Adam Monroe 的 Honky Tonk Piano 是一款适用于 Windows 和 OSX 的 32/64 位 VST AU AAX 插件。
* 16 位音频采样（包含独立的延音采样）
* 2 个循环采样，10 个力度层
* 混响、合唱、延迟和低保真效果
* 支持 44.1、48、88.2 和 96 kHz
采样过程
Adam Monroe 的 Honky Tonk Piano 采样自一架老式 Chickering 立式钢琴（具体年份未知），主要通过 Neumann TLM 102 麦克风进行。这架钢琴无疑带有一些动作，虽然可以进行调音（一次一个音符），但其音色略显"honky"。钢琴的采样采用近距离麦克风拾音，打开琴盖，单声道录制，但每个音符都经过精心声像调整，以营造立体声效果。最初使用 AKG D112 来捕捉低频，但 TLM 102 本身就足够出色了。
我们尝试对这架钢琴进行深度采样（10 个力度层，2 个音符循环采样），但最终只捕捉到了部分循环采样，而力度目标则达到了。与大多数只录制其中一个音符的钢琴音色库不同，这架钢琴的采样是在延音踏板打开和关闭的情况下进行的，这增加了音色库的容量，但也为演奏提供了更多的表达空间。
音符录制完成后，繁琐的处理工作就开始了。噪音被去除，钢琴音色经过均衡和压缩——没错，这是一个经过大量处理的插件。最终呈现的是一个极具冲击力和响亮的钢琴音色库，它会穿透你的混音。这并非一个纯净干净的插件，音符的打击感可能相当强烈！我们认为这增强了酒吧风格钢琴演奏的打击感。虽然自 VST 首次发布以来，我们已经对音符进行了不少清理，但我们认为过度清理会破坏插件的音色和手感。
这款钢琴插件可以为您的音色库增添一笔，因为它在采样立式钢琴领域占据了相当大的份额。如果您需要制作拉格泰姆音乐的演示或录音，或者只是需要一架具有打击感的钢琴，这款虚拟乐器随时准备成为您 VST、AU 或 AAX 音色库中的新成员。
工程
Adam Monroe 的 Honky Tonk Piano 的 Kontakt 版本已停用（2019 年 12 月 16 日）。VST、Audio Unit 和 AAX 版本由 Adam Monroe Music 开发。任何同时包含 VSTi（虚拟乐器）、AU（Audio Unit）或 AAX 插件的采样库的目标都是尝试匹配 Kontakt Player（或其他第三方播放器）的性能。有了这个库，我们感觉自己做到了。
VST、AU 和 AAX 版本包含更新的高性能算法，这些算法随着 Adam Monroe Music 发布的每个新虚拟乐器而不断改进。例如，缓冲算法采用双缓冲和多线程技术，这意味着即使在速度较慢的计算机上，即使在较低的延迟下，缓冲性能也非常快。语音以纯 C 风格数组保存和迭代。内存使用量与（已弃用的）Kontakt 版本相当。AU、VST 和 AAX 版本添加了实时采样率转换（通过三次插值），以便原生支持 44.1、48、88.2 和 96 kHz 的采样率。由于拥有扎实的 VST/AU/AAX 代码库，并且代码编译无需外部 .dll/对象/库，您可以放心，VST、AU 和 AAX 版本的运行效果与（已弃用的）Kontakt 版本一样好。
为什么要开发 VST、AU 和 AAX 版本呢？虽然 Kontakt 是一款优秀的软件，但它的完整版（运行第三方采样库所需）价格昂贵。开发任何人都可以使用的 VST、AU 和 AAX 版本并不会显著增加钢琴采样库的开发时间——大部分时间都花在了采样和处理采样上——所以这真的很容易。
音频工程是创建 VST、Protools 或 Audio Unit 插件的重要组成部分，您会发现这款插件内置了一些实用的功能，例如混响、低保真和合唱。 VST 版本基于 VST 2.4，几乎可以在任何现代 32 位或 64 位 Windows 系统以及 OS X 10.9 或更高版本上运行。Audio Unit 版本兼容 OS X 10.9 或更高版本，并与 32 位和 64 位 DAWS 兼容。Protools 版本为 64 位，需要 Protools 10 或更高版本的完整版。所有版本的下载大小均为 2.9 GB，解压后的库文件约占 4.2 GB。我们使用 Amazon 提供文件服务，因此您可以放心，下载速度将快速流畅！
Adam Monroe's Honky Tonk Piano Is a 32/64-Bit VST AU AAX Plugin For Windows And OSX
* 16-Bit Audio Samples (With Separate Sustain Samples)
* 2X Round-Robin, 10 Velocity Layers
* Reverb, Chorus, Delay, And Lo-Fi effects
* Supports 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz
THE SAMPLING PROCESS
Adam Monroe's Honky Tonk Piano was sampled from a vintage Chickering upright piano - exact age unknown - primarily through a Neumann TLM 102 microphone. The piano had undoubtedly seem some action, and although it could be tuned (one note at a time) the tone of the piano was a bit on the "honky" side. The piano was sampled close-miced with lid open in mono, but each note was carefully panned to creat a stereo effect. An AKG D112 was used initially in order to capture the lower frequencies, but the TLM 102 did a fine enough job on its own.
