Making MIDI Piano Sound REALISTIC!

In this video, I'm covering how to get realistic sounding MIDI pianos. The key to getting realistic sounding piano comes down to using sustain pedal and getting velocities set to be dynamic. Without those two elements, you'll be stuck with crappy sounding MIDI pianos, no matter good the sample libraries are.

My Studio Gear List:
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Logic Pro X: (use the app store)

Sample Libraries I HIGHLY Recommend:
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[csharpminorflat]

A little tip from pianist fella here: when you need to depress/release the sustain pedal for a chord change, depress it a little bit after the chord change and *not* before the chord change. Why's that is because: 1. That's how pianist have been thought to use the sustain pedal; 2. So the first chord wouldn't abruptly stop, that makes it sound clunky (and basically a bad way to use the sustain pedal as a pianist). It needs to flow to the next chord before it can stop, just a tiny bit, I'm saying like maybe an 1/8th-1/16th of a fraction of a beat.

[whitneynikkiwickham]

I only just switched to Logic and was SO HAPPY to find my electric piano registers ALL of my pedals and also does real time notation where I could adjust notes if I have a finger fumble which is more often than I like to admit. I legit sobbed of happiness from these two small details and I appreciate the sustain pedal was your first tip!

[stephanelarocque]

You forget another important thing. It sound fake when all notes are perfectly quantized. So you must randomize quantization so the notes wont play all exactly at the same time.

[nickvieru]

The Sustain pedal tip is indeed an amazing one! I got an E-piano and was playing chords and melodies often with the sustain always on and was wondering why it sounded so muffled all the time, and when you said "the sustain should end before the other chord starts" that made so much sense. For both playing an actual live instrument or for programming MIDI. Thanks Nathan!

[mcd]

Peter Mckinnon's cousin who is a music producer!

[jsw]

I’ve been home recording since the early 70’s, ping-ponging two open reel decks, and this channel has been the most helpful of ALL the dozens and dozens I have viewed. I’m now and enthusiastic subscriber!

[THeDrKEvO]

I find reductive/subtractive EQ helps so much too, especially high cut, and some select mid-high frequencies pulled down can also feel more real and warm, I generally think midi pianos sound too artificially bright

[serious_about_men]

You have... a lot of energy in this video

[じょんたん-nz]

0:39 default sound
2:19 sustain sound
3:49 sustain sound 2dots
5:39 velocity
8:27 reverb

[zx_fra]

Having a soundfont, like the result that you have got, is one of my biggest dream.

[sondrestrmme]

Only thing I am a bit critical of here is stopping the pedal on the beat, when I play these types of progressions I usually drop the pedal the 16th before the beat and use the pedal on the beat

[miasitova]

This is by far the most straightforward and extremely helpful tutorial! THank you...

[Fiveash-Art]

Wow .. that stuff about the 'sustain pedal' I didn't have a clue about .. glad I found this.

[BambooOnFire]

Hard method for those without a piano: get a lot of public midis of jazz or classical songs. Open them in a DAW where you can clearly see the overall change in velocity. Study about 1000+ of those and you have a general idea where the stressed beat is and how to slightly tweak velocities for chords so it sounds more human.






And no. Don't use this method because it will kill your last brain cells.

[spartan]

One protip regarding sustain: not ALL piano VSTs are simply "on" or "off" with the sustain. Certain ones out there support "half-pedaling", which is a feature on real acoustic pianos where the pedal can be very lightly applied to create a milder sustain effect. These are commonly paired with analog or continuous damper pedals so the feature can be used while playing live. If you aren't sure if your particular VST has this feature, dive into the settings and see if there's anything about half-pedal. If it supports half-pedal, then EVERY sustain value will be read, and a different sustain effect will be applied at every possible value above 0. Some piano VSTs also have half-pedaling on a different MIDI CC all together, but can usually be configured to use the default Sustain MIDI CC.

Additionally, some really fancy piano VSTs even support re-pedaling, which is another feature of real acoustic pianos: re-pedaling allows a note to be sustained at any velocity, letting you "carry" it at that existing volume into the next phrase. For example, let's say you play an A at maximum velocity, hold the key, and it decays to half the amplitude half a second later. With no re-pedal support, sustaining at that exact moment will not work. The note will just not sustain. If your VST supports re-pedaling, you can pedal at that moment and the note will begin to sustain at that particular velocity. Very very handy feature. In the context of penciling in notes and using MIDI automation, you would give that particular note at that particular step a re-pedal instruction in addition to a default sustain one, and it will actually carry it over to the next phrase instead of leaving it high and dry.

[kalelisuperman]

NEW NATHAN LARSEN VIDEO?!? LETTTSSS GOOOO!!!

[michaelsorel]

Thanks Nathan! Velocity, oh yes! Just started doing Midi keys not so long ago and this was totaly missing. I had the reverb and the sustain, but not the velocity. So I re-worked my favorite midi track and now it's a totaly different track, with warmth and body. I guess I should have figured that out myself. I mean I don't play the guitar any different. Like... Duh. Na really, thanks.. great job putting that out there!
Truly, Mick

[marylanka]

I needed this!! I recorded sections of piano accomp. like 4 times to get correct volume. And then sustained it with reverb and echo. Ah! See! The simple things! So helpful! Also the energy in this video...🥳

[phillwheadon]

Thanks - I am a complete noob using LMMS and the piano notes and chords go: thunk! I know it must be sustain I need - back to finding it then. Great tips and demonstration.

[michaelkyle]

Love it, and like your presentation style. To the point but you got personality and are likeable. Look forward to seeing your other videos