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#240572 - 08/23/08 12:39 AM Reality
abacus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/21/05
Posts: 5347
Loc: English Riviera, UK
Always best to compare with Real sounds and styles.
http://www.4shared.com/file/60113130/59f3e7fd/Real.html

Bill
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English Riviera:
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#240573 - 08/25/08 04:25 AM Re: Reality
abacus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/21/05
Posts: 5347
Loc: English Riviera, UK
Interesting.
No comments as to how good your keyboards sound in comparison.
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#240574 - 08/25/08 05:32 AM Re: Reality
mikey_maestro Offline
Member

Registered: 07/12/07
Posts: 548
Loc: San Tan Valley, AZ
which arranger is that?

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#240575 - 08/26/08 02:02 PM Re: Reality
kalimero Offline
Member

Registered: 07/23/07
Posts: 90
Loc: Dubrovnik, Croatia
The arranger is Wersi (Abacus I guess :-)).

Very nice sound, but for very much money too. :-/

Abacus, what is the name of the first song in a file?

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#240576 - 08/26/08 03:50 PM Re: Reality
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14194
Loc: NW Florida
You know, there is some great stuff in there...

But the thing you always seem to do, which is post this stuff without the slightest trace of info tends to work against it, in a way. It seems you WANT us to beg you for details, so you can spring your 'surprise!' on us, as if there were any question about what keyboard it is

But, as 'open' as the Wersi is, HOW this is done is FAR more important than on what. Is is styles? Is it stock sounds? Is it sequenced, either fully or partially? Is it VSTi's? Is it recorded into a DAW in multitrack fashion? Is it user demo, or the same 'tweaked' and sequenced factory stuff that some tend to criticize on Big 3 demos, for not being 'pure' arranger (not that I give a damn, anyway).

You see, the deal with the Wersi is, as a VSTi host, well, just about any knowledgeable person here knows how incredibly great you can make a composition sound with those (VSTi's, that is). With enough computing power, with a DAW to do each track at a time, with the best libraries, you can do stuff that Hollywood would use, any day.

But to incorporate it into an arranger, you have to be able to do it all live, at least as far as ALL the instruments at the same time, even if performance tricks can't ALL be played simultaneously. Not one or two parts and a .wav backing, if that. It's ability to sound this good LIVE is of paramount importance, because any of us can put together a computer system to do the VSTi thing, at a FRACTION of the cost of a Wersi. The ONLY reason to put it in an arranger is to play it live... ALL OF IT.

So, a LOT more info (hard to get LESS, now, isn't there?!) would be very welcome, to sort out what any of us (with talent and chops) could get out of any DAW/VSTi system, from what we could actually PLAY live on a Wersi.

There are plenty of factory demos for Yamaha, Roland and Korg that can be equally inspiring (or at least close!) that leave NO doubt they were done on a stock instrument. Maybe some of them are sequenced, or arranger play, then sequence edited, but ALL of them were done on the stock sounds. Even though a couple of them DO have samplers that could add all kinds of extras in and some have expansion slots. You won't find those in the factory demos.

So, Bill, would you do us all a favor, and include FAR more info on what you post. It could help defuse a lot of trouble here, to be more specific about what everything is, what year it was made, what version OS it was made on, what model it was made on, what VSTi's it uses, whether it is sequenced or a style, etc., etc..

To post, one day, a demo of styles that sound no better than a Casio, and then another day, one that sounds like this is confusing the heck out of everybody (well, me, anyway ). So, please name your sources...

And now, the obligatory criticism... Well, it's hard to fault the tracks themselves, some exemplary playing and sounds. BUT... (here it comes ) it still seems mired in the sixties at best, as far as musical style goes. All well and good to convince well heeled retirees from Europe, but for the brand to grow, it has to appeal to younger players (you know, like under sixty!), and use more modern musics (hard to think of seventies music as 'modern', but compared to this.... really!).

Cherry-pick what you post a lot more. Bill, just the latest stuff, and post a LOT more details about how it was made, where you found it, who did it, and using what, and a lot of the Wersi-bashing MIGHT slow down!
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#240577 - 08/27/08 01:07 PM Re: Reality
abacus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/21/05
Posts: 5347
Loc: English Riviera, UK
Hi kalimero

The tune in question is called The Lonely Shepherd by Gheorghe Zamfir.

Details

All the details about this thread are contained in the Title, Info and link itself.

Bill


[This message has been edited by abacus (edited 08-27-2008).]
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English Riviera:
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#240578 - 08/27/08 01:44 PM Re: Reality
travlin'easy Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/08/02
Posts: 15559
Loc: Forest Hill, MD USA
Diki,

Gotta' agree. If you post something like this, post some details that tells everyone how the sounds were achieved, created, etc.. Detailed posts with this type of information are very constructive and what kick-started this site many years ago.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy
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#240579 - 08/27/08 03:22 PM Re: Reality
Burkels Offline
Member

Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 319
Loc: Alkmaar, The Netherlands, Euro...
I just wonder why Abacus posts a MP3 starting with the original Zamfir recording (only you got the right and left channel switched and made a bad recording with lots of noise.) I assume the rest of the MP3 is also just fragments of original recordings. No arranger whatsoever. What's the point? We all know what REAL instruments sound like.

