Inspiring! That second improv felt like spring and hope to me. Smile on my face for the rest of the day you placed. Merci! :)

Thanks for your various Pianoteq videos, Phil. They're always very informative and sensible and your playing is pretty extraordinary. You really demonstrate that Pianoteq sounds great if it's played well. Personally, I gravitate towards the NY Steinway Prelude preset.

Excellent video. Pedagogical approach since you not just explaining the settings but describing a thinking, bringing some concepts. Relevant content, while being very pleasant. I subscribe right away.

Subscribed. Great info and playing. I've used Pianoteq for years and it keeps getting better. In addition to the tips you mentioned for approaching your personal idealized piano, I've been experimenting with MIDI CC control of various Pianoteq parameters. You can get creative with subtle or extreme changes in multiple parameters simultaneously as well as using a time-based modulation VST prior to Pianoteq. Primarily though I do love the way it can put a real "organic" acoustic piano under your fingertips. I have investigate your other videos.

I love the way you rotate while playing :D

As usual, Phil - Your Video again is as instructive as entertaining - having tried to copy Your Model-B settings I fell in love with Solid and Tinkly - thanks and kind regards, Paul

Thank you for this enlightening presentation. Warmest regards, Chris (Lincoln UK)

I messed around a lot with pianoteq settings. You play beautiful!

As always, very interesting information on Pianoteq... now it is time to do some tweakings on mine!

You are always so expressive and positive! In a hyperbole I'd say that if anybody gave you some pans and spoons to bang on them, you would teach us how nice they are for making music :-) Thanks!!

This Pianoteq 7 velocity is way better than Pianoteq 6 that hard to get done. The bell also sound longer which close to real Piano. Amazing update 👍

man that studio kicks ass! somewhat jelly

I didn't realize Harry Potter became the music professor at Hogwarts later in life. Good to know! 🙂 Great video.

Your playing is so surreal!! Thank you for the video Btw, why don't you try composing your own album of piano originals, it would be amazing!

Oh my god, yes. For all the different sounds I produce with Pianoteq, I touch velocity a lot less. Your hands adjust to whatever you're playing, and locking yourself in to a velocity can limit your adaptability to the variability in pianos. The worst with acoustic pianos is when the piano just won't play softly. The worst brand I've ever found for this was Chickering. If I were to buy a Chickering, I would have the action completely redone because they are beautiful, but literally every single one's action starts at Mezzoforte when you're gently tickling it. I actually backed out of a recital once (11-12 years ago in high school, I'd suck it up now) because of the action of a Chickering. My biggest suggestion/preference in this area is to get used to playing with a WIDE response range, so that you get good at playing soft and loud in the same piano. That is, you don't want to play a soft piano as a crutch for not having a delicate touch. You want to develop the delicate touch FIRST so that you can play softly. Looking at historical pianos, especially the pianoforte, it's clear that the variability between the timbre of loud and soft used to be more pronounced, so that's also a consideration in velocity/hardness adjustments. Also, yay, you finally published a preset you made! I'm going to start doing this myself soon, I think, and start putting out some videos on the modification topic. One thing you might try is using a reference piano - if I put out a video, I think this would be one of my first order recommendations, which is to utilize pianos in recordings that you like as a reference, especially if it's a piece you can play so that you can tweak it until you find some of the characteristics that you like in a piano. Worth noting on your second piano is that the curve forces more of the velocity into the mezzoforte range. Interesting stuff I've discovered: -Steinway Model D is overly sensitive to impedance. -Bluthner, so far, seems to respond the most effectively to tweaking parameters. So, if I hear a concert recording and I'm trying to capture some elements of that recording and I adjust parameters, the Bluthner seems to be able to replicate these sounds more closely. -Historical pianos that have their parameters adjusted to sound more modern are a GREAT way to get a new sound that sounds like a unique, beautiful piano. The 1899 Bechstein is great for this, as well as the Erard pianos. I got standard, but I might upgrade to pro, because I'm finding that some of the adjustments adding higher overtones make the lower notes crisp and strong, but can make the upper register buzz just a little too much. That per-note edit is actually necessary. Sympathetic resonance REALLY makes a lot of the notes sound a lot more real-to-life.

When comparing you could also click the [A B] icon you have to the left of the Steinberg Solid text above, that way we can see more clearly what's changed as you show us the screen. Just saying. As usual great playing.

Perhaps the only dissatisfaction I have with Pianoteq 7 is the "digital tone" it has, especially around the middle C region, it is even more evident when hitting notes harder (i.e. 4:22, 4:56, etc) regardless of your tweaking which was good. I have a comment in the video "Erik Satie - Gnossienne No. 1" from The Flaming Piano channel which on minute 1:00 shows exactly what I am talking about. ps: I have version 7 Stage + Steinway D

I find the both the velocity curve and the hamer hardness difficult to understand on Pianoteq. The hammer hardness is the most difficult to understand particularly has it relates to a genuine felt hammer. Listening to your demonstration, it appears to me your second performance is bring out the upper partials. I'm not sure. I wish Piano would make a video on how to adjust each setting and how it affects the tone. I love Pianoteq more than than the two Chickering grands I have, but I honestly don't know exactly what all the adjustments do. I only recommend the "Pro" version as that is the only version that allows for every parameter adjustment on every note, which I have found to be extremely valuable.

Thank you Phil for these very informative videos! Do you make these presets available on the Pianoteq forum as FXP files? That would be great - and save me squinting at my screen trying to line everything up . haha :)

Hello, I watched some of your Videos about Pianotech 8. And in the background I saw a Roland V Piano. This is the one, that I wanted to get for several years. What do you think about this Roland Piano ? And in relation to pianotech? Thank you for an answere. M. Blank Hamburg

What would be Handy (meaning Not W.C. Handy but useful) would be to add a downloads area to your web site and drop you custom presets there. It's easier than guessing your tweaks. :-)

What is that piano that you're playing ? A controller ?