There have been discussions here about the Ultimate Grand, the SRX-02, and the SRX-11 pianos. I've been dissatisfied with the Ultimate Grand, for sure and, after reading other's impressions of the two expansion cards, was worried about spending $250 on either of them.
Instead, I've just received William Coakley's "Perfect Piano" Volume V for the Fantom. My first impression is easily summed up in one word: Wow! These samples and patches have the sound of a very big instrument; they whisper and they roar. The highs are clear, not dull. The lows are defined at high volume, not muddy. They also have the feel of a big piano; my fingers are obviously in control of an extremely responsive instrument like nothing I've ever played before. The sample source was a 9-1/2' Steinway D. A concert grand. Friends, this is the real thing.
Since I just received the CD yesterday, I can't write a complete review yet. These are first impressions, but these patches make playing the piano fun again. In order to control everything, I'm going to have to do a lot of woodshedding, but these sounds will make it fun to play Hanon - and a lot of other stuff.
I've only played through the first eighteen of the "pianos" that are provided. I'd have to load the others just to see how many there are and a lot of the differences between patches are subtle. There are adjustments to the velocity curves that aren't obvious upon first playing them. The bass in one piano is slightly emphasized or the high treble is boosted in another. It'll make a big difference in a mix, but just playing them solo, it's hard to tell the differences. I'll report back when I've played and listened a lot more.
For the moment, I just wanted to alert everyone to this new piano collection. If you care about how your piano sounds and plays, this is what you need.
Oh, yes, I don't work for Bill Coakley or have any business connection to him. I've spoken to him several times on the phone; he picks up his own phone and answers any and all questions about his sample sets. He's very approachable and straight-forward, but I'm definitely not him. I just like his work.
Harvey Lord
New Piano Patches - William Coakley's Perfect Piano Vol. 5
Re: New Piano Patches - William Coakley's Perfect Piano Vol.
Hi, I was wondering if Mr. William delivers Fantom patches on his CD? In other words: is it possible to load these piano samples straigth into your Fantom without the need to build a patch based on the individual (multi) samples? Thx
Sjaak - Fantom X7,SRX-679
Sjaak - Fantom X7,SRX-679
Re: New Piano Patches - William Coakley's Perfect Piano Vol.
Yeah could you tell us how to load these samples in
i have the Fantom X8 by the way
do you have to assign each sample to a key?
i might buy it then
Wayne
Professional Keyboardist in UK`s Number 1 Tribute To Bon Jovi
www.wayneharris.co.uk
www.bongiovi.co.uk
i have the Fantom X8 by the way
do you have to assign each sample to a key?
i might buy it then
Wayne
Professional Keyboardist in UK`s Number 1 Tribute To Bon Jovi
www.wayneharris.co.uk
www.bongiovi.co.uk
Re: New Piano Patches - William Coakley's Perfect Piano Vol.
Well.... This is just your opinion.
I have over a thousand dollar worth of piano libraries. As I posted in earlier post, with careful programming, FX piano samples can give distinct piano sound with good playability.
As its wave form names indicated, it is indeed a jazz piano. Bank A piano samples are more suited for pop/rock music.
I have over a thousand dollar worth of piano libraries. As I posted in earlier post, with careful programming, FX piano samples can give distinct piano sound with good playability.
As its wave form names indicated, it is indeed a jazz piano. Bank A piano samples are more suited for pop/rock music.
Re: New Piano Patches - William Coakley's Perfect Piano Vol.
Yes, you get everything on a CD.
The samples are in .wav files. I loaded them onto my Compact Flash card. I guess you could load them directly into USER memory if you wanted to. I didn't try that.
Patches are provided. When I say he gives you a bunch of pianos, that means that the samples have already been assigned to keys and each piano has a distinct velocity curve and EQ curve. You don't have to build the pianos yourself.
The procedure for loading the distribution into the Fantom is (1) put the Fantom into Storage mode, (2) connect to your computer via USB, (3) on the computer drag three folders called Roland, BACKUP, and Tmp from the CD's D107D Hamburg folder to your CF card, (4) disconnect from the computer, and (5) reboot your Fantom. Now, the samples and patches load automatically (which takes several minutes), and they're available as regular patches in your Card group. Play 'em. Make Performances with 'em. Whatever.
If you want to build your own custom piano with the samples, you can, but I've got my hands full with playing. Besides, I think Coakley has done a much better job of building the patches than I could ever hope to.
Harvey
The samples are in .wav files. I loaded them onto my Compact Flash card. I guess you could load them directly into USER memory if you wanted to. I didn't try that.
