Universal Audio LUNA - First Impressions on the Ravel Grand Piano Plugin!

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👆 Plugged into the UAD LUNA, Jack gives his first impressions on Universal Audio's most realistic & expressive piano software yet, the Ravel Grand Piano! This breathtaking emulation of a Steinway Model B goes far beyond any other piano plugin & sample library. ➡️ tinyurl.com/y5awcd7m
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↪️ Episode Guide ↩️
» 0:00 First Look at the Universal Audio Ravel Grand Piano Plugin
» 1:21 How Does It Sound?
» 4:40 Let's Play With Some Settings
» 12:43 Time For Some Preset Patches
» 17:17 Nord Vs Ravel Plugin
» 20:25 Final Thoughts
Get blown away with the immense realism & expressive control of Universal Audio's Ravel Grand Piano Software! Exclusively for LUNA recording systems, if you were thinking of upgrading your studio interface then this might make you think UAD. Free to all Universal Audio Interface owners, Ravel gives you a breathtaking emulation of the iconic Steinway Model B grand piano & allows full expressive control with the adjustment of room mics, dynamics & effects.
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#Andertons #UniversalAudio #RavelGrandPiano

[@TinnyBashing]

Jack is a legend

[@hlcotten6587]

Jack, I've watched every single review you have done, since u started on this channel. What makes you so amazing, is not only your superb skills on the pianos, and things you review, but your personality is amazingly witty, and pleasant to watch every single time. U exude enthusiasm for life and music. Thanks Jack!🙌🌞😎

[@TIffSunbacon]

Hear hear. Couldn't agree more.

[@eugenephillips481]

I LOOOOOOOVVVVVVVEEEEE your playing and musicianship! Thank you for sharing your gift of music with the world.

[@okay1904]

Excellent demo, and brilliant musicianship. Well done.

[@cmalquist]

i don't think i'll ever get tired of his playing

[@paulduarte2261]

With and without the plugin this sounded amazing! Great playing!

[@m.prophet4663]

I'm new to musical engineering, but your talent and ease of musicianship are so amazing. Thanks. Great demo

[@plefevre]

Great presentation and damn you play beautifully Jack. Thank you. That Revel sounds like heaven. Got my sights firmly on an Apollo Twin or Quad.

[@mikewells5744]

Amazing review Jack with fantastic skills to match! 😎🤩

[@jackduxbury1632]

Thanks so much for the kind words Mike and for watching X

[@GoodxJ]

sounds amazing! way to go UA! 👍🏼 I have the Moog time to get Ravel piano now!!!!! 💎💪🏼😁

[@nixonkutz3018]

I wanted the keys on the Ravel Grand to move while Jack played on the midi controller - makes it easier to transcribe what he's playing as my daily free piano lesson

[@AndertonsKeyboardDept]

Now that would have been the icing on the cake... 😉

[@jimharris6389]

@Spud Chuffington jones nope 'fraid not, you need Universal Audio hardware to run it and there's no UA stuff that plays with iOS

[@rdean150]

It is pretty odd that the keys didn't move with the midi notes, isn't it? Every virtual piano instrument I've tried has some animation or visual indicator showing the keys that you hit. Very helpful when you don't hear anything and you're trying to figure out if the problem is, say, you're on the wrong MIDI channel or that you just need to turn your left headphone up.

[@JoeLinux2000]

@@jimharris6389 What about Linux?

[@tomhall9836]

@@JoeLinux2000 If Luna can run on your OS then yes. You do need a piece of UA hardware to get Luna though

[@crank01]

Lovely stuff broseff

[@vewilli]

Great piano sound, great player also! 👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@MuadDib74]

Keyscape is probably a bit better to my ear (and more varied in scope), but this does sound great

[@whathuh6965]

That tune at 10:40 just engulfed my entire life. That was the most alluring tune ever.

