Fazioli F308

The F308 is not only the jewel in the crown of Fazioli’s acclaimed series of concert grands, but also of Synchron Stage Vienna’s exclusive collection of pianos. Designed for large spaces, the F308 found a perfect home in the 540 m2 “Stage A” that allows its sound to unfold effortlessly, elevated by the exceptional acoustics of this hall.

With a staggering length of 308 cm (10 ft 2 in), the world’s largest piano owes its powerful sound and extraordinary harmonic clarity to the increased string length in the bass and middle range, as well as to a host of innovations the Italian piano maker is praised for among musicians and audiences alike. Fazioli pianos are built with a heartfelt passion for music and musicians, extraordinary craftsmanship, advanced technological development, and a careful selection of materials. The heart of each Fazioli – the soundboard – is taken from the same spruce forest in northern Italy’s Val di Fiemme where Antonio Stradivari once sourced his wood for his famous violins.

The Fazioli F308 was recorded at Synchron Stage Vienna’s Stage A, a 540 m² (5,813 sq. ft.) scoring stage, whose massive construction, combined with its sound insulation and the special design of the air condition results in an exceedingly low noise floor. Our engineers captured the rich resonances of its warm, colorful, and sparkling sound with an array of phase-aligned microphones.

The signals of 11 mic positions are separately available in the mixer section of the Synchron Piano Player, perfectly pre-configured with Mixer Presets such as Concert, Intimate, Player, Pop, Ambience, and more. As with all Synchron Libraries, you can mix your piano sound in stereo, 5.1 surround or even Dolby Atmos and 9.1 Auro 3D, or any other immersive audio format. Of course, the mixer presets serve as great starting points for your own creations according to your liking or to the acoustic requirements of the production at hand.

• Room Mic (Mix):
  The Room Mix channel contains a stereo mix of all available room microphones from the Full Library.

• Condenser - Close 1 (Sennheiser MKH 8040):
  "ORTF" setup with a pair of Sennheiser MKH 8040, positioned as closely as possible over the hammer area. Ideal for producing the typical "pop piano" sound.

• Mid 1 (Sennheiser MKH 800):
  "ORTF" setup with a pair of Sennheiser MKH 800 mics for a wide, warm yet bright and centered sound.

• Main/Room Mic (L/R) - Decca Tree Stereo (Neumann M 150):
  Decca Tree array (L-C-R) with three Neumann M 150 mics. These very neutral microphones captured even the smallest detail of Synchron Stage Vienna. Used in a stereo mix, you can easily hear where the piano is placed. In a surround setup, the Decca tree microphones will be the feed for your front L-R speakers.

• Main/Room Mic Center - Decca Tree Mono (Neumann M 150)

Even if you're not using a surround setup, you get more ambiance variation and spatial depth out of the Full Library by adding the room microphones' signals to your stereo mix.

• Ribbon - Close 2 (Royer SF-24):
  "Blumlein" setup with two ribbon figure-eight capsules of a Royer SF-24 mic, for a fast, direct, and natural sound.

• Tube - Close 3 (Neumann U 67):
  “ORTF” setup of a Neumann U 67 stereo pair, capturing the beauty of the Fazioli F308 with the analog warmth and richness only a legendary tube microphone can provide.

• Mid 2 (Neumann M 149):
  "ORTF” setup with a pair of Neumann M 149 mics for a centered, but harder and more focused sound than the MID 1 Position.

• Main Surround - Stereo (Sennheiser MKH 800):
  Wide A-B stereo setup with two Sennheiser MKH 20 cardioid microphones. You may use them as so-called “Wides” or “Outriggers” in a stereo mix in order to create an even more spacious impression. In a surround setup, these microphones would be used for your rear speakers.

• High Stereo (3D) - Stereo (Sennheiser MKH 20):
  Stereo A-B setup with two Sennheiser MKH 800 condenser microphones, spotting the very nice reflections of Synchron Stage Vienna’s ceiling. In stereo mixes, you can use them as an alternative to your main mics, or you may down-mix these much more diffused signals. The sound is more “sparkling” and reverberant compared to the main mics. Used in an Auro 3D or Dolby Atmos mix, these microphones should feed your top or ceiling speakers.

• High Surround (3D) - Stereo (Sennheiser MKH 800):
  This A-B array also features two Sennheiser MKH 800 microphones. In a surround setup, these signals would be used for your rear speakers.

The instrument Presets also include different mixer presets. By default the classic room mixes are loaded which include the Standard Library microphone positions. These are balanced in the stereo field to represent the instrument's position in the Synchron Stage set-up

Auro 3D is an immersive audio technology that allows for three-dimensional sound perception. The Belgian company Auro Technologies developed this technology based on a special speaker configuration, adding four additional speakers to a 5.1 surround configuration. These speakers (so-called "Heights'') are situated above the front and surround speakers and generate acoustic reflections that are perceived naturally due to the fact that sounds originate from around as well as from above the listener. Thanks to the comprehensive selection of discrete audio channels the Full Library allows you to mix your instruments in Auro 3D as well as in Dolby Atmos.

