Piano Drums and Sub

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"sane54" <witzgall@swbell.net> wrote in message
news:1123821440.636833.93150@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks for the great responses to my mariachi question.
>
> I am working on a piece with just these elements. Everything is Midi. I
> have the drum and bass sound samples I want. I am still wondering what
> would be the best kind of VSTI or sound module for the piano sound. My
> main issue tho, is how I get the two to fit together. I have never had
> a piano as the main melody and harmony in a breakbeat piece before. My
> whole method is about carving out space in the frequency spectrum with
> EQ to get competing elements to sit better. But the piano is everywhere
> on the frequency spectrum. I am not sure what ranges lend themselves to
> cutting without making the piano sound unnatural. And since the piano
> is pretty much the entire melodic interest in the piece, it needs to
> sound full. So do I EQ cut the piano or EQ cut the kick and snare or
> just fit them with faders? Any help would be very much appreciated.


A lot depends on the piano sample and the arrangement. The real piano is
relatively mellow and dark and invariably needs EQ (hi-mid boost, low cut,
typically) in order to cut through an average pop arrangement. A lot of
samples out there are already processed, though, in which case all bets are
off.

If the arangement is solid, especially the interplay of the bass line and
kick, you won't need much low end on the piano and that's where you should
cut it if necessary. Then you can EQ the kick and bass to taste.

In case of the snare, I'd apply a relatively narrow mid cut on the piano,
3-6dB, depending on the type of EQ, and sweep the center frequency up and
down the mid band until I find where it hurts the least. Then I'd boost the
same frequency on the snare until it pops out enough. That may not be the
best frequency to boost on the snare, so you may have to tweak it a bit in
order to find a compromise.

Predrag