Paul Badura-Skoda

Paul Badura-Skoda (born in 1927) is a pianist, music editor and pedagogue with an outstanding repertoire of more than 200 recordings, focusing mainly on the piano works by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. The legendary conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan discovered his talent in 1949 and brought him to fame. Thanks to his splendid musical personality, Badura-Skoda is considered one of the world's most important pianists of our time. To the delight of many music lovers, he is still giving solo concert to dazzled audiences worldwide.

"I was surprised hearing "my" Walter when playing on the digital keyboard! This skilful performance by PIANOTEQ is a marvel of intelligence and art; I admire the whole knowledge collected by my friends, musicians and engineers, and the relevance of their analysis: being able to reproduce the whole sound scale of an instrument, in all its palette of timbre, from a selection of notes requires a very precise analysis and a listening virtuosity that no computing system can invent. Congratulations for creating the tool that goes beyond our wildest hopes! I am eagerly waiting for what will come next."

"J'ai eu la surprise d'entendre « mon » Walter en jouant sur un clavier moderne ! Cette prouesse, réalisée par PIANOTEQ, est une merveille d'intelligence et d'art, j'admire la somme de connaissances engrangées par mes amis musiciens et ingénieurs et la pertinence de leur analyse : être capable de restituer toute l'echelle sonore d'un instrument, dans toute sa palette de nuances, à partir d'un échantillon de notes suppose une grande finesse d'analyse et une virtuosité d'écoute qu'aucun système informatique ne peut inventer. Bravo d'avoir su créer l'outil qui va au-delà de nos espoirs les plus fous ! J'attends la suite avec impatience."

More info: Paul Badura-Skoda's official site

Hugh Sung

Hugh Sung is one of the most sought after collaborative pianists in the Classical Music field today, having worked with the likes of violinists Aaron Rosand, Hilary Hahn and Leila Josefowicz, flutists Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner, and leading composers such as Jennifer Higdon and Richard Danielpour. A graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, Hugh joined the faculty in 1993 and currently serves as Director of Student Recitals and Instrumental Accompaniment.

Hugh maintains an active website (www.HughSung.com) which combines his love of music and passion for technology, and serves as a rich resource for musicians looking for a friendly place to learn more about adopting technology to enhance their art and lifestyle. He is an early adopter of technologies like the Tablet PC, which has enabled him to completely convert his paper music library into a digital format, and innovative new performance presentations like the Visual Recital (www.VisualRecital.com), which combines images, animation, and video clips in a live recital setting fully synchronized and controlled by the musician.

"Working with digital pianos had always been an exercise in frustrating limitations, a bit like being forced to color by numbers with no more than 10 crayons at a time. Even high-end piano sample libraries have been extremely disappointing, offering exquisitely recorded piano sounds completely divorced from any real interaction or control of the sound beyond a relatively sparse range of touch."

"MODARTT PIANOTEQ, on the other hand, represents a stunning breakthrough, making it possible for the first time for a serious musician to work with a digital instrument that gives virtually the full color palette of a 'real' acoustic piano. PIANOTEQ responds in the widest dynamic range I've ever experienced in a computer instrument, from the most delicate pianissimos to keybed-thumping fortissimos, complete with all the physical phenomena that accompanies such deliveries like sympathetic vibrations, soundboard echo, and an amazing variance of hammer/string interactions. Damper control is amazingly continuous and realistic, enabling the most subtle tapers of note-ends and flutter pedal effects."

"You can actually work on this virtual piano and start to discuss possibilities of tone, color, articulation - all the expressive qualities normally associated only with fully acoustic counterparts! Any digital piano will sound decent at a loud, narrow dynamic range, but PIANOTEQ really shines in the subtleties of pianissimo colorations and the full feel of control throughout sound production."

"As Josef Hoffman once marveled at the Duo-Art Piano Roll's capability to capture the essence of a great musical performance, I'm similarly inclined to marvel at the way PIANOTEQ is able to express the full musical intentions of the pianist, lending itself elegantly as an artistic tool for the pianists of today's digital age."

More info: hughsung.com.

Mike Barson

The man on keys for London Ska legends Madness has been the driving force behind many of their 20 Hits over almost 30 years. Their debut album "One step beyond" catapulted them into the charts all over Europe, giving the teenagers multiple platinum status.