[@puresoulg]

Wow Impressed ❗

[@Gainn]

The reverse thing is sweet. Anything that can have layered patches (like a MODX or Roland MC-707 as examples) could do the same thing, so I expect we'll be hearing that a lot.

[@Antonym68]

Lovely review and great playing! You are a joy to watch :) Ravel is a world above the Nord - so involving and inviting compared to the (relatively) sterile sound of the Nord. Love the pure reverse option too, and probably gets you very different results from playing as normal then reversing the recording. Thank you so much - downloading the demo today!

[@strykeback1]

Amazing playing and great rig! I've been out of playing and mixing for over 10 years and just bought a new macbook pro and apollo twin x. Any recommendations for sample hard drives or hubs to chain everything together. My old Korg triton pro x isn't going to get any use with lack of midi

[@jeg1972]

The Dux kills it again!

[@shan5445]

you took us to Church at the end!

[@badwolf489]

Reverse sounds cool

[@pbasswil]

I'm sure there are more 'classical' settings as well (I only scanned thru the vid), but at the first play I immediately thought Perfect for gospel & church!

[@andym28]

Sounds great. Is this streaming of the drive?

[@rafeek6730]

any idea how to make that reverse piano without this vst ?

[@aaronwibr]

9:42 whoa

[@88omarz]

for the reverse piano is there a way to change the pitch of it when reversed?

[@geoffwebber8272]

Apart from being able to play silent notes as well as Jack, everything else he does is way beyond anything I could hope to do. The Ravel sounded so much better than the nord - especially in the middle of the keyboard. Agree with Jack the pedal noise was overbearing, but I guess that is just a setting.

[@Crowebar100]

Jesus Christ. Jack you play beautifully

[@kevinjhammond]

Turn off the "Bright" EQ setting on the Nord for an accurate comparison

[@johnnulf624]

Commenting to boost this because it really makes the Nord sound tinny in comparison when it's not.

[@redmusichouse]

I also find that the Nord sounds brighter and tinnier than I'm used to

[@remedyofficialvlogs47]

So we can use this vst only if we have the UA audio interface?

[@paulegan27]

Keys at Andertons always sounds great can you give us a tour of the studio set up

[@otoms]

Nice cap, Jack. You need matching Bintang tank top now.

[@darwinalways620]

Jack this was great. Could you do a comparison of this vs keyscape?

[@liorben-abuhadar2862]

Are you connected via MIDI from your Nord to your Mac? Or are you sending a line signal from Nord to Apollo? thanks

[@danielberry4728]

Have you tried garritan cfx?

[@andrewrush7667]

This is very helpful, thank you! Can you do some content on Spectrasonics' Keyscape?

[@jackduxbury1632]

Right there with ya, got some on the way Andrew, already filmed. Thanks for the commemt and for watching fine Sir

[@robertmichalscheck3072]

Jack Duxbury would be good to hear,Greg phillinganes does a decent keyscape demo.

[@jonos138]

You forgot to mention...seems as far as i can gather on the website you have to have an Apollo interface to be able to use it? Can anybody confirm this?

[@robertmichalscheck3072]

Your piano playing has improved.

[@tootory9506]

Does This Only Work In LUNA ? I'm Looking To Use This In Protools And Take advantage Of Latency Free Tracking ? Is That Possible With Apollo ? The Website Says Native SO I Was Worried It Does Not Work With Apollo

[@777Witness]

How do we get them to release a plugin version playable in different DAWs?