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#240580 - 08/27/08 11:38 PM Re: Reality
abacus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/21/05
Posts: 5347
Loc: English Riviera, UK
The song is taken direct from the CD, and converted straight into mp3, therefore unless the recording engineer got the channels crossed and/or added noise, then it is just simply the problems that mp3 conversions suffer from. (The main reason I don’t take a blind bit of notice of online demos, and ALWAYS hear and play the boards live before I give MY final opinion on their sounds)

As to everybody knowing what Real instruments sound like, then I am afraid a lot of people don’t, as otherwise they would not be promoting artificially enhanced (Not a true emulation of Real instruments) online demos, as some form of Nirvana. (Hence the Reality check)

BTW I did a search on the web for the song, and all of them I could find, had the channels the same way as the recording posted.

Bill
_________________________
English Riviera:
Live entertainment, Real Ale, Great Scenery, Great Beaches, why would anyone want to live anywhere else (I�m definitely staying put).

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#240581 - 08/28/08 06:48 AM Re: Reality
Burkels Offline
Member

Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 319
Loc: Alkmaar, The Netherlands, Euro...
Quote:
Originally posted by abacus:
[B]The song is taken direct from the CD, and converted straight into mp3, therefore unless the recording engineer got the channels crossed and/or added noise, then it is just simply the problems that mp3 conversions suffer from.


Bull. I have the track on a original CD here (I even have the vinyl-edition somewhere ) and this "conversion" was done terribly. I can send you a MP3 that sounds _good_. Your MP3 sounds like an audio-cassette was the source.

Now I understand why you think MP3-demo's suck: you don't know how to make them properly.




------------------
- THE DUTCH KEYBOARD FORUM
http://www.keyboardforum.nl
_________________________
- THE DUTCH KEYBOARD FORUM
http://www.keyboardforum.nl
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#240582 - 08/28/08 11:40 AM Re: Reality
abacus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/21/05
Posts: 5347
Loc: English Riviera, UK
Hi Burkels
I use the Lame mp3 encoder, (Recommended as one of the best) rip the file direct from the CD and convert it to mp3, then upload the results. (No recording is actually done)
If there is a better way, then point me in the direction, as I am not a recording engineer.

Regards

Bill
_________________________
English Riviera:
Live entertainment, Real Ale, Great Scenery, Great Beaches, why would anyone want to live anywhere else (I�m definitely staying put).

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#240583 - 08/28/08 12:46 PM Re: Reality
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14194
Loc: NW Florida
Servers, streaming mp3 audio, often scale back the bitrate depending on demand.

What bitrate did you encode at, Bill...?
_________________________
An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

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#240584 - 08/28/08 12:54 PM Re: Reality
Ensnareyou Offline
Member

Registered: 03/31/02
Posts: 491
Loc: California
MP3's suck but it sounds like Bill ripped the MP3 appropriately. If you can, record the MP3 at the highest bit rate possible. Even then MP3's are still crap in comparison to the original file, presuming of course the original sound source was actually well recorded.

MP3's may be convenient but they sure as hell are the bane of existence to audio engineers who actually care about audio quality.

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#240585 - 08/28/08 01:12 PM Re: Reality
Diki Offline


Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 14194
Loc: NW Florida
Hello...?

No-one has actually ripped a CD they are intimately familiar with? And compared the two?

Sure you have. So, presumably, you know what the encoding process does to the sound, yes?

So, how come you are not able to accurately estimate what the REAL sound is, if listening to an mp3 of known bitrate and encoder?

I just don't get it... Ella Fitzgerald, recorded direct to vinyl, sounds far better than Ashley Simpson on SACD (24/96 or better). You don't need perfect, pristine audio to be able to make a value judgment about her singing. So how come you can't get an accurate impression of an arranger using an mp3 that compromises the sound FAR less than thirties recording technology and delivery?

This just basically stinks of a 'last resort' argument that occurs when one with any intrinsic value fails to be available.
_________________________
An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!

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#240586 - 08/28/08 02:29 PM Re: Reality
abacus Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/21/05
Posts: 5347
Loc: English Riviera, UK
Hi Diki
I have set the encoder to 192Kbs which should give a reasonable compromise between file size and quality, however as I said, I am not a recording engineer, so there may additional things that could be done to improve the encoding performance, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards

Bill
_________________________
English Riviera:
Live entertainment, Real Ale, Great Scenery, Great Beaches, why would anyone want to live anywhere else (I�m definitely staying put).

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#240587 - 08/28/08 10:44 PM Re: Reality
Burkels Offline
Member

Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 319
Loc: Alkmaar, The Netherlands, Euro...
Quote:
Originally posted by abacus:
Hi Diki
I have set the encoder to 192Kbs which should give a reasonable compromise between file size and quality, however as I said, I am not a recording engineer, so there may additional things that could be done to improve the encoding performance, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards

Bill


If I compare your MP3 to the MP3 I made of the Zamfir-CD, I notice you got quite some noise in the MP3 and the overall sound is "flat" compared to my MP3. So either your encoder is acting up, or your source CD is a low-budget production

------------------
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http://www.keyboardforum.nl
_________________________
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http://www.keyboardforum.nl
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