing to disk was not working correctly with a lots of clips and dropouts. Again, other instruments were fine (or so I thought) and even freezing tracks failed.
I've tried it with a v-rack, in separate v-racks, and as separate instruments in the chunk but BTD was not working.
That said, it is well worth the effort to jump thru as many hoops as I need to to get this piano sound in my next release. It really sounds amazing - except when trying to BTD... so the solution was... --->>>
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 7:39 am
by MIDI Life Crisis
Take DP out of 64 bit launch!
I don't get it, but if I try to bounce or freeze in DP8 (at least in the one specific project) I get all sorts of odd noises and dropouts. Same project in 32 bit launch and all is just peachy.
Doesn't matter if I use UVI Workstation or MachFive (the VIs that True Pianos uses) and it doesn't matter what instrument is loaded (True Pianos, Plugsound Pro grands, etc) the clipping happens.
Also, the kernel startup mode selector app is indicating that the 64 bit kernel no longer is loading, even though Activity Monitor shows 64 bit apps running. It might be a Mountain Lion thing as I read last night that Apple has disabled some 64 bit kernels from starting up on some older Macs, but definitive info on that aspect has been difficult to discover.
Now I'm more confused than ever.
Re: VI Labs True Keys Pianos
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 8:21 am
by kgdrum
If I understand correctly,you're saying your Mac that previously ran in the 64bit kernel now does not?
What has changed in your system,hardware or software,updates etc.....
I'm trying to understand how this can change seemingly retroactively?