[@shinymetalvids]

You can now! Half price till the end of the month too

[@martinjmusic]

Awesome as always! But comparing the Ravel with the new “White Grand”, which actually is Nord’s Steinway B sample, would’ve been fair. Grand Lady D is very old and really not comparable with the new White Grand! :) I think the White Grand is not that far away from the Ravel... 😌

[@jackduxbury1632]

Interesting, thanks Martin I had a look on the website and soke forums and couldn't find that before hand so thanks for clearing that up. All the best, Jack

[@edunabie]

@@jackduxbury1632 theres an 'info' button on Nords that tells you about patches

[@jackduxbury1632]

🤯

[@jackduxbury1632]

Never thought to try that, thanks Edwardo! X

[@MacXpert74]

I have to agree with Martin. This was probably one of the worst sounding pianos from Nord by todays standard. The White Grand sounds much, much better and honestly would give the Ravel a bit of a run for its money. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5atZYt5jKaDgqM

[@JonMurray]

Sounds lovely mate. Prefer it to the Nord to be honest!

[@TIffSunbacon]

An unrelated question if I may Jack. What amp/speakers do you use live and what would you recommend for a stage piano. I'm thinkng of largish and outdoor venues as well as pubs.

[@jackduxbury1632]

Hi Tiff, thank you for you question. If I have to kick out serious volume then I take an Active Pa speaker, I had a QSC K12 (Yamaha make great midprice active speakers too imo) that I used for years and it was perfect for the job. Could get myself heard above any drummer and sounded great. The only speaker I have now is a Bose S1 Compact. The battery power is just beyond a dream, it's more than powerful enough for any solo/duo gig in any setting and in a band I can use it as a super posh foldback wedge. Hope that helps, many thanks again for stopping by X

[@TIffSunbacon]

@@jackduxbury1632 Many thanks Jack. Helps enormously. If I'm not pushing my luck can I ask one supplementary? - With either the QSC or the Bose do you output in mono but if that's not possible would you advice two speakers to grab the stereo output or maybe use the additional money required for the other speaker and invest in a keyboard with mono out (he said, answering his own question).

[@electricsnut]

Great video Jack! I have always wondered if there is a VST out there that can rival or beat Nord and to me this sounds better? Now the real question, can you buy this without owning their hardware? 😥

[@jackduxbury1632]

Hey E Nut, you need UA Hardware and it will only run in Luna at the mo. It's early days yet with it all but I can see a time when the instruments will become cross platform because they're not running directly on the UAD DSP hardware itself. Seems a no brainer to go that direction, it was a real joy to play. Thanks for the question, Jack x

[@electricsnut]

Jack Duxbury Thanks for clearing that up Jack and for taking the tome to reply 🙂 unfortunately the price of admission is pretty high buying one of their interfaces plus this plugin! Would love to see you put the best of Nord piano samples against the best VSTs some day 🙂

[@GoodxJ]

You now can get this with UAD spark!!!!

[@tdz69]

Does this only work in Luna?

[@rio197]

Is the trackball the Kensington Expert Mouse ?

[@jackduxbury1632]

Yes it is, good spot!

[@harolddasynth795]

Hi man,how much this cost and do you know where to purchase in europe?this is great sounding vst..

[@jackduxbury1632]

Universal Audio Website my G. Thanks for watching X

[@JJDPROMEDIAPRODUCTION]

It’s good but for the same money, you can get spexialist sonics kiss Gabe which has a great Yamaha grand piano as you already know.

[@lyricsronen]

Wow, that Nord sounded so fake at the end after hearing Ravel. I'm glad an instrument named after my favorite composer lives up to its name.

[@robshrock-shirakbari1862]

Does it respond to Una Corda and Sostenuto? CC66 and CC67

[@JayTheLane]

I believe it does now.

[@UkiMalefu]

Not that it matters, not that it needs to, but it would be cool if the keys on the screen where animated as you play. It's MIDI after all, I'm sure it could be done.

[@d.j.vanderschoot3717]

Beats the Nord. More woody, more felt tips, more resonance. And yes, Bingers shoud have a go for sure.

[@DinoFancellu]

Compared to pianoteq 6?

[@JoeLinux2000]

I play Pianoteq, and love it, but I haven't gotten anything out of my particular set up that is as good as the Ravel especially Pianoteq's Steinway B. Pianoteq has many different Piano models, but really how many grand pianos do you need? I see the problem with the Universal Audio thing is that it's an additional piece of expensive gear, and I think people are looking more for self-contained instruments that play beautifully.