Patches are provided. When I say he gives you a bunch of pianos, that means that the samples have already been assigned to keys and each piano has a distinct velocity curve and EQ curve. You don't have to build the pianos yourself.
The procedure for loading the distribution into the Fantom is (1) put the Fantom into Storage mode, (2) connect to your computer via USB, (3) on the computer drag three folders called Roland, BACKUP, and Tmp from the CD's D107D Hamburg folder to your CF card, (4) disconnect from the computer, and (5) reboot your Fantom. Now, the samples and patches load automatically (which takes several minutes), and they're available as regular patches in your Card group. Play 'em. Make Performances with 'em. Whatever.
If you want to build your own custom piano with the samples, you can, but I've got my hands full with playing. Besides, I think Coakley has done a much better job of building the patches than I could ever hope to.
Harvey
Re: New Piano Patches - William Coakley's Perfect Piano Vol.
Another thing: The D107D Hamburg folder on the CD has a whole set of piano samples plus patches that make eighteen pianos out of them. That means eighteen velocity/EQ curves of assignments of those samples to keys.
On my CD, there are two other folders called en12510kG and Volume 1A that contain more piano samples and patches. Coakley told me that he separated these into separate folders because putting them into one folder would have made everything take too long to load when you boot the Fantom.
Anyway, the samples in the en12510kG and Volume 1A folders are different from the samples in the D107D Hamburg folder and the patches that go with them are different, too. They represent more distinct pianos with their own velocity/EQ curves. You decide which piano is most appropriate for your use. That means that if you're playing rock, you might need louder bass. If you're playing Art of the Fugue, you might want the velocity response to be lighter in the bass and heavier in the treble - or whatever you feel is best for Bach. If you're doing New Age pieces, you might want a warmer sound. Whatever you need, the patches are already there to achieve it. There's no need to program your own patches.
Harvey
On my CD, there are two other folders called en12510kG and Volume 1A that contain more piano samples and patches. Coakley told me that he separated these into separate folders because putting them into one folder would have made everything take too long to load when you boot the Fantom.
Anyway, the samples in the en12510kG and Volume 1A folders are different from the samples in the D107D Hamburg folder and the patches that go with them are different, too. They represent more distinct pianos with their own velocity/EQ curves. You decide which piano is most appropriate for your use. That means that if you're playing rock, you might need louder bass. If you're playing Art of the Fugue, you might want the velocity response to be lighter in the bass and heavier in the treble - or whatever you feel is best for Bach. If you're doing New Age pieces, you might want a warmer sound. Whatever you need, the patches are already there to achieve it. There's no need to program your own patches.
Harvey
Re: New Piano Patches - William Coakley's Perfect Piano Vol.
I forgot to tell you that I have 544MB of RAM in my Fantom and I'm using a 1GB Compact Flash card. Therefore, I don't have any space issues loading these pianos. If you don't have a Compact Flash card and you don't have enough memory, you need to get some of each.
I don't know what the memory limitations are for this sample set. I'd recommend getting a 512MB RAM chip in any case. In my experience, enough memory is often a roadblock so I expanded to the max immediately after getting my XR.
A 1GB CF card isn't necessary. You'll do fine with a 256MB card. I've got the 1GB card and I've ordered two 128MB cards. Those are for the samples/patches in the en12510kG folder and the samples/patches in the Volume 1A folder. If I put them on three separate cards, then I can boot with the one I like and the boot process doesn't take too long. It's just a matter of taste. Besides 128MB cards cost about 15USD each, plus shipping.
Harvey
I don't know what the memory limitations are for this sample set. I'd recommend getting a 512MB RAM chip in any case. In my experience, enough memory is often a roadblock so I expanded to the max immediately after getting my XR.
A 1GB CF card isn't necessary. You'll do fine with a 256MB card. I've got the 1GB card and I've ordered two 128MB cards. Those are for the samples/patches in the en12510kG folder and the samples/patches in the Volume 1A folder. If I put them on three separate cards, then I can boot with the one I like and the boot process doesn't take too long. It's just a matter of taste. Besides 128MB cards cost about 15USD each, plus shipping.
Harvey
-
William Coakley
- Posts: 164
- Joined: 15:48, 20 July 2005
reply to dkpcola
Sorry to hear you had to spend a thousand dollars and still are working with FX samples but you're not alone. Throughout the years, whether its Edgar Winter, Mike Post, or Lenny Kravitz... I have learned that many like you have found the search for a good piano is expensive and disappointing. That's why I kept the demos on my site from being the focus ...and concentrated on representing the piano fairly so that people wouldn't be disappointed... remember, I have to answer the phone.
