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Anyone got a personal recommendation for some really characteristic electric piano sounds?
Got access to plenty of 'HD' stuff so really looking for dirty/sassy options that might not be the cleanest or most high end, but have loads of character that you like for some particular reason.
Comments
I like NeoSoul Keys 2
Apesoft's Electric Vintage is another option. Lots of demos on youtube. @Daveypoo did review of four of the ones you might be interested in:
GarageBand has a sound collection called Keyboard Collection. It has some good sounds. And it’s free.
I like House Mark 1 as well.
House Mark 1 and al the Apesoft apps are the top for this I’d say but PSP has some very good and quality presets in the full unlock. Some of which are very gritty. Honestly any will work with the right effects though.
The Electric Pianos for Pianoteq are fantastic.
Definitely Pure Synth Platinum 2's Suitcase Expansion. Pure goodness.
Absolutely.
I started with House Mark 1, but was disappointed with the sample quality (I am admittedly picky).
Since Pianoteq came along, I've been in heaven. There isn't a day that goes by where I'm not firing up the Wurli. Rather than low quality samples, it actually sounds and feels like I'm sitting in front of the real thing. It's my happy place.
The thing that gets me with most sampled electric pianos is when you get into the lower and high octaves. Mid range is usually always really good but you can start to hear lots of artifacts outside of C2-C5.
With VTines and Pianoteq that doesn’t really happen. House Mark 1 and Electric Vintage are probably the best as far as samples go. Module and PSP IAPs are good too. But if you wanna play in higher octaves modeling is the only way to go, imo.
I personally love House Mk I at low velocities but I hate the way it suddenly jumps into distortion super quickly. I know this is apparently the behaviour of the gear it sampled but I don't like it, and no other Rhodes emulations I have tried, whether sampled or modeled, do that.
The electric pianos in Pianoteq are great. The Rhodes, the Pianet, etc. There are some very well put together gritty presets for all the EPs there, or just use the Pianoteq fx, which are top notch, or your own fx, to rough things up a bit. Nembrini Voltour was a distortion plugin released this year that I personally really like to add to electric pianos. BYOD has a bunch of great distortion options and is free. Vtines is lovely, a cheaper choice while still being physically modeled, its own saturation / distortion can definitely sound very gnarly.
All the above views are only based on my experience of comparing different electric pianos on iOS and seeing what I personally like, I don't know anything about what sounds most authentic compared to the original hardware etc, I just know what pleases me most.
I have tried House Mark I, PSP Suitcase expansion and ended with NeoSoul Keys2 which I like the most.
Which Vtines had the Mk2 and Reeds also. The Pianoteq version may be a better buy just for the inclusion of those alone (imo).
Another vote for the Pianoteq electric pianos. I've been using them for years on desktop, and I'm thrilled to have them on iOS.
I usually sample from my favorite desktop libraries when I feel like using them on iOS.
For EPs with loads of character like you said, my picks would be Spectrasonics Keyscape, Soniccouture Broken Wurli, EP73 Deconstructed and UVI Attack EP88.
That's far from the desktop experience of course but it works when I need a specific sound.
Another vote for Pianoteq!
pianoteq
I’m not in any way surprised to see Pianoteq come up so often, nor Electric Vintage.
There's some good EP comparison at
+1
It's the first thing that came to mind when thinking about character and dirt. Gospel Musicians seem to have a real knack for this - electromechanical instruments that sound very physical (new Hammond app falls into this category too btw).
Hands down https://apps.apple.com/us/app/electric-vintage/id1518380765 all of my love, desert island, used in almost everything I’ve done since getting it.
Wonderfully informative thread! Thanks to op for asking and all the great responses!
Neosoul Keys has been on my wishlist for a little. Gotta wait for a sale there (too many sounds on hand already to justify a full price on that)
And Electric Vintage has just been added. That'll probably be a lot sooner tho
And PianoTeq... Well that's outside of my still-hobbiest budget, but the lust is real
Havent been thru all packs yet (slowly but surely on the Freebie end) - didn't know there's electric keys in there!! Gonna check that out and continue trying to justify necessity of that size to the missus xD
As a Electric Piano lover.... i really like VTines (not in lower octaves, at least for me) and of course Pianoteq (which I don't have).
I bought Wurly and sounds VERY good!
Electric Piano, Korg Module and House Mark 1 are great but not getting the "Tine" of MK1 I guess.
Finally, I bought a Yamaha Reface CP and that little machine really SOUNDSSSSS. So my setup now is Studiologic Acuna 73 MIDI Pin to Yamaha Reface CP, and the little Yamaha as a MIDI Keyboard for lead sounds in iOS.
Wurly +1
Does Wurly have mappable sustain ?
It does. Actually, with sustain you don't need to 'map' it. Just send the sustain pedal or cc64 message directly into the app, like you do with midi notes
And yeah, Wurly is a delight I think. I realise that I really like these instruments when they allow you to get that sound of being right in front of the instrument, rather than being in the audience. I do always wish that organ apps would have ADSRs so you could use them non-conventionally, for drones etc, so it's a pity this only has attack and release.
Whelps... I folded and picked up Gospel Organ and Electric Vintage
Immediately fell in love with both
Haven't been thru all presets on GO yet, but of the 10 or so I tested, only two I was like 'naaah, not for me' (which is a crazy high percentage, compared to my 'grab random recommended synth to learn sounds... Nope not here' method lol)
And like half the Electric Vintage is absolutely beautiful for what I have been wanting to hear. Just not looking for harsher hits or edges of the saws and similar at this point. Really yearning for smoooooth. And there's a lot in both that REALLY fit the bill!!
Now, I GOTTA wait for a sale on Neo Soul (pfft, I don't need it! I already have all the sounds I could ever need! -- Same energy as 'whoa, 200meg hd?! Who could EVER fill that,' my dad, in my early childhood), and for my income to justify PianoTeq (hell, it doesnt justify Swam, but i made that happen)
Thanks y'all for the great suggestions! Finally grasping terms for what I'm looking for, and where to find em!
Knowledge is power!
Can it map though?
What might param be called ?
If not.
App is no good for me and probably why I asked if there were sustain. As it probably wernt recieving.
My sustain sends on cc 12 ( it can be any cc apart from cc 64 )
So you gain cc automation lane in Drambo. Nice. Along with the piano roll.
Even without automation.
It wont recieve for just live.
Can achieve with pianoteq though.
Doubt Il buy other apps now, if sustain mapping isnt clear in discription.
Electric vintage.
Description.
Sustain simulation, it says.
Probably have to go with pianoteq but woulda been nice ( if there were a cheaper app ) and then buy a different pianoteq instrument.
CC64 is defined as sustain in the MIDI spec. In most cases, if you want something else to trigger sustain, you would have use some other app to remap anything else (in your case, 12) to 64. (And there are apps that can do remapping, which should solve your problem.)
I'm curious what you're using that's generating 12 from a sustain pedal, especially since you can make it anything else except 64.