[@323sam7]

So what is better, nord's piano? Or Ravel? It's like comparing Amplitube/Guitar rig/Bias fx with a Line 6/Zoom/Mooer/Axe fx. All digital sounds, but what's better?

[@JoeLinux2000]

My thought is in this video the Ravel sounds absolutely acoustic. I was amazed. I like Pianoteq, but this is better.

[@kray9438]

Duxmeister, it’s been a month. Please please tell me you’ve completed a composition or a track with this bad boy, especially with the reverse.

[@jackduxbury1632]

Kray Daddy Kray! No compositions for me sadly, just perpetually in Demo mode!! 🤣

[@Doty6String]

I dont care about the plugin bro you got the fingers! play that shit!

[@GodSpeed1105]

Does this work to use on DAW's like FL Studio? If so can I download it and just start using it like a regular plug in?😮

[@SeanWyseman]

Wow the Nord smokes the Luna Ravel. Awesome. The Ravel does have better resonance in the really high end. But I don't see how UA's advertising claiming this is the best sounding piano ever recorded. In case you were not aware the NORD is a virtual instrument with sample based sounds and a hardware keyboard. I guess the big consolation is that UA users can add this piano for 150 bucks on sale - and it'll sound pretty much as good as a NORD which is about the best sounding sample based keyboard out there. Surprised there's no way to adjust the mechanical volume from the pedals other mechanical sounds. Thought that was pretty much a given on virtual piano's.

[@westwalnutrecords]

I disagree. Ravel sounds much more realistic. Less bright, less bitey. Also keyscape is another fantastic library

[@realmbeatz744]

i have played on a nord stage 2, with their white grand, and honestly i find alicias keys and ravel to be better than the nord , i pay attention to the harmonics of each key strike on the high end, how it resonates, and yes the nord resonates well, but you hear the resonating tones by far better on the plugins, and on ravel the bass end has a crispier brighter sound, there is no way that with a keyboard, no matter expensive that you will hear every single tone of a grand, i find ravel to be the crispiest and brightest sounding plug-in and would use this over the nord any day of the week

[@spectralknights2]

😆 ur ears is that bad, man. Ravel is on another level

[@jonathonbuttery2041]

Did anyone ever figure out a way to turn down that pedal noise? It’s way too loud. Other than that, very nice demo, sir, and the piano sounds great. I will buy it if I can turn down that noise. I guess I could filter some of it out, but better to just turn it down. Thanks!

[@Odanilo.martins]

Me

[@jonathonbuttery2041]

Now that I've demoed it, I can tell you that you can indeed turn down the pedal noise. Very nice piano. Demo is not stable so I may still not buy it just for that reason, but assuming the plug gets stable, it should be a very nice Steinway VI

[@Zarabozo]

The piano sounds amazing. But the pedal noise is annoying. It should have a volume control for it. Or better yet, it should detect the speed at which you press or release the pedal (only possible with a pedal that can send real position instead of just on/off) and automatically adjust how soft or hard it sounds, like in a real piano.

[@vincewatson_official]

Yeah most definitely bright on the top and dull on the bottom..not for me unless that Nord's keybed has a controller setting for the tone balance? Keyscape for the win for me thus far

[@adrianwalker838]

I like it man. It to me made the nord piano sound like a toy.

[@busyboxst7]

Keep in mind there are many different pianos in Nord and if the bright setting is on or the treble cranked, that's part of it.

[@BNC593]

The Ravel was in another category over the Nord. The samples are pale compared to the Ravel. One thing developers need to concentrate when sampling is to not skimp out on sample layers. Especially at the soft sample and louder sample ends. The Nord has the same hard lifeless attack at its louder levels. Almost a plastic top end- one dimensional.

