Hello Marcel,

I was planning on letting this thread play out a little before getting involved. But since Paul decided to jump in and suggest you watch the DRAKE video demo, and since you have made comments regarding this video it seems that it is time for my to say hi.

I watched the original .avi file of this video and the soundboard/string resonance is clearly discernable on the Promega 3 though not as loud as on the acoustic piano due to the lapel mic I was wearing, the lid being fully up and the room ambience reverb).

BTW - The point I was making in the section where I held a silent D chord while striking the same chord one octave up staccato and then doing the same thing but playing an E chord in the higher octave, thereby energizing the open strings of the silent chord is this;
When the D chord was played, the open strings of the lower D chord created the complete harmonic spectrum as if the hammers had actually struck those strings. But when the staccato E chord was played over top of the open D chord, the harmonic content was entirely different. The primary frequency heard was that of a single E note TWO octaves above the open D chord. NOT a full E triad like on other instruments that simply transpose a sample or use reverb to create the effect of resonance. I ask that you please listen to this section of the video again and try and hear what I am referring to.

I made a point in this video in saying that I had the effects processor and the internal EQ turned OFF on the Promega 3 so the sound heard is completely dry. Due to your comments I am re-thinking that idea. It was not really a fair comparison since the acoustic piano had the advantage of the natural sound reflections of the large room, wood floor and low ceiling of the studio I was in during the recording of this video while the Promega was more like an acoustic grand piano with the lid closed and sitting outside in a field with no possibility of sound being reflected back into the microphone.

I do appreciate your comments about the video and maybe I should redo the NSR sections. But I don't want to cheat by using internal or external effects processing so the Promega sounds better than the acoustic piano. It really wouldn't be unfair to use the effects and EQ of the Promega since those are shaping the sound just as the room dynamics shaped the recorded sound of the acoustic grand piano. But then that could lead someone else to say "sure, but what does it sound like dry?"

I assure you that the features I described in this video do exist and really do make a huge difference when playing the Promega under normal circumstances where the EQ and effects processing is active.

If you have specific questions about the Promega series our any of our products, please feel free to contact me via e-mail, at the GEM Community Forums or here on the synthzone.

Regarding the RP700 and RP800; Yes both of these instruments offer the EXACT same Steinway and Fazioli concert grand samples/physical models as the Promega series.

Best Regards,

Dave


[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 04-14-2005).]