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Welcome to Pianissimo!

Thank you for using Pianissimo!

Pianissimo is a Virtual Grand Piano, delivering the rich, warm sound and expressiveness of a classic grand piano.

It operates as a VSTi plug-in, or runs as a stand-alone application.

Pianissimo uses a combination of sample playback and advanced physical modeling to create a stunning acoustic

grand piano sound. Starting with 250 MB of high quality samples of a Steinway™

Model D grand piano,

Pianissimo uses complex signal processing and programming to recreate the warmth, response, and playability of

a real grand piano. This warm, natural sound is then paired with a professional studio-quality reverb algorithm to

add the depth and ambiance of a real acoustic space. Add in modeled sympathetic resonance, incidental

mechanical hammer sounds, remarkable control over tone and velocity response, 256 voices of polyphony, and

incredibly low CPU usage, and Pianissimo might just be the best sounding, most playable virtual piano ever.

The VSTi will operate in any DAW with support for virtual instruments in the VSTi format, including Mixcraft™.

The Stand-Alone version supports any MIDI device, and any Wave, ASIO, or WaveRT device. It allows for two-

track recording, loading and saving of standard MIDI Type 1 files, and supports mixing down to WAV, MP3, WMA,

and Ogg Vorbis files.

Quick Start

Registration

Pianissimo Controls

Stand-Alone Host Controls

Important Sound Setup Information

Pianissimo is Designed And Programmed by Dan Goldstein.

rt by Rosalind Clarke.

Sample Programming by S. Christian Collins.

Copyrights & Trademarks

Pianissimo™ is a registered trademark of Acoustica™ Inc.

Steinway™ is a registered trademark of Steinway & Sons.

Neither Acoustica nor Pianissimo is affiliated with or endorsed by Steinway & Sons.

z.reverb by zplane.development.

Many thanks to the LAME team for their work on the LAME encoder. See their website at mp3dev.org/mp3/

MPEG patent technology licensed by Thomson @ www.mp3licensing.com

z Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

z Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation

and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

z Neither the name of the Xiph.org Foundation nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this

software without specific prior written permission.

This software is provided by the copyright holders and contributors "as is" and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied

warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed. In no event shall the foundation or contributors be liable for any direct,

Page 1 of 19Pianissimo

11/26/2008file://C:\acoustica\Pianissimo\flatmanual\

ianissimo.htm

Summary of content (19 pages)