If you have a chance, I would be delighted to answer any questions you have after you've had a look around my site. As mentioned previously, my pianos are designed to be easily voiced for any occassion... even to cut through hordes of loud abnoxious guitar players and heavy handed drummers who love crashes.
William williamcoakley.com
If you have a chance, I would be delighted to answer any questions you have after you've had a look around my site. As mentioned previously, my pianos are designed to be easily voiced for any occassion... even to cut through hordes of loud abnoxious guitar players and heavy handed drummers who love crashes.
William williamcoakley.com
Customer Support
Yesterday afternoon William Coakley called me to ask how the pianos were doing! Do you have many vendors calling you after they make the sale?
I asked if there was a way to retain the expressiveness of the Hamburg D while playing very softly. If I turn down the volume, I couldn't play loud when it's called for.
Of course, this is a function of both the Fantom and my MIDI controller. Since I have an XR and a Studiologic Fatar Studio 1100 controller, Bill jumped on the Internet to find the 1100's owner's manual. He immediately realized that this controller doesn't permit sufficient control over the velocity curve for me to modify the touch to permit extremely soft playing. So, he said he'd research the XR manual to see if it could control the velocity curve to fit what I needed.
About fifteen or twenty minutes later, he called back with the answer: one of the MIDI-related part parameters in a Performance is the velocity curve type. Creating a performance of the piano I wanted and setting the velocity curve to #1 did the trick.
I'd say that I've received customer service like that about once per decade. The piano continues to permit playing medium to loud passages, and the XR allows control of whisper soft pieces, too. It's exactly what I needed - and he called me and researched the solution.
I expected this sample set to be good, but I never expected customer support at this level.
Wow!
Harvey
I asked if there was a way to retain the expressiveness of the Hamburg D while playing very softly. If I turn down the volume, I couldn't play loud when it's called for.
Of course, this is a function of both the Fantom and my MIDI controller. Since I have an XR and a Studiologic Fatar Studio 1100 controller, Bill jumped on the Internet to find the 1100's owner's manual. He immediately realized that this controller doesn't permit sufficient control over the velocity curve for me to modify the touch to permit extremely soft playing. So, he said he'd research the XR manual to see if it could control the velocity curve to fit what I needed.
About fifteen or twenty minutes later, he called back with the answer: one of the MIDI-related part parameters in a Performance is the velocity curve type. Creating a performance of the piano I wanted and setting the velocity curve to #1 did the trick.
I'd say that I've received customer service like that about once per decade. The piano continues to permit playing medium to loud passages, and the XR allows control of whisper soft pieces, too. It's exactly what I needed - and he called me and researched the solution.
I expected this sample set to be good, but I never expected customer support at this level.
Wow!
Harvey
Vol 5 is Outstanding BOAR
This is my first post on the Fantomized Forum despite lurking around and reading posts for the last few months.
Having been disastified with the piano sounds in my Roland RD 700 and in my Fantom XR module ( less so with the latter ) I eagerly bought the SRX 11 Board only to be immensely dissapointed by it - mainly due to the artefacts that have been discussed on this site and many others.
After reading on Fantomized Forums about the Willam Coakley Vol 5 and reading the mostly positive comments, and hearing smaples on the web site and talking to William himself. I decided to take the plunge and ordered them.
I am in the UK and they arrived the following day!!!
I have only been playing with Hamburg Steinway for about 30 mins ( but knew within about the first 30secs ) that this is the piano sound I've always been looking for. It is simply an outstanding set of samples that have been turned into a wonderful piano.
I keep playing it and then switching back to the SRX11 Superb Grand and the difference is staggering. In my opinion it completely blows away that board, as it does to the sounds in my RD700 ( which I always found very poor for live use).
I am totally knocked out by the first patch - I haven't had chance to try any of the other subtle variations on it or the other two piano sets that came with it.
As stated by 'hglord' - he's already called me a couple of times since the sale to make sure the product arrived and has promised to call again to see how I'm getting along - That's sewrvice for you!
Please note that I had never heard of William Oakley until I came to this site and I am in no way assoiciated with his business. All I can say is that I think Vol 5 is a fantastic product and that if you are really into piano playing this product is the best I've heard.
Having been disastified with the piano sounds in my Roland RD 700 and in my Fantom XR module ( less so with the latter ) I eagerly bought the SRX 11 Board only to be immensely dissapointed by it - mainly due to the artefacts that have been discussed on this site and many others.
After reading on Fantomized Forums about the Willam Coakley Vol 5 and reading the mostly positive comments, and hearing smaples on the web site and talking to William himself. I decided to take the plunge and ordered them.