Every kid in the UK and Europe danced to Songs such as "Baggy Trousers" or "Night Boat To Cairo", their trademark 'nutty sound'. After their world smash "Our House", with which they entered the US charts for the first time in 1980 Madness became a household name all over the world. The string of hits continued until the band took a break in 1985. They returned with a bang when they organised the 1992 Madstock concerts in London's Finsbury Park, the only Live event to date to literally register on the Richter scale due to the enthusiastic pogo-ing of the 70.000 punters over the two days. Since then Madness have enjoyed continued success of the live circuit worldwide and are currently working on the follow up of the 2005 album "The Dangermen Sessions".

Mike's keyboard sound has, although intricately layered with strings, mallets and other, more synthetic colours of the sonic spectrum, always had a firm base in the piano. Since most Madness songs are essentially written around a piano part the quality of this instrument is crucial to band's overall sound.

Recently, Mike has changed his hardware rack for a computer set-up, and while a lot of the synthesizers and sample based natural sounds such as strings were relatively easy to port across, even some of the most high-end piano sample libraries ultimately disappointed him. Moving away from samples he discovered in PIANOTEQ the perfect tool, both in the studio and on the road. The moderate CPU load it puts on a system, combined with superb sonic performance and low inherent latency make it the ideal base for his key rig now. In a series of recent concerts PIANOTEQ has proven to be exactly what was called for, both musically and technically.

"PIANOTEQ plays like a real piano and sounds natural like a real piano. I like the fact one can change the different elements, it's very versatile. Unlike many of the other software pianos I tried this one really sounds good, is simple and can deliver drastically different types of Piano sound... they all sound good, which is just what I want!"

More info: Madness official site.

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Miles Black

Currently based in Vancouver, Miles has a wealth of musical experience as an arranger, producer, composer, session musician, guitarist, bassist, saxophonist, songwriter, musical theatre director, music therapist and college level music instructor. He has performed on countless albums, and has played with many music greats around the world - Mark Murphy, Lee Konitz, Slide Hampton, Chuck Israels, Dee Daniels, Jane Siberry, The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and many others.

Currently, Miles is involved in several projects: He is co-leading a modern jazz quartet called "Altered Laws" with Tom Keenlyside. In 2003, Miles set up Carltone Studios and Carltunes Recordings with engineer/percussionist Tony Chamberlist. Since 1991, Miles has been working for PG Music, with whom he has helped to produce and performed on music software programs, including "The Jazz Pianist 1&2" and "The NewAge Pianist".

"PIANOTEQ, in my opinion, stands head and shoulders above most of the other piano imitations. It was obviously created by people who really understand the amazing acoustic properties of pianos, including all of the important peripheral sounds (pedals, hammers, string resonances, etc..) that form the highly complex and beautiful sonorities that a piano can produce. Carefully crafted and clear and concise in its presentation, PIANOTEQ is a joy to use."

More info: milesblack.com.

Richard Harvey

Richard Harvey is a sought after film composer and conductor, collaborating with major contemporary composers including John Williams, Stanley Myers, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Maurice Jarre and many others. He has scored over 70 film and television projects up to date, from countless British television series, documentaries and feature length tv films, to major Hollywood titles, contributing to Hans Zimmer's score for the huge box office hit "The Da Vinci Code" (2006). Most recently he has scored moving historical drama feature film "Eichmann" (2007) and idiosyncratic French fantasy "Les Deux Mondes" (2007).

Richard has also an important presence in the Thai film industry and was honoured a Royal Invitation to work closely with executive producer Francis Ford Coppola and to score for the major historic movie "Suriyothai". His talent as a composer of film and television music has been recognised with several awards including a British Academy Award. Richard has also made several classical albums, including a Classical Record of the Year, "Italian Recorder Concertos" (1982), which remains in Gramophone Magazine's Top 100.

"Terms like sampling, modelling or plug-in, are not entering my head here... because for me, Pianoteq quite simply IS a piano! Having said that, it is much more than that, it gives you many pianos with many ways to hear and feel those pianos. Paired with a good physical keyboard the experience is tactile and inspiring and as such I feel drawn to sit and play Pianoteq in the same way that I'm am drawn to a beautiful 9' grand sitting in the corner of a a studio or on a concert stage. It has that magnetism. There have been very creditable attempts at sampled pianos around for a long while. Some are impressive (though profligate with your drive space and processing power!) but they all lack what I call the heart of a piano.... the ability to really "sing" in the middle range between A=220 and A=880. This, for me, is the the most significant edge that Pianoteq has over its likely competitors and as such feels to me rather like the dawning of a new age!"

