Many recommendations seem to be for beats/pop mixes with other instruments (where possible shortcomings are smoothed out), or calm, ambient piano with lots of sustain.

In these, the piano sounds very well, but if i try something quite different it sounds fake. I'm talking about things like 19th-centrury classical music (Rachmaninoff, Chopin), or some kinds of jazz. Some staccattos, sforzato chords, fast passages, and extreme registers don't sound convincing.

I used to run IS's Fazioli, plus some reverb with Reaper and it seemed fine to me. Then I saw that Kontakt Bechstein lib on the sister site, and I though it'd be an improvement, but it sounds 'metallic', not real enough even after touching all the knobs (the chords and extreme registers sounds worse).

Maybe the Fazioli actually sounds fake too, but I just got used to it. Many people seem to favor Alicia's Keys, but I found it unconvincing, too.

Anyone with experience on solo piano tracks?

Thanks!

Edit: I also used Kontakt's The Giant, and I also found it unconvincing. The cinematic samples are cool, but I use them for another kind of tracks.

 

Last edited: Oct 4, 2017

There's a nice piano in Keyscape, also available for Kontakt, C7 CINEMATIC PIANO - BY CHRISTIAN JOHN, very authentic imo

 

These libraries sound sweet and delicate to my ears. Just sharing:

Spitfire Gwilym Simcock Felt Piano
Orange Tree Samples Evolution Rosewood Grand

 

Thanks! I'll try to use a roll-off.