I am in the UK and they arrived the following day!!!
I have only been playing with Hamburg Steinway for about 30 mins ( but knew within about the first 30secs ) that this is the piano sound I've always been looking for. It is simply an outstanding set of samples that have been turned into a wonderful piano.
I keep playing it and then switching back to the SRX11 Superb Grand and the difference is staggering. In my opinion it completely blows away that board, as it does to the sounds in my RD700 ( which I always found very poor for live use).
I am totally knocked out by the first patch - I haven't had chance to try any of the other subtle variations on it or the other two piano sets that came with it.
As stated by 'hglord' - he's already called me a couple of times since the sale to make sure the product arrived and has promised to call again to see how I'm getting along - That's sewrvice for you!
Please note that I had never heard of William Oakley until I came to this site and I am in no way assoiciated with his business. All I can say is that I think Vol 5 is a fantastic product and that if you are really into piano playing this product is the best I've heard.
that should read Board
above title should read Outstanding Board not Outstanding Boar 
Re: New Piano Patches - William Coakley's Perfect Piano Vol.
I have already made some of these comments regarding Perfect Piano V on another thread, but would like to expand on them here.
I purchased the Perfect Piano V and I find his Hamburg D to be clearly superior to the preset and SRX pianos available. I have both of the SRX piano boards, and I spend about 95% of my playing time on piano. Although there are several preset and SRX patches that work fine for particular pieces of music, and indeed some may have desirable qualities when mixed into tracks with other instruments/parts, I have not been able to get my Fantom piano sound (out-of-the-box, with tweaks, or layering) quite the way I would like it for everyday solo playing. To me, the SRX-2 gets a bit muddy, even though I like its dark, warm character, and the artifacts around middle C have been discussed in previous threads. I like the timbre of SRX-11, but to me it lacks warmth. I have tried layering (patches from the two SRX boards) and tweaking, which provided something better for everyday playing but was, needless to say, a **real voice hog** and would need further refinement in order to record anything serious.
I don't have personal experience with the PC software options out there and can't comment about that alternative, but I have been playing and composing on "hardware" digital pianos for over 20 years now and Mr. Coakley's offerings will be sure to please a piano enthusiast. The sound is crystalline and clear across the entire keyboard, with no "distracting character" that I've been able to find, and the dynamics are extraordinarily smooth. I find myself experimenting with shifting my right hand parts an octave higher than usual because I'm so pleasantly surprised by the quality of the sound in the upper registers. I am no virtuoso but the Coakley pianos are, as advertised, taking me to another level of creativity.
Every Fantom owner makes his or her own choice in these matters, and I'm very satisfied with mine. I'm not frustrated at having invested in two SRX boards, because I will still get some limited use from them for certain compositions and I have learned much about my own needs for a piano sound. Bottom line, I'd heartily recommend Perfect Piano V. For anyone who wants to expand beyond Ultimate Grand (or tweaks thereof), and I'd suggest skipping the SRX options and going straight to the Coakley piano.
Disclaimer (shouldn't be necessary, but when reporting a glowing review ...) -- never met or spoke to William Coakley before sending in my order, and paid for it out of my own pocket.
** ncsteff **
Fantom X8 and XR, and too many SRXs
Now if I only had the time ...
I purchased the Perfect Piano V and I find his Hamburg D to be clearly superior to the preset and SRX pianos available. I have both of the SRX piano boards, and I spend about 95% of my playing time on piano. Although there are several preset and SRX patches that work fine for particular pieces of music, and indeed some may have desirable qualities when mixed into tracks with other instruments/parts, I have not been able to get my Fantom piano sound (out-of-the-box, with tweaks, or layering) quite the way I would like it for everyday solo playing. To me, the SRX-2 gets a bit muddy, even though I like its dark, warm character, and the artifacts around middle C have been discussed in previous threads. I like the timbre of SRX-11, but to me it lacks warmth. I have tried layering (patches from the two SRX boards) and tweaking, which provided something better for everyday playing but was, needless to say, a **real voice hog** and would need further refinement in order to record anything serious.
I don't have personal experience with the PC software options out there and can't comment about that alternative, but I have been playing and composing on "hardware" digital pianos for over 20 years now and Mr. Coakley's offerings will be sure to please a piano enthusiast. The sound is crystalline and clear across the entire keyboard, with no "distracting character" that I've been able to find, and the dynamics are extraordinarily smooth. I find myself experimenting with shifting my right hand parts an octave higher than usual because I'm so pleasantly surprised by the quality of the sound in the upper registers. I am no virtuoso but the Coakley pianos are, as advertised, taking me to another level of creativity.
