Piano Library, which sample?

[Gambold]

>The best course is to not "trust my ears". Seriously? <

Yes, seriously. It's not good advice, because it presumes everyone's ears are trained or experienced enough to hear the best sounds, and I'm sorry to say - wait for it - for most of us that is not the case.

Here's a scenario - let's say Chick Corea and I are sitting around sipping espresso and testing all the Nord EP samples. I say "gee, of all of them I like the EP1 best. I know some of these are newer but that one just sounds the best to me." Chick then says, "yeah, it's a nice sample, but the EP4 is the richest one here. If I was going to use one to record, I'd use that one."

SO - am I going to "trust my ears" and keep using the EP1? Or am I going to trust the ears of one of the best Rhodes players in the business, and work with the EP4 for a while, so I can maybe develop some more sensitivity and hear what he's talking about?

A lot of times people come on this forum and they want to know what's the best piano sample to play. And a lot of times they get unhelpful answers to just "trust their ears." Clearly if they trusted their ears they wouldn't have asked the question in the first place. Instead, they are acknowledging that they lack the training, time or experience to fully hear the nuances in all the samples so they are asking for advice.

You may think that $10 bottle of wine is great, and that the $100 bottle doesn't taste any better - but you're wrong. Your palate just hasn't been trained to detect the quality inherent in a much better-crafted wine. Don't worry, mine hasn't been either. This is is why we have wine magazines to help us learn how to develop our taste. The same goes with Nord piano sounds. So don't always "trust your ears." Find out what more professional or experienced ears think. Then someday your own ears will be worth trusting.

[Gambold]

I'll add a coda - I think the Mellow Upright sample sounds muted and to my ears is not a good sample. But so many people on this forum have praised it that I have to accept that in this case, I can't just "trust my ears." My digital piano experience is mostly with loud, brassy-sounding samples to carry over electric guitars and drums, and I can accept that the subtleties of the Mellow are lost on me because I lack the playing experience to appreciate them.

With that said, I'm going to download the damn thing yet again and give it another whirl...

[agcohn]

I'll add a coda - I think the Mellow Upright sample sounds muted and to my ears is not a good sample. But so many people on this forum have praised it that I have to accept that in this case, I can't just "trust my ears." My digital piano experience is mostly with loud, brassy-sounding samples to carry over electric guitars and drums, and I can accept that the subtleties of the Mellow are lost on me because I lack the playing experience to appreciate them.

With that said, I'm going to download the damn thing yet again and give it another whirl...

Everybody will have different opinions / needs with their piano choices. While I think it is good to "trust your ears" in making decisions about which sounds you like, I don't necessarily think you should trust your immediate first impressions when switching over to a new sample, as it does take some time to get used to the various subtleties of the samples. Some are more delicate than others and might sound weaker in a side-by-side comparison, yet they might sound better for different songs. I see them all as having different voices like singers, and they all can be good in a different situations.