ALT PIANO
For every story you need to tell.
A piano with two different characters.
ALT PIANO is the complete and unabridged big sister to our Upright Felt Piano.
We recorded an old, humble and character-filled upright piano from the 60s, with and without felt making this a piano with two very different characters. Soft and beautiful or bright and lively, or blend between the recordings to achieve a tone unlike anything else.
We also re-recorded the piano samples in three distinctly different and unique ways to create a series of textural sound layers, which can be mixed with the natural piano or used on their own.
With dozens of other unique and interesting controls, you can create a very diverse range of sounds all from just one instrument.
INSTRUMENT
Upright Piano
(an old one)
HIGHLIGHTS
Blend between felt and natural recordings
3 beautiful texture layers
Plenty of awesome and unique controls
REQUIREMENTS
Kontakt FULL
5.6.8 or above
Will NOT work on the free Player
GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE
Interface
As with all our custom designed interfaces, we want you to have a logical and clear layout with everything to hand.
FELT CONTROL
Natural or felted
(or somewhere in-between)
We recorded the piano twice. With and without felt which provides you with two very distinct characters. Both are full of subtle imperfections and individuality.
The natural sound of the piano without felt is bright and lively, whilst the felted recordings are soft and gentle.
But best of all, you don’t have to choose. We created a control that blends between the two recordings so you can dial in a sound that suits you.
TESTIMONIAL
Lex Shellard
TEXTURE CONTROL
When you just need something more
TEXTURE 1
A I R
TEXTURE 2
E A R T H
TEXTURE 3
E A R T H
DEMO MUSIC
Listen to some examples
TESTIMONIAL
“A lovely piano that you can modify in all sorts of ways very quickly.
It has a nice warm tone to it and this instrument can be used in quite a few applications.
Need an intimate piano? Done. Need a distant pad? Done.”
TWIN COMPOSERS
Instrument walkthrough
MICROPHONES
This is how we recorded it
We sampled the piano in the crypt of a church. It’s lived there for the past 10 years since a band we know have recorded all their albums in this unlikely place.
We used an absolutely world-class pristine signal path recording everything at 96kHz through legendary Neve 1073 pre-amps and Burr Brown AD convertors.
The signal started with a matched pair of Coles 4038’s as close as we dare put them to the hammers, to capture a really detailed sound. A stereo pair of AKG 414’s made an excellent job of providing a more natural and open perspective. We used a pair of SE-2‘s on the rear soundboard which gives you a boxy and bright sound. Finally we set up another stereo pair of AKG 414‘s right in the furthest and vaults of the room to record a really distant and ambient perspective.
All of these microphones can be mixed independently with the addition of a stereo width control per channel on the Kontakt interface so you can dial in exactly the sound you want.
TESTIMONIAL
“If you want a raw piano that sounds like a live recording you have to check out ALT PIANO.
It stands out from many of the other options on the market.”
Tyler Michael Smith
MAJOR CONTROLS
With great control, comes great responsibility
Untune
Transpitch
Pianist
Piano
ADDITIONAL CONTROLS
Super-fine-tune
We set the start time of every single sample to create the most natural and characterful sound possible, whilst retaining playability. You can dig into the start of the sample if you want to lose the front end for either your own playing style or to lose the initial transient for tonal reasons.
Customise the sensitivity of the velocities right in interface of the instrument. Great if your MIDI keyboard isn’t that even when you play it, or just to help you get to the right dynamics.
We recorded the piano with the front removed, but this switch simulates the difference in timbre between how the piano sounds if the front is either on or off.
Switch the entire recording perspective of all the microphones. Left is right and right is left. Great if you want the piano to sit in a typical orchestral setting, where the bass notes are on the right side of the stereo field.
We cleaned up all of the inherent signal noise that’s naturally introduced whilst recording. However if you want some of that back for added grit then you can do that. We’ve also included a control where you can change the tone of the noise.
SOUND CONTROLS
Shape your sound
A wide 3-band equaliser, set for the sound of the piano. Very quickly scoop or boost the frequencies you need to without having to reach for another plugin. A little goes a long way.
A built-in delay that you can tempo-sync with the tempo in your DAW or your set freely to a specific time. You can also introduce some more motion with the panning control which alternates the delay between the speakers. You also have controls to set the damping and how much feedback you need.
8 curated reverb impulses all perfectly suited to the specific sound of this piano. From tiny intimate rooms, to big epic halls, you’ll be able to find something that fits your track very quickly.
SNAPSHOTS
You're two clicks away
With so much control to get to know, we curated a set of 35 Snapshot presets to provide you with some excellent starting points. These will give you a wide variety of inspiration (if you need it) and also show you some interesting combinations you may not have thought of.
In two clicks, you can jump from a battered Tom Waits style piano that’s just right for a heartbroken ballad, to a deep textural sound that’s perfect for the start of an apocalyptic road movie.
Natural Piano
The school piano
Lost in Reykjavík
Rob’s Felt Piano
As Real As It Gets
The piano has been drinking
Only Earth
The Crypt
Huxley
Grain & Subtle Felt
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Good to know
- Full version of Kontakt 5.6.8 and above
- Over 1300 samples
- Over 6 GB uncompressed WAVs
- Downloads with Pulse download manager
- ~ 2.5 GB download size
- ~ 5 GB needed during installation
This instrument is only compatible with the full version of Kontakt 5.6.8 and above.
It will not work with the free Kontakt Player.
W A T E R M A R K I N G
ALT PIANO is automatically watermarked for each customer with unique identifying information which we use to track piracy.
TESTIMONIAL
ADRIAN BANKS (BANKS AUDIO THEATRE)
FAQ
Nope.
You need the full version of Kontakt 5.6.8 or above. It will NOT work in the free Player version of Kontakt. Please make sure you have the correct version before purchasing. If you need help, we have a fully-loaded guide to Kontakt which you can read here.
Yes, the felt samples are the same (although we’ve re-polished them all). The Natural piano samples (without felt) are only available on this instrument.
Yes! What you can’t do is repackage the individual samples or re-release them as another sample library, but you can absolutely use them to make the next score to a film about making 500 million friends (and a few enemies).