Every Fantom owner makes his or her own choice in these matters, and I'm very satisfied with mine. I'm not frustrated at having invested in two SRX boards, because I will still get some limited use from them for certain compositions and I have learned much about my own needs for a piano sound. Bottom line, I'd heartily recommend Perfect Piano V. For anyone who wants to expand beyond Ultimate Grand (or tweaks thereof), and I'd suggest skipping the SRX options and going straight to the Coakley piano.
Disclaimer (shouldn't be necessary, but when reporting a glowing review ...) -- never met or spoke to William Coakley before sending in my order, and paid for it out of my own pocket.
** ncsteff **
Fantom X8 and XR, and too many SRXs
Now if I only had the time ...
-
Dave Horne
- Posts: 5
- Joined: 21:30, 15 August 2005
follow up
I have had two messages blocked here.
In the interest of accurate internet advertising, I should mention that the keyboard player for Lenny Kravitz (which Coakley refers to, George Laks) does not now, in fact, use his product. (See my web site for George's own words. Google my name, go to Links and you'll find it.)
At Coakley's web site he has a Hall of Fame. I have personally received e-mails from three of those six members and a called a fourth (Barry Nease). I have e-mails from Danny Lux, Scott Healy and George Laks; these three do not now use his product.
I can back up everything I write. I am not a competitor of Coakley. Coakley made the fatal error of modifying my posts at his web site after I posted messages in support of an individual who was not happy with his product. My posts were only supportive of that individual and not inflammatory. I have also bought his product, Vol. 3 serial # 913: I no longer use it.
At his web site Coakley modified my posts to make me out to be gay, drunk and a hacker. As of today he still refers to me as a hacker. I am not. (I am also not gay or drunk. This _only_ became personal when he modified my posts. I'm 55, being called gay does not bother me in the slightest.)
I am just trying to keep him honest. He refuses to publicly apologize for modifying my posts ... and I obviously have more free time than common sense.
Feel free to contact me and I will call you personally or respond with an e-mail.
Sincerely,
Dave Horne
Achterstraat 53
5268 EB Helvoirt
The Netherlands
+31 (0)411 642699 davehorne@home.nl
http://members.home.nl/davehorne/
In the interest of accurate internet advertising, I should mention that the keyboard player for Lenny Kravitz (which Coakley refers to, George Laks) does not now, in fact, use his product. (See my web site for George's own words. Google my name, go to Links and you'll find it.)
At Coakley's web site he has a Hall of Fame. I have personally received e-mails from three of those six members and a called a fourth (Barry Nease). I have e-mails from Danny Lux, Scott Healy and George Laks; these three do not now use his product.
I can back up everything I write. I am not a competitor of Coakley. Coakley made the fatal error of modifying my posts at his web site after I posted messages in support of an individual who was not happy with his product. My posts were only supportive of that individual and not inflammatory. I have also bought his product, Vol. 3 serial # 913: I no longer use it.
At his web site Coakley modified my posts to make me out to be gay, drunk and a hacker. As of today he still refers to me as a hacker. I am not. (I am also not gay or drunk. This _only_ became personal when he modified my posts. I'm 55, being called gay does not bother me in the slightest.)
I am just trying to keep him honest. He refuses to publicly apologize for modifying my posts ... and I obviously have more free time than common sense.
Feel free to contact me and I will call you personally or respond with an e-mail.
Sincerely,
Dave Horne
Achterstraat 53
5268 EB Helvoirt
The Netherlands
+31 (0)411 642699 davehorne@home.nl
http://members.home.nl/davehorne/
Re: New Piano Patches - William Coakley's Perfect Piano Vol.
Dave,
With all due respect, I and the other moderators have made ourselves QUITE clear on this situation. The decision is ours to make and you are aware of what it is. There is absolutely no need for you to come into the Fantomized forum and keep trying to revive or keep alive this fiasco. This is not the place for you to "keep someone honest". Are you kidding me?
Leave it alone. Make this the third message blocked.
Please respect our wishes and do not post any further messages regarding this matter. It is not welcome here.
Bassman
With all due respect, I and the other moderators have made ourselves QUITE clear on this situation. The decision is ours to make and you are aware of what it is. There is absolutely no need for you to come into the Fantomized forum and keep trying to revive or keep alive this fiasco. This is not the place for you to "keep someone honest". Are you kidding me?
Leave it alone. Make this the third message blocked.
Please respect our wishes and do not post any further messages regarding this matter. It is not welcome here.
Bassman