CLAIRE - bugs and problems that i've found

hi there guys, as i'm sure you've noticed… there are problems with the native instrument new piano claire, it's a very good sounding piano that and that's the reason i'm writing this, if it was a yet-another-piano-lib i wouldn't have bothered but it's a fantastic sounding instrument, well, let's get into the problems i've found

01 the lack of half pedaling - even though there's a half pedal button, it doesn't do anything, and it's somewhat ridiculous cause the noire already have this feature

02 the sostenuto pedal isn't there at all which is frustrating (again : noire have this feature as well)

03 the pedal up resonances sometimes sound a bit weird and sharp, which doesn't bother me much but since i'm the only one complaining i think it's worth mentioning

04 it doesn't play as well and fast as the noire, i compared them and found the noire to be noticeably more playable (i'm not sure but i think there's some kind of pre-attack in the samples so it doesn't respond as fast and seamless

anyway i hope galaxy/native team would fix these problems soon.

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Jules DeMalte

I am VERY interested in this VST if these issues are fixed. Listened to recordings and it sounds gorgeous.

Please address this, NI!

AlexKern

I have noticed a similar problem. The re-pedaling does sound a bit better, but I noticed that release time is a bit long, and the release samples sound a bit off. For a library with really good re-pedaling, Production Voices 300 Grand beats even Noire.

Adrien B

Hello, I just bought Claire and I love the sound when I play slowly, with damper pedal on. I reduce release samples too, and sympathetic harmonies too. But I agree with the previous comments. I have many problems for using it with fast passages and especially in the lids it is impossible to play piano riffs with groove and rhythm, because of the loud sensation I have with Claire. I really hope that ´ative will fix it very soon…

Adrien B

Hi everybody,

It seems that they fixed some of the issues in the last update… what do you think about it ?

zspiano

I heard several notes’ pedal up / no pedal samples are inconsistent to pedal down samples, it’s an obvious glitches.

But it doesn’t affect the pedal down legato that my music mainly relies on. Claire just need several more upgrades then it will have a huge potential to surpass Noire.

I really like its perfect tuning and harmonic resonance that makes my works’ inner layer voicing pretty dolce!

dickiefunk

I think Claire has a lot of potential. I’m a big fan of Noire and it has been my goto on pretty much everything over the past couple of years or so. It is a real shame to hear about the various pedalling and resonance issues with Claire. This was one of my main niggles with Noire. Claire addresses some of the thing I wish Noire had (adjustable room mics, soft pedal etc) and has the potential to surpass Noire. However, it still isn’t quite there yet and needs these issues to be addressed. If this happens, NI will have a Noire beater and a product that can truly compete with the most high end libraries in my opinion.

Is it possible to run Claire on Kontakt 7 or do you definitely need Kontakt 8?

RandyHoexter

I was excited about Claire, since the F308 piano is the one Herbie Hancock plays. I bought it, and then of course had to update to Kontakt 8, adding to the expense.

I have to say I'm disappointed: the release samples are way too long, lingering for a quarter-second at least. This is not room ambience, either; it's some kind of decay, and almost feels like the key was held down when it wasn't. Staccato playing or is impossible. Switching the release samples off enables a release time slider, clearly just an envelope release control. Unfortunately, it affects the full range, not accounting for the naturally longer releases of low notes. It also has an absurdly wide range, with only a small area of the slider actually useful. Lowering the volume of the releases does not do what is needed either. NI claims that an update would fix these, but I updated and noticed no change at all. Since the editor is locked, I can't go in and fix it.

This interface is similar to Noire, and in that case the releases are more realistic, and better, the instrument edit button is not locked, so I can adjust things under the hood.

GregManning

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/203250#Comment_203250

Randy, I initially thought my Claire sample got messed up during download. The release time is totally off. The slider for the release time doesn't fix the problem as you have stated. Claire is more or less unplayable. What a missed opportunity :-( I can't believe nobody in beta testing caught this glaring mistake…?!?!

NI, please hire me as a beta tester next time. I have two Grammy nominations to my name and would love to help. This representation of the glorious Fazioli is not living up to what it could have been even remotely.

If I had paid for this download instead of using a voucher I'd be really upset. I'm still not happy that I wasted my voucher on an unplayable instrument. This is a step down in evolution from Noire.

Adrien B

Hi, there is a Chat with the developers now ! They don’t take seriously care about the issue with releases samples !
Help me to convince them :
https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/211850#Comment_211850

jdonnici

I've run into an issue with the Claire library that I think is a bug because I don't see it with other piano libraries that I've tried. I'm not sure if some of the release issues others mention above are the same as what I've found. As an aside, I just recently purchased the Kontrol S88 MK3 controller and the Claire library around the same time. I haven't changed anything related to the pedal in the MK3 settings, so here goes:

To reproduce — load the main Claire preset. Once it loads, with no samples/voices playing, hold down the sustain pedal, then play a moderately loud chord (so you get some resonance?), and keep the keys down so it sustains. After it sounds, continue to keep the keys held down but lift the pedal. When you lift the pedal, some of the voices will stop.

I quickly checked with a couple of other pianos (Gentleman, Noire), and they behave as expected (voices continue to sound when the pedal is up, as long as the keys are still held down).

Again, the Claire library is new to me but I started poking around in the UI and it seems as if going to the Piano tab at the top and turning OFF the "Resonance" option fixes this. So it's a slight workaround, except that the library doesn't sound nearly as good/rich with Resonance disabled. After trying this a few times and experimenting, it seems that the problem is the "resonance" voices are stopping when the pedal is lifted, but the main key samples/voices continue. So the chord doesn't change, it just sounds "thinner".

If I reverse the order of things, it seems to work fine — play the chord, press the pedal, then release either the keys OR the pedal (but not both), the sound doesn't change.

I saw some things about re-pedaling being fixed in Claire but not sure it's the same issue (I understand re-pedaling to be engaging the pedal after lifting off the keys — so the release sustains).

Is this a known bug, or am I missing something? This library sounds insanely good, so I'm hoping it's a simple thing I need to change (either in the controller settings or the library).

DunedinDragon

I have the same setup as you as far as my keyboard, but I can't replicate the behavior you describe with Claire ver 1.0.1 using Kontakt 8 standalone ver. 8.3.0. If I hold down the keys and lift the sustain pedal, some of the sound drops due to the lack of sustain resonance which is how a typical grand piano would work, but all the keys are still sounding.

If I were you I'd spend some time on configuring your pedal so it's behaving correctly. I had to do that with mine.

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