More info: Richard Harvey official site, IMDB

Klaus Badelt

Renown film composer Klaus Badelt has worked with some of the greatest filmmakers of our time, received many international awards and honors of distinction, scored more than 35 major motion pictures, and set the tone for both critically acclaimed films and top-grossing franchises and blockbusters.

After writing scores for such films as Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Recruit, K:19 The Widowmaker, Rescue Dawn, The Time Machine, Premonition, 16 Blocks, Poseidon and many others, Klaus cemented his place as one of Hollywood's most in-demand, touted, and versatile composers.

In order to write these great scores, Klaus' Los Angeles and International studios must utilize only cutting edge music technology, tools, and equipment, and include only the finest virtual instruments and plug-ins.

"PIANOTEQ is one of the most exciting products I've seen in quite some time. Some of my film cue arrangements are realized with over 75 tracks of audio and virtual instruments, with dozens of effects plug-ins. In these instances, it's vital to have a solid, expressive piano sound that loads quickly and requires a minimum of CPU resources. PIANOTEQ's customizable capability provides me with every type of sound required for every type of mood and situation. PIANOTEQ has become my 'go to' instrument for sketching and final production."

More info: IMDB.

Jon Vezner

Jon Vezner is a songwriter/singer/producer. He has written songs for Kathy Mattea, Reba McEntire, Faith Hill, Nancy Griffith, Janis Ian, John Mellencamp and more. He has produced projects on Victory Shaw, Kathy Mattea, Dougie McLean, Danny O'Keefe and the legendary Patti Page. "Where've You Been", a song he co-wrote with Don Henry, won the ACM (Academy of Country Music), the CMA, (Country Music Association) the Grammy and the NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) awards for song of the year. He was also NSAI songwriter of the year.

"PIANOTEQ is one of the most exciting new plug-ins I've come across in sometime. It's as closer to the real thing than anything I've heard. I've found it to be very inspiring. And to add to that, being a modeled piano it requires no samples and uses hardly any resources I see no need to go through trying to mic a real piano. And especially for the project studio it is a dream come true."

More info: Jon Vezner.

Stuart Crichton

Stuart Crichton is a talented all-rounder (song writer, producer, mixer, artist, remixer) and is currently working on tracks for Jamelia (Parlophone), Kylie (Parlophone), Simon Webbe (Innocent), Delta Goodrem (SonyBMG), Jonas (Universal) and Brian McFadden (Sony/BMG). He has just returned from a successful writing trip in Nashville and also won The Miami Best Pop Award in 2005 for his artist project Narcotic Thrust with "I Like It" (UK No.7).

Stuart has his roots in dance, but turns his head to most styles of music enjoying previous success with Kylie, Charlotte Church, Pet Shop Boys, Bond and The Sugababes. He has his own studios in Hasting (UK) with optional residential facilities.

"PIANOTEQ is amazing on many fronts for me, but the two most important are:
1. Quality of sound, which is unbelievable!!
2. Very low CPU usage. Which is very important to me when I am writing on my portable laptop rig.
I am currently using PIANOTEQ on numerous new productions that I am doing. If you want quality piano sounds, then PIANOTEQ is as near to the real thing I have used. And it's a great price too!!"

More info: Z Artists.

Joel Corelitz

Joel Corelitz is a Chicago-based composer/sound designer. His personal brand, Waveplant, provides original music for television, film & media as well as bleeding-edge musical sound design for motion graphics. He has scored commercials on the Super Bowl as well as work featured in Stash, Motionographer, OneDotZero, and Smilefaucet. He has also been written about in both Keyboard and Future Music magazines for his production work.

"I tend to approach composition as design – focusing first on rhythm and texture, and second on melody and chords. Pianoteq is absolutely perfect for this approach. Not only is it hands down the most expressive virtual piano out there, its interface enables me to design the perfect piano for my application. It’s the only emulation I can think of that is quite possibly better than the real thing."

More info: Waveplant Studios

Guillaume Roussel

Guillaume Roussel is a French composer/orchestrator. He has scored major TV shows such as R.I.S. Police scientifique (French spin-off for C.S.I.) and orchestrated "La Vie en Rose" (winner of 2 Oscars). He has participated in many Movie score projects with Clint Mansell, Christopher Gunning, David Buckley, Krishna Levy and Erwann Kermorvant. His first score for the movie "Tomorrow Is Today" has been awarded the Best Score at the Californian Independent Film Festival (2007). He also collaborated with well-known artists in France such as Catherine Lara, Mc Solaar, and worked with orchestras such as the London Philharmonia Orchestra (in Abbey Road). He is very interested in music technology and works since 2004 closely with sound developers, being part of the creative development team for sound libraries such as Motu Symphonic Instruments, Ethno and Mach Five.