[@coscrupi]

Wow....Nord is really bright...Gotta admit..Ravel is simple.. subtle..warm...analog y ....pure. Im torn now between getting UA Ravel or UVI Labs Ravencroft 275

[@kurtyhearty]

Get both😂you have to...

[@BrentMurray94]

If I have an Apollo twin, but don’t use Luna, can I still use Ravel?

[@Kickdrum00]

Probably not. Deal breaker for me

[@stevenhartwell]

HOLY S#@T...That's the first time Ive ever heard The Nord sound like an absolute toy in comparison!!! Like so many things when you hear them with no other reference, they sound great. BUT next to something so expressive and full range ( especially in the all important Mid Section ) the Ravel is truly just breathtakingly dynamic and sonically better in almost every way. To put it another way.....The Nord is a snapshot.....the Ravel is an IMAX Movie.

[@johnnulf624]

I think he had the bright setting on. The Nord normally sounds much richer. I just came from the keyscape vs nord video and Ravel sounds a bit toyish in comparison to my ears.

[@marcusdekker]

Ahhh @14:18 ...ehrm....that was.....?? i know it, i know it....cant get it.... help me out please...it's in my head but it doesnt want to get out.

[@jackduxbury1632]

I Need a Dollar 💵

[@smkh2890]

"it runs in LUNA"...It also runs in Logic. and It sounds great.

[@smkh2890]

I only regret I don't have a full 88 keyboard!

[@TomFrantzis]

Why has no one noticed that Nord Patch Name xD

[@JayTheLane]

Great but for us poverty stricken musicians UA stuff is so expensive 😭

[@amitdeypablo4127]

Try Noire

[@JoeLinux2000]

Does it run on Linux? Pianoteq runs natively on Linux and sounds beautiful. I agree Ravel is an absolutely beautiful sounding piano. You playing was excellent too. I don't understand the function of the Universal Audio Device. What is it? Where does the virtual piano reside? The Nords always sound good, but for the acoustic experience the Ravel is unsurpassed. Some positive criticism of you playing it's very nice, but you spoil it with the loud "boink" you add to the end of each piece. Just let the subtly fade away on its own. You don't need the final boink. It actual turns what would be sophisticated playing into a bit of an amateur hour show. It's probably something you have been doing since you were a kid.

[@jackduxbury1632]

Not in Linux no. Ravel will only work in side Luna (DAW), Luna is free for anyone who owns any UAD hardware. Thanks for the feedback, good point. I'm doing it to hear the "room" and the ambience and give a blast of loudness in comparison to my rather "soft" playing but I can see how it may seem like a "tick" if having just watched this. Thanks again for watching mate X

[@PeteKowalsky]

Too bad it's only for Luna. No idea why UA would do this. I'd consider purchasing it for my setup but I'm not interested *whatsoever* in another DAW. Oh well. Ravenscroft 275 is amazing and works for me. ;) I'd probably buy PianoTeq before this...I dunno...but this IS very emotive and sounds fantastic (gotta hand it to them).

[@loboestepario003]

I have Ravenscroft vst but Ravel sound and play Better for me

[@Trackformers]

09:41

[@stevenburns989]

Nords been upSTAGEd

[@panashem77]

19:20

[@connorjgodfrey]

I'm sure there's some stuff in settings that could bring them closer, but to my ears the UAD absolutely pisses all over the Nord.

[@TIffSunbacon]

Thought the same thing but it might have been one of the brighter Nord pianos which, to be fair, would probably stand up better in a band.

[@rio197]

Nice one. But why doesn't he use the trackball?