PAGE 1
Pianissimo Page 1 of 19 Welcome to Pianissimo! Thank you for using Pianissimo! Pianissimo is a Virtual Grand Piano, delivering the rich, warm sound and expressiveness of a classic grand piano. It operates as a VSTi plug-in, or runs as a stand-alone application. Pianissimo uses a combination of sample playback and advanced physical modeling to create a stunning acoustic grand piano sound.
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Pianissimo Page 2 of 19 indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.
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Pianissimo Page 3 of 19 All of Pianissimo's controls will now be available. You can lower and raise the piano lid, adjust the tone controls, change the reverb amount and type, and more. Use your DAW host to play back a MIDI file, or control the instrument via your MIDI keyboard controller. You can also click on the virtual keys to play the piano sound. Try out the different presets, and have fun with it! For detailed information on Pianissimo's VSTi controls, see Pianissimo Controls.
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Pianissimo Page 4 of 19 To MP3 command. For detailed information on Pianissimo's stand-alone controls, see Stand-Alone Host Controls. For information on registering Pianissimo, see Registration. Registration Pianissimo will work for 7 days before it must be registered with a valid ID and registration code. A registration code can be purchased from our web site, www.acoustica.
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Pianissimo Page 5 of 19 If you have any problems registering Pianissimo, please contact Customer Service. Pianissimo Controls There are four sections of controls in the Pianissimo window. Click on the section that you are interested in. Lid Adjustment Controls Keys and Pedals Control Panel file://C:\acoustica\Pianissimo\flatmanual\pianissimo.
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Pianissimo Page 6 of 19 Tone Controls Lid Adjustment Controls The Lid Adjustment controls allow you to raise and lower the position of the grand piano's lid. Raising the lid creates a brighter sound, with crisp high notes. Lowering the lid creates a warmer sound, as the high notes are muted, emphasizing the bass notes. There are four possible lid positions: fully open, mostly open, partially open, and closed. Lid Up Button - Pressing this button raises the lid one position up.
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Pianissimo Page 7 of 19 Piano Keys - Pianissimo has 88 keys and two pedals. All keys and pedals are controllable via MIDI, and can also be played via the mouse. Soft Pedal (left) - The left pedal, or soft pedal, lowers the volume of the piano's notes, allowing you to press the keys harder while playing a softer sound. Sustain (Damper) Pedal (right) - The right pedal, or sustain or damper pedal, causes the notes to continue playing (sustain) after you let go of the keys.
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Pianissimo Page 8 of 19 The Tone Controls allow you to adjust more detailed aspects of how the piano sounds and performs. These controls are less typically used, but can effect the tone and realism of Pianissimo's sound. Velocity Curve Dropdown - This dropdown allows you to change the Velocity Response Curve of Pianissimo.
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Pianissimo Page 9 of 19 realistic piano sound. This slider has a range of 0 (no Chorus Effect) to 100 (very rich Chorus Effect). EQ - Pianissimo offers a built-in three-band equalizer ("EQ") that can be used to increase or decrease the amount of bass, mid-range, and treble frequencies that are in the piano sound. Sometimes these controls can be used to simulate the response of a particular piano - i.e.
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Pianissimo Page 10 of 19 tracks intended as piano tracks: Save MIDI File - This menu option will save your current recorded tracks to a MIDI file. This MIDI file will also contain all of your current Pianissimo settings, such as Lid Position, Reverb Settings, Master Volume, etc. Saving a MIDI file is equivalent to saving your project - if you load it later, all of your current recordings and Pianissimo instrument settings will return. z Mix Down To..
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Pianissimo Page 11 of 19 z Mute - Left Hand/Right Hand - These menu options will mute or un-mute either the Left Hand or Right Hand recorded track. This powerful feature allows you to hear only one track without erasing or recording over the other track. This can be very useful for educational purposes. For example, an instructor may choose to record the left and right hand parts of a composition onto separate tracks.
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Pianissimo Page 12 of 19 playback or recording. Measures and Beats Display - this control displays the current location of playback or recording, in measures and beats. The numbers is displayed as follows: Measures:Beats. For example, a display of 02:04 is read as Measure 2, Beat 4. Metronome Button - This button toggles the metronome on and off. When lit, the metronome is on, and when dark, the metronome is off. Note that the metronome can only be heard during playback or recording.
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Pianissimo Page 13 of 19 CPU meter - This displays the percentage of your CPU that is in use at the moment. As this number approaches 100%, Pianissimo will have a difficult time producing clean, uninterrupted audio. Mixing Status Bar and Cancel Button - These controls are only available when using the Mix Down To.. feature in the Main Menu. This progress meter will show you the current progress, from 0 to 100%, in creating your audio file.
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Pianissimo Page 14 of 19 General Page Ask before recording over existing recording This option will cause Pianissimo to always ask you before you record over an existing recording on a track. This can help prevent accidentally erasing a desirable recording. It is set to be on by default. MIDI Page MIDI Input (Recording Device) This option allows you to select a specific hardware device to use for controlling Pianissimo.
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Pianissimo Page 15 of 19 When you first start Pianissimo in stand alone mode, you should make sure that the audio latency response is set up properly. All sound devices and sound cards are not created equal and some have better performance than others. In addition, your computer's speed will make a difference in audio performance. Adjusting your sound device's performance will be a balancing act between latency versus gapping or breaks in continuous sound.
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Pianissimo Page 16 of 19 device or sound card manufacturer's website. Default Input (Recording) Choose the default sound device from which to record audio. Please note that on Vista, you may need to make sure the device is on and plugged in, otherwise it may not show up. Default Output (Playback) Choose the sound device from which to play audio. Please note that on Vista, you may need to make sure the device is on and plugged in to the speakers, otherwise it may not show up.
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Pianissimo Page 17 of 19 WaveRT Preferences These are the preference options if WaveRT mode is selected on the Sound Device Preferences. WaveRT stands for Wave Real Time and is Microsoft's new audio driver layer for Windows Vista only. Latency Adjust the number of milliseconds of latency that you'd like. Lower numbers are better for performance. However, as you lower the latency, you are also increasing the potential for audio gapping or non-continuous audio. WaveRT is the preferred driver.
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Pianissimo Page 18 of 19 tasked due to other programs running at the same time. In addition, your computer may not be powerful enough to mix the audio. Always shut down as many unnecessary programs as possible. It may even be advantageous to temporarily shut down your virus software. (We do not recommend doing this unless you have done a full scan and are not connected to the Internet.) Pianissimo has to work harder as it mixes more notes.
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Pianissimo Page 19 of 19 If you cannot hear this effect, try turning the sympathetic resonance control all the way up. You can find this adjustment on the Tone Controls page. Once the control is all the way up, press several keys on the keyboard, then press the sustain pedal. You should be able to hear the sympathetic resonance effect fade in. Now, dial back the amount until it is barely audible. This is a good approximation of the level of this effect in a real grand piano.