ok, I did a little bit of a test. There are a million reasons why this test could be called inconclusive, but I found int somewhat interesting anyway, so here it is. I tried to play them both relatively the same, but there are definitely differences in the performances.
Same song, different performances. One is on a real piano (Steiway Model L) and the other is on a MIDI controller feeding into a VSTi (Alicia’s keys, since that’s the one I usually reach for). I tried to use the sampled piano as sort of a tone reference for the real piano. But I didn’t try to copy the mic technique at all, and I still need to experiment more with different mic techniques.
I guess I’ll keep the the answer hidden, even though I think it’s pretty obvious which is the real piano and which is the samples.
O blast… the real one is significantly lovelier … only listening through laptop speakers and it is decisive. Ahh well, no way I can really use my upright other than for composing and faffing… a lot of pianoing is in the key strokes, the subtleties of hold and release that weighted keyboards emulate but can’t fully replicate. Interesting!! We had a neighbour who used to give living room recitals on her grand piano and the timbre is so delumcious.
They are both excellent sounding piano performances. Yes, I’m pretty certain I can tell which one is “real” and which is not, but I won’t spoil the fun by saying so… In the context of a full song mix, I’m not so sure I could…
However, the most telling thing (IMO) is the difference the real instrument makes to your performance - it’s easy to tell which inspires you more as a player!
I’m not sure I can tell which one is which, but I definitely prefer the first one! It has so much more feeling in it. I’m not a piano player so I don’t have much of an ear for different pianos, but I wonder if a different sampled piano might sound more like the real thing? I feel like Alicia’s keys is meant to be in more of a pop context?
I have just listened to both recordings for about 40 seconds through my laptop speakers. I think the second one is the real piano. Sounds warmer…less tinkling keys. Sound noticeably fuller too!
The very last note in the song…you scale up to a high B. I’m almost inclined to change my mind on my initial beliefs. That high B is really plucky (spiked) sounding in the first recording. Maybe you just played it more forcefully in the first recording or maybe it’s an indication that it’s the real piano. I seem to recall some very spiked high notes in your other real piano recording…Hmm, now I don’t feel so confident with my original pick.
Well the first one is lively and “plucky” as Wicked has noted and the second is smooth, mellow and more controlled so one of these sure sounds more live! But really the bottom line here is how great it is to have a choice because they both would have something different to bring to a mix.
I’m going to go out on a limb here… neither is a real piano. One of them is a bog standard MIDI piano preset, the other is the same bog standard MIDI piano preset running through the new Boz Digital Labs plugin - “Bozway Piano Refresher” that takes boring digital piano sounds and makes them sound real…
Difficult… I first thought the second one being more mellow would be the real one (a lot of sampled piano’s tend to be bright, or at least have bright sounding presets to my ears). But the first recording is less perfect. The notes tend to blend more and some notes ring out a bit more than others . Then listening to number 2 again I noticed it was much more levelled, less dynamic. So I would put my money on number 1 as the real piano.
Great playing by the way Boz! I love that song, the chord changes are so fantastic. I often play it on guitar.
I found this quite an insightful thought… and very true for me… I really struggle to have my music ‘flow’ on my digital stage piano as opposed to my real piano which responds quite differently and sings much more sweetly… it’s a compromise… also the small latency in a recording situation affects things, but the touch and the feel are powerful connectors to the music process…
Says the guy who put up the test and played the parts!
…So since I was one of the ones who asked for this test (stupidly) and for some reason I thought I’d be able to easily tell the difference (stupidly), I feel I should at least acknowledge that - Alicia’s Keys is pretty convincing!
I wish you had made this an anonymous poll… My wild-guess is that the real piano is… No. 2. Before I started second and third guessing myself, I thought the first had perhaps better clarity (?) and thought perhaps the 2nd had some resonances that I didn’t hear in the first. Then again…
Now to read the other comments and see how wrong I am!
This scene keeps running through my head for some reason.
…and I’d like to officially change my guess to the 1st as being the real piano. Especially after reading Andrew’s quoted comment above and re-listening for THAT. What a great insight. Yeah, number 1. Just like pretty much everyone else…
Okay you have to tell us which is the real one. A lot of people say #2 and I thought it was #1! I have Alicia’s Keys, but I don’t know if I’ve ever used it… I should bust it out and see if I can tell which one it sounds like haha.
EDIT: OMG I thought I would be clever and just watch a demo of Alicia’s Keys to save me some time, and the freaking guy doing the demo for the official Native Instruments video, no joke, pronounces it like “Alisha’s Keys.” WTF WHO IS ALISHA. No seriously how did this get approved.
Anyway, now I’m not so convinced… hopefully the answer will someday be revealed…
Okay, I am with Miked here. I suspect a set-up.
Which is further fueled by the “real piano” being called a “Steiway”…
If we analyze that, we get “stay” your “why”… which is a further clue to something being suspect.
That said, the first track has far greater overtones and depth - and it would be my preferred “tool X” for producing a track.
So, if track two is the actual “Steiway” - can you please record yourself going to the piano, telling it that it is, in fact, a replicant?
That second recording…the low end is so full, at first that made me believe it was the real piano. But I’m almost thinking it’s too smooth and even. Seems like the second recording is a little less dynamic. Maybe these things mean that the first recording is the REAL piano and the second one is MIDI. The low end rumble on the final sustained chord of the song is very different on both recordings. The second recording has a very smooth tone with the root note dominating the sound on the very last chord of the song , but the first recording you can hear some discordance between the root note and that low 5th…(is that a low fifth?). It’s got that slightly out of tune piano thing going on.
I’m listening closely through headphones now…but in my earlier posts I was listening through my laptop speakers and I didn’t closely scrutinize the recordings…I simply thought that the second recording sounded more lower frequency-rich than the first recording.
I think the first recording is the real piano because…
I can hear the body of the piano (the little knocking sounds of the keys moving inside the piano and also maybe some foot pedal movement)
The second recording is TOO smoothly balanced across the duration of the track, both high and especially lower frequencies.
The snappy-plucky-spikey high notes on the first recording have a very similar sound
to the initial recording that you let us hear a short while back , after you first got your 500 pound baby home.
The discordant (slightly out of tune) final chord in the first song, suggesting that it’s a real piano. Not sure, but the high, spikey note near the end might be a bit out of tune also.
Conclusion;
First recording is the Steinway
Second recording is MIDI