"Pianoteq is simply the only plug that allows you to work the sound of the piano like a real one, and more than that! The world of prepared music is right here with Pianoteq. That's really unique. Furthermore, the musicality of this plug is as realistic as a normal sample library. I will definitely use it a lot!"

Michel van der Aa

© Ben van Duin

The Dutch composer Michel van der Aa (1970) is one of Europe's most sought-after composers today. Van der Aa is a child of his time. Not only the use of soundtracks but also the inclusion of visual elements in Van der Aa's compositional pallet enhances the theatrical aspect of his art. In 2002 Van der Aa completed a program in film directing at the New York Film Academy, where he learned the art of 16 mm filmmaking. In applying film images and soundtracks as additional instruments, he effectively extends the vocabulary of his music.

Van der Aa's music has been performed by ensembles and orchestras worldwide at festivals ranging from the Berliner Festspiele to Festival d'Automne á Paris, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Venice Biennale, Lucerne Festival, Autumn in Warsaw and others.

Michel Van der Aa was awarded the International Gaudeamus Prize (1999), Matthijs Vermeulen prize (2004), Siemens Composers Grant (2005), Charlotte Köhler Prize (2005) and the Paul Hindemith Prize (2006). Michel van der Aa is published by Boosey & Hawkes.

"It's hard to believe that such an impressive piano sound can come from a 15 MB software plug-in. It sounds far more vivid and realistic than the sample libraries I've tried. As a composer the next thing I did was of course to push the controls far beyond the natural limits. Very creative and wonderful for sound design! PIANOTEQ won't leave my computers hard disk anymore."

More info: www.doubleA.net.

Guy Sigsworth

Guy Sigsworth is a successful electronica producer with a background as former band member in the band Frou Frou and in the European Baroque Orchestra in Oxford. He has worked with dozens of artists, including Alanis Morissette, Madonna, Björk, Seal, Talvin Singh, Jem, Britney Spears, Lamb, Robyn, Sugababes, Juliet, Temposhark and many others. His latest projects include Britney Spears' latest album 'Circus' (2008) and Kate Havnevik's forthcoming album (due out in 2009). In 2007, Sigsworth produced the whole of Alanis Morissette's latest album 'Flavors of Entanglement'. There he made use of Pianoteq in the bonus track 'Madness' where he created an acoustic piano tone, but with a discreet, 'tucked in', Wurlitzer-like softness (audio excerpt below).

"I've always liked the idea of Physical Modeling, ever since I tried a Yamaha VL-1 in a Tokyo music shop back in the early 1990s. There's a certain way good models react to velocity and performance inflection. Even the most complex multi-sampled virtual instruments don't have that flexible response under the fingers. I really like Pianoteq. As a conservatory-trained harpsichordist I really like the harpsichord models too. It feels like we're in at the start of an instrument that's going to develop in all kinds of exciting ways."

More info: Wikipedia

'Madness' as recorded on Alanis Morissette's album Flavors of Entanglement (DELUXE EDITION), appears courtesy of Warner Bros. Records.

Marco Borsatti

Marco 'Borso' Borsatti has gained a Grammy Award as sound engineer, working with the most important Italian artists of today: Laura Pausini, Vasco Rossi, Eros Ramazzotti, Andrea Bocelli, to name a few.

Borsatti's career started in 1989 as studio and live sound engineer. In 1992 his first approach to the audio professional world began in the Fonoprint recording studios, where he had the possibility to work with the best recording devices on the market, from analog tapes to the most advanced hard disk recording workstations. It was then he met the arranger and composer Celso Valli, one of the most influential musicians in Italy. He then started his research in finding the best way to manage the piano sound in his productions. He regarded his research as complete the day he first tried PIANOTEQ.

In the latest album by Laura Pausini, Primavera In Anticipo (2008), Pianoteq was used as the acoustic piano in all songs (audio excerpt below).

"PIANOTEQ plays like a real piano and sounds natural like a real piano. It is a virtual instrument of a very high level and you can really get the same feeling with it as with a true grand piano."

More info: Marco Borsatti's official site

'Invece no' as recorded on Laura Pausini's album Primavera In Anticipo, appears courtesy of Warner Music Italia.

Bob Benozzo

When it comes to positioning music in Spanish to thrive in an international market, Italian producer Bob Benozzo has become a force to be reckoned with and an essential part of its growth. His work has become synonymous with the cutting edge success of many recent musical productions, establishing him as one of the most sought after producers in the industry.

