Christian Jones Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 I'd like to pick up some or all of these types for Labor day or some other sale. I like those piano libraries that have something cool/strange about them, often with other additional layered sounds added to the piano sound.. thanks abacab for sending me down this ??️ w/ Shipwreck piano the other day. Then Peter mentions Death Piano and Fleer mentions Halfling and now I must own them all apparently. Below is what I know of so far. Is this pretty much all there is or are there more worthy mentions? Happy Saturday! Shipwreck Pianos: https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/stshipwreckpiano/?pkey=sampletank-sounds-cinekinetik-shipwreck-piano The Halfling: https://www.productionvoices.com/product/the-halfling/ Death Piano: https://www.productionvoices.com/product/death-piano/ Pain Piano (already own this): https://silenceandothersounds.com/products/pain-piano/ 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Jones Posted September 3, 2022 Author Share Posted September 3, 2022 I searched this topic on google and came up with nothing but endless "what's the best piano vst" threads. Maybe my search queries suck but I feel like someone would've posted about this on VI control or somewhere, as I would think there has to be an interest in these types of libraries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveiv Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 Soundpaint 1990 Yamaha C7 prepared piano. No personal experience, yet. https://soundpaint.com/products/1990-modern-grand-c7-prepared Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitekrazy1 Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 13 minutes ago, Christian Jones said: I searched this topic on google and came up with nothing but endless "what's the best piano vst" threads. Maybe my search queries suck but I feel like someone would've posted about this on VI control or somewhere, as I would think there has to be an interest in these types of libraries. This sounds like a VI Control thread. Isn't NI Una Corda one of these. Anyone can take a piano library and add effects to create some sound design. My favorite pianos are no longer about sound but loading time. I've come to the conclusions that unless you are doing something piano exclusive I'm not going to drive myself crazy over selecting a piano. That often steps on a lot of toes. If one does dance genres Fruity in FL Studio or one in Live will do the job. A concert grand is not needed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 (edited) 26 minutes ago, Christian Jones said: Is this pretty much all there is or are there more worthy mentions? Happy Saturday! Did you overlook the other IK library "Fractured Piano", another of their Cinekinetik series? https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/stfracturedpiano/ "Fractured Piano offers a wild variety of altered keyboard sounds. Designed to stir emotion and build tension, the library features sci-fi, cosmic and eerie sounds, action-driven percussive sounds and acid keys, along with dystopian harpsichords and other imaginary or futuristic sounds. It includes 5.4 GB of sample content and 37 SampleTank 4 instrument presets perfect for anything from film scoring to modern pop music production or general funky vibes." "Most of the “Piano Howling” family of presets were created by actually screaming into the piano frame, and some were produced using other tricks. Cymbal Felts were used in different positions pushing and damping the short strings section before the hammers, to produce 4 different sounds (“oscillators” in the sound element) for the “Piano Felt Bass” and other presets using the piano sustain pedal." Edited September 3, 2022 by abacab 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTP Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 13 minutes ago, daveiv said: Soundpaint 1990 Yamaha C7 prepared piano. No personal experience, yet. https://soundpaint.com/products/1990-modern-grand-c7-prepared Soundpaint pianos have a lot of interesting programs (presets) which don't necessarily sound much like a piano. https://soundpaint.com/collections/piano The 1928 Steinway is free. https://soundpaint.com/products/1928-vintage-grand-steinway 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 (edited) Edited September 3, 2022 by abacab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 (edited) 18 minutes ago, BTP said: The 1928 Steinway is free. https://soundpaint.com/products/1928-vintage-grand-steinway ^^^ This one's is a no-brainer... You can layer and morph it in Soundpaint with the other free libraries that are on offer, Free Angels and Free ASMR. https://soundpaint.com/collections/free-instruments "Free Angels contains over 1500 heavenly sound designs consisting of angelic ambiences, celestial risers, a large set of ethereal plucked instruments, fluffy creatures, heavenly hits, seraphic voices, and a bunch of soft and saintly percussion. It is not designed for the stringent and analytical composer, but rather for someone who wants to explore the unknown and let themselves be inspired by the heavenly sound concepts of the +100 people who submitted for the project." "ASMR is short for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, and when triggered, it creates a tingling physical sensation based on the sounds you hear. These recordings are normally intended to be heard with headphones for a more intense feeling of proximity and intimacy, but they can also add a fantastic variety of textures when used in non-ASMR contexts. With over 800 samples available across 9 Parts and 54 Programs, you can create a plethora of tantalizing new sounds to caress your listeners' ears." Edited September 3, 2022 by abacab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reid Rosefelt Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 If you're looking for a piano that is very different, and musically inspiring, let me suggest ArtVista's Malmsjo, a favorite of Hans Zimmer. I guess it was the first virtual "soft piano." But not with cloth or anything, the original piano just sounds that way. It's been around since Gigasampler. This is not a go-to everyday piano, but it is beautiful to play and it has inspired me to make music that works with that sound. It's one of my favorites--a classic VI. https://www.artvista.net/malmsjo.html It sells for $99, but you can pick it up for half that during holiday sales. I also like Art Vista's Virtual Grand 3 https://www.artvista.net/vgp3.html It is based on recordings of a 1960 Hamburg Steinway Model ”B.” The twist is that it offers stunningly realistic piano presets that emulate recordings from the 1950's through today by artists such as Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Donny Hathaway, Chet Baker, Jan Johansson, Ray Charles, John Lewis, Bobby Timmons, Billy Preston, Keith Jarrett, Jackson Browne, Leon Russell, John Legend, Arthur Rubinstein, and Bill Evans. I have a LOT of pianos (too many), but I end up using this one more than not. I guess with all the presets I can always find something that works for each piece. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X-53mph Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 The piano I go back to again and again is Native Instruments Maverick. It has so much character, and it's a stable program (unlike some piano VSTs I could mention....*Spitfire*). I agree with Paul. I'm fed up wasting time trying to load up pianos, losing presets, or just general instability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 2 minutes ago, Philip G Hunt said: The piano I go back to again and again is Native Instruments Maverick. Is Maverick odd or unique in any way, or just another great piano? I own it as part of Komplete, but have never installed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.r Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 If you already have any of the Addictive Keys pianos from XLN check out their factory presets, they have got tons of character. I particularly like the Electric Grand. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 (edited) The only pianos I have installed from NI Komplete is Noire and Una Corda. Space on my SSD is precious, as I'm avoiding duplication as much as possible! So I like the idea of only adding piano libraries with odd/unique or unusual characteristics... I have all of the IK Multimedia pianos, including those exclusive to SampleTank 4 Max, as well as Arturia Piano V and XLN Addictive Keys Grand. I'm also not a piano collector, this just sort of happened... plenty of options, but not enough time or SSD space, LOL! ? Edited September 3, 2022 by abacab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleer Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 Still quite enamored with Embertone’s Walker, OrangeTreeSamples’ Rosewood, Wavesfactory’s Mercury, Bechstein’s Digital, WholeSounds’ Baldwin, ImpactSoundworks’ Pearl and all of Pianoteq, of course, with its morphing and layering (in the Standard and Pro versions). Recently added ProductionVoices’ 300 Grand. Pretty, pretty good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Jones Posted September 4, 2022 Author Share Posted September 4, 2022 5 hours ago, Paul Young said: This sounds like a VI Control thread. Isn't NI Una Corda one of these. Anyone can take a piano library and add effects to create some sound design. My favorite pianos are no longer about sound but loading time. I've come to the conclusions that unless you are doing something piano exclusive I'm not going to drive myself crazy over selecting a piano. I'm not into sound design (nor am I talking about a run of the mill type of piano this time). That's the reason I think many people buy synth after synth after synth; it's not that they don't have a dozen+ other synths and plugins that can do any given sound if they're willing to spend time sound designing it; it's that [some new synth here] already does that sound. Some people dig sitting there for hours and hours fiddling w/ sounds before they even get to the making music part, and maybe they never get there. But those people are invaluable because they make the sounds that people like me, who don't wanna fiddle all day, use to make music. I'm actually a guitar/bass player who just happens to mess with a daw and plugins. I'll buy a synth just for one sound it has, and I'll keep it around even if it doesn't have any other sounds I like in the whole instrument. Like w/ Shipwreck pianos, sure I can layer a string/choir sound over some piano I have but I didn't ask about that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleer Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 Two classes of piano libraries: the neutral and the character ones. You’ll find them everywhere, from the Tom Waits style Sampletekk Rain piano (1 & 2) to the Production Voices fantasy inspired Halfling. But you’ll have to really try them out to see if they fit what you’re looking for. Have a look a SoundIron too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 One of my favorites, it's definitely in the "with a twist" category, is ATMOS2. Scroll down. It's free, too. Ambient drone for days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleer Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 And check this free Philip Glass piano from Spitfire: https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/glass-piano 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PavlovsCat Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 5 hours ago, Fleer said: Still quite enamored with Embertone’s Walker, OrangeTreeSamples’ Rosewood, Wavesfactory’s Mercury, Bechstein’s Digital, WholeSounds’ Baldwin, ImpactSoundworks’ Pearl and all of Pianoteq, of course, with its morphing and layering (in the Standard and Pro versions). Recently added ProductionVoices’ 300 Grand. Pretty, pretty good. I have and love Embertone's Walker Lite. I should probably upgrade to the full version, but the lite version is so good I never felt the need to upgrade. I just got home from a ballgame with the family, but Christian made another thread that is totally of enormous interest to me and I have a bunch of character pianos I really am happy with and I'd love to learn about others. I'll be back with my favs. Although, off hand, one really quirky and wonderful character piano I love is Sound Dust's Ship's Piano. I'll update this with a link, but it's such a unique piano and has some weirdness to it I absolutely love. It totally sounds like something you could imagine Jon Brion using for a score and to me, that's Heaven. It isn't very expensive either. But the octaves are limited. It's not 88 keys, as it's a very old compact piano used to entertain the crew on a ship. It's magic to my ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Jones Posted September 4, 2022 Author Share Posted September 4, 2022 5 minutes ago, Peter Woods said: I just got home from a ballgame with the family I see that we're your second family. Gets home from the ballgame w/ the fam and gets right back on with us. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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