We attempted to sample this piano deeply (10 velocity layers, 2 note round robin) but in the end, round robin was only partially captured, while the velocity goals were met. Unlike most piano libraries that just record one or the other, the piano was sampled with both sustain pedal open and closed, increasing the library's size, but allowing for more expression while playing.
Once the notes were recorded, the laborious task of processing them began. Noise was removed and the piano was eq'd and compressed - yes, this is a heavily processed plugin. The end result is an EXTREMELY PURCUSSIVE and LOUD piano library that will cut through your mix. This is not a pristine, clean plugin, and the notes can be quite hard hitting! We feel this adds to the percussive nature of honky-tonk style piano playing. Although we've cleaned up the notes quite a bit since the VST's initial release, we feel that too much cleaning-up starts to destroy the sound and feel of the plugin.
This piano plugin can be a great addition to your collection, as it fills a nice niche in the world of sampled upright pianos. If you need to make demos or recordings of ragtime music, or just need a generally purcussive piano, this virtual instrument is ready to become the newest member of your VST, AU, or AAX arsenal.
ENGINEERING
The Kontakt version of Adam Monroe's Honky Tonk Piano is depreciated (12.16.2019). The VST, Audio Unit, and AAX versions are programmed by Adam Monroe Music. The goal in any sample library that is also a VSTi (virtual instrument), AU (Audio Unit), or AAX plugin is to attempt to match the performance of the Kontakt Player (or other third party players). With this library, we feel like we have done just that.
The VST, AU, and AAX versions include updated, high-performance algorithms that have been improving with each new virtual instrument released by Adam Monroe Music. For example, the buffering algorithm is double-buffered and multithreaded, which means that buffering performance is fast, even on slower computers, and even in lower latencies. Voices are held and iterated over in a pure, C-Style array. Memory use is comparable to the (depreciated) Kontakt version. Real-time sample rate conversion (through cubic interpolation) has been added to the AU, VST, and AAX versions in order to support sample rates of 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz natively. Because of the solid VST/AU/AAX code base and - and compilation of the code to not need external .dll's/objects/libs - you can feel confident that the VST, AU, and AAX versions will work just as well as the (depreciated) Kontakt version.
Why develop VST, AU, and AAX versions at all? Although a great piece of software, the Full version of Kontakt (required to run 3rd party sample libraries) is expensive. Developing VST, AU, and AAX versions that anyone can use does not add significant time to the development of a piano sample library - most of the time is spent sampling and processing the samples - so it's a real no-brainer.
Audio engineering is a large part of creating a VST, Protools, or Audio Unit plugin, and you will find some useful things like reverb, lo-fi, and chorus built into this plugin. The VST version is based on VST 2.4, and should work in nearly any modern version of 32 or 64 bit version of Windows and OS X 10.9 or later. The Audio Unit version is compatible with OS X 10.9 or later and is compatible with 32 and 64-bit DAWS. The Protools version is 64-bit and requires the full version of Protools 10 or later. The download size for all versions is 2.9 GB, and unzipped the library takes up about 4.2 GB. We use Amazon for file serving, so you can rest assured your download will be fast and smooth! |