His remarkable career is almost too good to be true. At the young age of 34 he has already amassed an unbelievable number of Gold and Platinum records, in addition to countless awards that have earned his productions a permanent spot on Billboard and other international music charts. Benozzo's credits list counts renowned artists like Olga Tañón, Emmanuel, Juan Velez, Ricardo Montaner, Chambao, Esterlla Morente, Gloria Trevi, Xtreme, Ornella Vanoni.

"I have tried almost all sampled piano libraries available. One of the main differences of Pianoteq is that it loads quickly, in just a few seconds you can play a fantastic piano. What I really love about Pianoteq is the dynamic response, it reacts like a real instrument, with no gaps in the dynamic range. Another great feature is the sound presence and the natural sounding low/mid range. Pianoteq is an amazing instrument and useful tool. Ever since I put my hands on it, Pianoteq has become my first choice piano!"

More info: Bob Benozzo, Altavox

Jeff Wolpert

Jeff Wolpert is a multi-award winning engineer, mixer, producer, editor and educator. He has recorded some of the biggest names in today's music industry, in addition to a successful career working in film and television. Some of his projects include recordings for Loreena McKennitt, Holly Cole, The Cowboy Junkies and soundtracks to Blues Brothers 2000, American Psycho and Disney's Cars. He is also an associate professor at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, which is the oldest and largest Recording Arts program in Canada, and in the Music faculty at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.

"I recently used Pianoteq on a CD for The Canadian Tenors. I appreciate the low processor overhead and the quality of sound."

More info: Jeff Wolpert

Terry Smythe

Terry Smythe, from a background in aeronautical engineering and a love of piano music, became in the 1960's interested in the restoration and enjoyment of vintage automatic musical instruments, such as player pianos, reproducing grand pianos, nickelodeons, orchestrions, disk music boxes, cylinder music boxes, circus band organs, etc.

In the beginning, restoration of these instruments was terribly unscientific and haphazard. However, in 1971, he learned about the Automatic Musical Instruments Collectors Association, and gained lots of knowledge that finally resulted in his own built piano roll scanners which can transcribe preserved piano rolls to MIDI files.

In 2003 he made his archive available to the public through his website. There you can download delicate performances from the very early 20th century by piano virtuosis - Sergei Rachmaninov, Arthur Rubinstein, Alfred Cortot, Ignace Paderewski and many others.

"The transition from typical midi piano to PIANOTEQ is a huge improvement in listening experience. What you have achieved should be of significant interest to a vast array of people who currently convert my piano roll midi files into MP3 that are really not much of an aural improvement. You have achieved a remarkable enhancement to a known difficult task. Congratulations!"

More info: members.shaw.ca/smythe/rebirth.htm.

Bergame Periaux

Bergame Periaux graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris — one of the best music and sound engineering schools in Europe. He acquired knowledge through professional experiments in recording studios in Paris, London and Nashville, and is now experimenting in surround sound.

Since 2001 Periaux is managing the multichannel training projects at INA Formation — the first audiovisual training centre in Europe — where he creates sounds for TVHD, multichannel mixing and 5.1 recordings. He just founded his own company which offers services in surround sound technologies and music design as communication medium through the surround standard. He studied the classical piano through conservatoires in Paris and therefore, passionate for the piano, is very enthusiastic about the new PIANOTEQ technology.

"PIANOTEQ is a brand new technology that emulates the piano sound very well and comes with all the features of a real piano that we can imagine, and it even goes further! There is a real progress in the playing that other virtual instruments cannot provide because of the sampling technology. PIANOTEQ is very powerful and could, I suppose, very well emulate all the percussion instruments!"

More info: bmusicsurround.com.

Stig Svensson

The piano technician Stig Svensson has 50 years of experience in piano tuning and restoration of grand pianos and has a well-known gift for distinguishing the quality of the timbre of pianos, easily being able to find the brilliance needed to improve the quality of the piano sound. Stig was former employed as piano tuner for Malmö Academy of Music, Sweden. During the last 10 years, he has specialized in piano recordings in cooperation with well-known Swedish pianists.

"PIANOTEQ is no doubt the best I have heard from a digital piano. As the piano sound in large extent is a question of individual preference, it is of importance to be able to adapt the timbre. As PIANOTEQ is being able to do this accurately, it is suitable not only for private sessions but also in large orchestras. PIANOTEQ can indeed also be useful as a training tool for piano tuners."