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I wonder whether current Kawai DPs from the ES and MP series actually sample their own upright piano. I know on their site they say they do 88 key sampling of 3 types of grand pianos , but those digitals also feature a preset called Upright and I am curious as to whether this is a genuine upright sample (if so which one?) of just a derivative of one of the 3 Grand Pianos sample sets with different EQs/mix/filters etc.
I think anything that is labeled as an upright is actually sampled from an upright. I don't recall which one specifically, but Kawai James has mentioned before here.
On my MP11 under those different sounds offered I find pressing push button K and selecting 8 the sound of a (decent) upright: Kawai K6 or K8 -- or possibly K80. Predecessors of their present top of the range K600 /K800 (different only by type of music holder).
I don't know why they chose this one, but they made a very nice job in sampling it. It sounds very similar to the above video. I think its samples are of higher quality compared to the SK-EX and the EX ones. I hear much more detail in them and they are very clean, with just the right stereo separation. Unfortunately the original instrument was just an old upright, so this patch is not very good for all musical genres... No great dynamics, and the sound is a little too percussive. But my ears are so delighted when I use this patch... I like it very much!
Sounds cool and I'm glad they included an actual upright sample which is great for stuff like Ragtime and Salsa which I happen to play mostly. I'd guess when I feel like playing relax piano or Chopin or some pop ballad I'd use the grand sample. Confirming this just makes me even more excited towards when it arrives to the store. Hope it exceeds my expectations in which case I'd be happily buying it (and making a demo for you guys)
What a great demo James! very convincing upright sound honestly. Can't wait to play some Ragtime on it (the store has a shipment of a black ES920 coming up, should be expected tomorrow hopefully I get the call to come over hmmm ). You guys might laugh at me but it's hard for me to be without a piano even for only about 10 days. The worst thing is that since I teach piano I happen to see one but unable to actually play it much
Will update you guys regarding ES920 impressions and the piano samples as well. I'm pretty 200% sure it'll feel better than my Montage 8 did though.
