Question for the keyboard players

What piano software are you using beside GarageBand? What do you think of the piano synth that comes with GarageBand? Are there better piano sounds on the Jam Pack CDs?

cheers

Hey ItsMeDave. I've been simply playing around with the piano generators in GB since I picked up my keyboard. You can actually change the sound quite a bit depending on what you are moving around. You can actually get into the "generator" screen and the little tweaks that you make can make a huge difference. Was there a specific sound that you were looking for?

No specific tone, just wondering. I'm pluging my iMac into my full-size stereo system and piano sounds pretty darn good. I've read some negative comments on the tone of the piano synth in GB - but I guess they must be listening through the internal speakers.

I think it comes down to a matter of choice myself. I've found that be tinkering I can get a pretty good piano sound out of the generator. Make sure that once you've tinkered and found a sound that you like, hit the "Save Instrument" button and save the settings. Makes things much easier the next time around.

ItsMeDave said:

No specific tone, just wondering. I'm pluging my iMac into my full-size stereo system and piano sounds pretty darn good. I've read some negative comments on the tone of the piano synth in GB - but I guess they must be listening through the internal speakers.

Click to expand...

Audiophiles. Ugh. I don't have any personal experience other than launching the thing when I first got it and banging on the virutal keyboard, but my brother-in-law's comment upon initial fiddling with GarageBand was "okay, looks like I won't have to touch another musical instrument for the rest of my life."

He's an accomplished multi-instrument musician, so I would gather that the piano is just fine.

Personal preference. There's some out there that are going to be ultr realistic, but they usually cost an arm and a leg. I think it really becomes an issue with other instruments. It's hard to find something like a good trumpet sound. Most of the "budget" stuff sounds like a NES game effect. But I'd gather that it's very difficult to copy the sound of an insturment that can change a fraction of a pitch by just moving your lips or breathing a little different, unlike a keyboard instrument that when in tune, makes one pitch per key.

What you are saying makes total sense Village. I'd love to have a decent set of strings, and don't really feel like dropping some $$$ into a Jam pack because I hardly ever use all the loops that comes with it. For what I'm doing which consists of "live" drums, guitars, and vocals, with MIDI bass and piano (I have a piano, it's not fully in tune so it's a pain in the neck to record with), the piano sounds are just fine for me.