How to get Really Smooth Keys

[5th Sequence]

What up illmuzik,

I've been listenin to a lot of smooth jazz lately (well I always have) an i've always been amazed at the SMOOTH ass sounds they get for their keys. I've tried to recreate this for years but to no avail. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm listening to Paul Hardcastle right now and this dudes keys are unfuckingbelievable.

I don't know music theory but I do know quite a few chords, that's not the problem. It's the sound quality and like... "Smooth-factor"-ness lol. Yeah i know I just made up a term/word, but these keys are so smooth they deserve it.

I'll start it off with some of my techniques, please add to this if you can.

-Layering rhodes/keys/strings altogether.
-Filtering some of them and still layering.
-adjust the attack/release times to get smooth transitions.
-Slight Modulation/delay
-Adding a filtered/decay reverb works pretty well too.

Even if I do all of the above mentioned, my keys are nowhere near some of the keys I hear. I'm actually beginning to think it's the source that i'm using (FL, various VSTi's yeah). Now that I think about it that makes sense but they still have some really smooth ass effects goin on. They have this smooth/ambient effect I can't get. Almost like a tremelo or rotary effect i have no idea though. I'm wonderin if you triton or motif users have really nice keys??

Any thoughts?

 

[classic]

sustain pedal

 

[5th Sequence]

that'll make the sound sustain longer yeah. But i'm thinkin more along the lines of actual smoothness. I'm not worried about the sustain unless that's what's making everything hella smooth.

 

[classic]

trust me thats the trick to smooth keys, when learing piano there is a whole set of books on pedal tecnique, its the differnces from something sounding choppy, to something flowing toghter.... there is other stuff too but thats a big thing... now if ur talking sound qualitity thats a differnt story

class...

 

[SilentNoiz]

Just as you recognize...the soundsource is crucial. The rhodes and wurlys were old analog tube units that were thick and warm with that sexy biting lowend. The Lounge Lizard VST is good but its a little clean for my tastes...run it through a warm distortion plug (gently though) and use the onboard efx to get the tremolo and phase you want. If you get your hands on a copy of Reason, definitely check out the ELECTROMECHANICAL refill...full of dirty rhodes, wurlies, even a B4. Run that stuff through the Scream4 comp set to master compression and you've got some ill sounding soul/jazz keys at your disposal. Also make sure your controller keyboard is velocity sensitive - so when you play it smooth, it comes out that way...not at some bogus set velocity.

My 2 cents...peace.

 

[5th Sequence]

word, much appreciated class and silentnoiz.

I've looked into loungelizard before but i've heard the same thing that it's too clean. I think the phase and panning is what i'm after with that almost slight tremelo effect. I can get something somewhat similar in FL when I use the FL keys and set the panning on the right side instead of the left side. Only problem is the sound itself still sounds cheezy as hell. I think there was something else by kontact with smooth keys?? Totally forget the name.

It's weird though, I was so set on findin what effect it was I forgot to think about how shitty my source was. Fuck lol.. lesson learned.

 

[Gene Flo]

for some smooth keys/piano.... like classic said the sustain pedal is BIG it combines in a way the key line youre trying to play.... also add slight delay verrrry slight and that should help u out a bit..... peep some tracks on my soundclick for example Rise to the Top....i have some smooth keys on there in my opinion

www.soundclick.com/spanishharlemakaphilo

 

[5th Sequence]

spanish thanks for the help but that's not quite what I was gettin at. I can get that type smoothness real easy. I guess more of a fullness of smoothness. lol i dont make any sense but I know it when I hear it.

If anyone ever comes across any jazz music from Paul Hardcastle, you'll know what I mean.

 

[krysolite]

duno if u got all wut u needed, lower eq on high end, more mid-low frequencies mebe? for that warm sound rite. vibrations, or tremelo or w/e u call it wud be good too.

 

[Bobby Ffitch]

part of the problem is the acoustices and the specifics of the pianos jazzz musicians work with is hard to recreate virutally.

im not sure what the answer is, but you might try a little (read litte) bit of portamento on there, smooth things out a lil. idk.

other than that yea the reverb and layering and filtering correctly.

 

[5th Sequence]

yeah I realize that i'm listening to these jazz songs that have been recorded in professional studio's by pro engineers and then mastered really well. Trying to recreate the sound will take a lot of work but i still feel theres something I could do. Ah well thanks for the input everyone.

 

[Lazy Eyes]

U should look for the Steinberg B4 Organ it's the best organ plugin there is.. just check Andreas' beats, his beats are loaded with this one and he does know how to make the keys sound nice

Peace

 

[sYgMa]

My only guess is that this particular sound is simply a question of sound source... I listen to a lot of jazz too (those keys are extra smooth) and my guess is that they use really good pianos and they mic those really good, to get the real sounds. The effects come after, in my opinion...

If you ever listened to a good Grand Piano, live, you understand real quick that a Piano VSTi can go so far in terms of sound quality... one of my cousin got a real Fender Rhodes, and the sound is unbelievable!!! Comparing it with a VST doesn't cut it...

 

[Lazy Eyes]

My only guess is that this particular sound is simply a question of sound source... I listen to a lot of jazz too (those keys are extra smooth) and my guess is that they use really good pianos and they mic those really good, to get the real sounds. The effects come after, in my opinion...

If you ever listened to a good Grand Piano, live, you understand real quick that a Piano VSTi can go so far in terms of sound quality... one of my cousin got a real Fender Rhodes, and the sound is unbelievable!!! Comparing it with a VST doesn't cut it...

For real no doubt.. just hitting one of those keys on a real one gives u the chills...

 

[classic]

lol yea man, im lucky enough to pratice on a 9 1/2 stienway grand piano everyday(same piano i was playing in the vid) and let me tell u, nothing like it, shit has spoiled the hell out of me...

 

[5th Sequence]

yeah i totally hear ya. I want a real rhodes piano but i dont have the room or money for one.

I ended up getting Kontaks Elektrik Piano Vst. It sounds pretty good actually, much better than what I was using although i know there are ways it could sound better. Plus it cuts out on export for some reason.... not sure if it's my computer or the vst.

It's holdin me down in the meantime.

 

[sYgMa]

lol yea man, im lucky enough to pratice on a 9 1/2 stienway grand piano everyday(same piano i was playing in the vid) and let me tell u, nothing like it, shit has spoiled the hell out of me...

You should try to sample the shit out of it, man!!!! I know I would! That's one of the reason I need to buy a laptop

 

[Slamdino]

I wouldnt begin to know how to replicate that sound on the computer. I have a couple of pianos the classic ones and my 3 yr old can make that sound good! The only workstation that comes close to that sound is the motif. The pianos on that keyboard are unbelievably realistic. I have see alicia keys using one to play the chords on her song "Diary". I dont think much else comes close to the sound of a real piano. If you figure out how to emulate that with software let me know. I guess the difference is with the motif it just sounds good out the box. Very little mastering and eqing is needed for the piano. I did my entire hip hop jazz album with it and you cant tell every sound came from the motif.

 

[Formant024]

lounge lizard or b4 through amplitube does nice things but a piano should be mic'd I have yet to hear a proper piano emu that catches the same timbres as any real piano.