[@jackduxbury1632]

Realised it was easier just to use the trackpad 🤓

[@realmbeatz744]

i pay attention to how the high end resonates and how much brightness and heavy sounds you hear from the low end, i’ll tell you i’ve played the nord stage 2, i couldn’t imagine the stage 2 being too much different than the stage 3 when it comes to the grand piano sound. you can get a roland fpx30 and it will sound better to me but to someone else it won’t it’s all in what is FOR YOU!!!! don’t ever buy a keyboard based on weather or not your worried about what someone else thinks of it it’s all about what fits YOU THE PLAYER. i personally find ravel to be better sounding because it is more compressed and has a better brightness on the bass and you hear it resonate well on the highs. that’s the main THING THAT i go for in pianos on how it resonates. you DO NOT HEAR the nord 3 resonate as well in the high end as RAVEL. i would play ravel any day

[@AudiRS3Daniel]

AMEN!!

[@Justin_collier]

revel sounds better than nord but even if you play on a old keyboard, if you’re a good player it won’t matter lol

[@allengoyne]

I think it's cool how UAD got Ali G to make this gear demo for us.

[@officialWWM]

When you have the Stage 3, you don't need piano software...

[@matszh]

Music Islife Probably not, but remember he sells music equipment too, not only plays good :)

[@DihelsonMendonca]

That reverse is terrible ! Where any acoustic piano had anything like that ? :)

[@MarcasLancaster]

You’re a good player, Jack. You could be great. You are fantastic at selling things but you should give up your day job for art’s sake.

[@geoffwebber8272]

Marcas, by day job do you mean videos for Andertons? You will be surprised to hear that this is not his day job. You will need to do more investigation to find out what he actually does.

[@jackduxbury1632]

Thanks Marcas mate, very kind comment . Art and commerce certainly is a balace I have yet to master! X

[@lucasmartin7845]

Nord sounds better

[@henrikpetersson3463]

Riiight 😀

[@artheca7887]

Too expensive

[@capelitheband]

sounds vague.....

[@charlesvanderhoog7056]

This guy has toned his instrument half a chromatic tone higher. When he his a d-key, you hear an e-flat. Not very nice gesture for the viewers.

[@jackduxbury1632]

No way, so sorry man, had no idea. Please forgive me, unfamiliar to the Luna environment. Thanks for the heads up

[@charlesvanderhoog7056]

@@jackduxbury1632 Yes, sorry, I forgot to mention that I was happy with your exposé otherwise.

[@jackduxbury1632]

No need and no worries, thanks for the kind words anyways and for the heads up mate X

[@berobujanovi4331]

Only 10 gb meh ,i have heard much better samples

[@dynoroad]

Getting really quite bored with all these Steinway samples...To my ear, Synthogy already has the Steinway sound down to the most important details, and has this Ravel piano beat by miles. But why try to compete with samples of the same make? There's so much else to choose from... Bluthner, Seiler, Sauter, Mason & Hamlin, Shulze Pollmann, Petrof, Estonia, Schimmel, Kawai, Grotrian-Steinweg... and the list goes on, so why settle for something that another soft synth developer already has "perfected"? So boring...

[@JoeLinux2000]

Probably because Steinway sets the standard. That said, I play the Pianoteq Bluthner "Concert Recording Grand." Based on my particular set up, the Ravel sounds more realistic.

[@TamirOrkobysPiano]

Not all Steinway sound the same. In fact there isn't two Steinway or any other brand that two pianos sound the same. Each piano has its own character.

[@abolit]

ilok dongle? No thank you. There's a lot of pianos vst's on the market. Pianoteq is a good one which I like. UA is losing a lot of customers because of two things: non-existing customer support and ilok dongle taking usb port space which is critical for the laptop users on the go. Even Sonnox switched to software licensing system. And that 'UA connect' thing which is hanging on the top of your computer and watching what you're doing 24/7 . Not my favorite thing. I bought a UA channel strip a while ago and I can't run if that damn watching system is off. WTF!

[@Alexander1At]

This RAVEL is just wasting of money! Maybe you are honest, but I am also honest: you don’t know what is real piano sound. For dilettantes is probably great.

[@rocketronica1652]

meh piano, weird dynamics, there are so many libraries old and new that can best this

[@777Witness]

Like what?