piano-synth




hardware:   Apple MacBook M4 Air, Eurorack modular system/hardware, Steinway piano
software:   Apple Logic Pro X, Max/MSP, RTcmix,

As I mentioned in the main page for these piano+synth pieces, they are intended to showcase the piano timbre of our wonderful 1932 Steinway Model M piano. My maternal grandfather (Alfred Hicks, St, Louis Symphony musician for 43 years) bought it and kept it in pristine condition. The sound is just spectacular.

I experimented with various microphone placements using my Shure SM81 mics -- I like the crisp high-end and they have a very smooth mid- and low-end response. Generally I used an X-cross positioning, placing them above and below and obliquely to the sound board. I even used a full 180° opposition at times. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Touch has a fair amount of semi-sequenced synth sounds. I used my technique of writing a sequencer (random in this case) using rtcmix~, then piping the MIDI output from Max/MSP through an Expert Sleepers ES8 module to control my Eurorack synth.

Drift is the only one where I did some overt processing of the piano. The beautiful sound of the Steinway still shines through, though.

I am happy with the outcome of these pieces. I like good piano sounds, and I like drones. We'll see how they wear in the future. But for now, these are me.