For designating pitch, the Vienna Symphonic Library uses International Pitch Notation (IPN), which was agreed upon internationally under the auspices of the Acoustical Society of America. In this system the international standard of A=440 Hz is called A4 and middle C is C4. All pitches are written as capital letters, their respective octave being indicated by a number next to it. The lowest C on the piano is C1 (the A below that is A0), etc.

The F308 at Synchron Stage Vienna is equipped with a fourth pedal invented by Fazioli, located to the left of the three traditional pedals, which lowers the keyboard and raises the hammers to be closer to the strings. The effect is a decrease in volume of the sound without changing its timbre, sounding the same overtones and resonances, with a soft but very clear and transparent sound. This innovation also facilitates playing soft glissandos, rapid passages, and legatos. What’s more, by combining the una corda pedal with the fourth pedal pianists can increase the variations of soft colors the F308 is able to offer.

• Fazioli’s flagship concert grand

• The world’s largest piano – 308 cm

• Recorded on Stage A of Synchron Stage Vienna

• Fourth pedal for softer playing

• 11 mic positions for a multitude of timbral variations

• Pre-configured mixer presets

To capture the Synchron Pianos with all their subtleties, our engineers developed a highly precise motion-control system based on a solenoid that controls a noise-free "robot finger". The micro-controller moves the finger with super-human precision, providing flexible curvatures for down-strokes and release movements. The MIDI controlled system delivers more than 100 velocities and various release samples, depending on the preceding note length and various release speeds.

This innovation represents the pinnacle of our long-term sampling robotics development. An earlier version of the robot finger was used for sampling the Celeste found in our Synchron Percussion I Collection.

In addition to creating your sound by mixing several microphone signals, the free Vienna Synchron Pianos software offers multiple options for shaping the sound of the piano and your playing experience. Hosting a high-performance playback engine, the software provides a full-blown mixer with a broad range of effects such as EQ, compressor, saturator, algorithmic reverb, delay, chorus, flanger, rotary, and many more. You may also adjust the volume of body resonances, sympathetic strings, and pedal noises right in the main Play window. In the Edit window you can even tweak EQ, volume, tuning, dynamic range, etc. for each individual key!

In the browser window of the Synchron Pianos player you may select from four general preset categories

Ready-made, resource saving presets with as few microphones as possible. The "Room Mix" Channel contains a mix of all available microphones from the Full Library.

The classic sound of a Decca tree stereo recording features a more slender sound with less diffusion compared to the "Room Mix" Presets.

These presets include all available room microphones with various runtime delays, creating more diversity in the perception of room depth.

Designed to send the microphone signals to your available surround channels.

Our engineers captured the rich resonances of the piano’s warm, colorful, and sparkling sound with an array of phase-aligned microphones, all of them separately available in the mixer section of the Synchron Piano Player, and perfectly pre-configured with Mixer Presets which lets you focus on your music. The Synchron Pianos player interface offers instant and direct access to seven pre-configured character presets.

1. Concert:

   Character: Classic stereo version of the Fazioli F308, with added Room Reverb.
   Perspective: Conductor, with the instrument at its original recording position in the center.
   Recommendation: Ideal placement in your orchestra, compatible with all Synchron Series products.

2. Intimate:

   Character: Dark, warm and close sound with a focus on the condenser close microphone and a gentle touch of the stage. Added plate reverb to enrich the sound.
   Perspective: Player, centered
   Recommendation: For intimate ballads and low, mighty chords.

3. Player:

   Character: Immediate response with full stereo width of the keyboard and a natural room response. Authentic and direct.
   Perspective: Player, centered
   Recommendation: Ideal recording preset for pianists, the pure playing experience.

4. Pop:

   Character: Powerful and assertive, with added compression in the close microphone. Increased MIDI Sensitivity. Room Reverb with a short reverb. Decca Main microphones are delayed to create a short slap-back sound.
   Perspective: Player, centered
   Recommendation: For the modern songwriter, for live solo performances and within a band context.

5. Ambience:

   Character: A spacious yet assertive sound with a lot of algorithmic reverb to add a spacious impression.
   Perspective: Conductor, with the instrument at its original recording position on the right.
   Recommendation: For film scores, elated piano melodies and an impressive piano sound in the background.

6. Mighty:

   Character: Echoing piano with a distinctive slapback created by the delay times on the microphones.
   Perspective: Conductor, piano on the left.
   Recommendation: Great for scenes with concrete walls, wide fields or industry halls. Adjust the runtime delay to your project tempo.