Downtown Grand Piano

Downtown Grand Piano is a grand piano instrument that captures the essence of the city’s ambience by processing urban recordings as convolution samples for the reverb.

44 city reverbs

≈ 2.8 GB (Installed)

Dedicated VST3/AU plugin

How we made it

1. Sampling a piano

To develop the Downtown Grand Piano, we initially sampled an acoustic grand piano using multiple microphone positions and six different velocities.

2. Recording city sounds

Next, we recorded different city sounds like trains, streets, buses, planes, public works, among others, to utilize them as convolution reverb for the piano.

3. Unique ambiences

By incorporating these reverbs, the Downtown Grand Piano offers unique reverbs and ambiences that capture the essence of the city.

About the Piano

The acoustic grand piano was sampled using a total of seven microphones placed in five distinct locations to capture the best of the piano. The microphone positions used are as follows:

Bass: A condenser microphone placed near the bass strings.
Hammers: Stereo condenser microphones positioned in front of the hammers.
Main: Ribbon microphones arranged in stereo in front of the soundboard.
Room: Condenser microphones positioned six feet away from the piano.
Back: A condenser microphone placed behind the piano seat.

Each microphone position has its own volume knob in the plugin.

City recordings

To capture the sounds of the city, we use a stereo recorder to capture various sounds such as airplanes, squares, public works, motorcycles, trains, etc.

From these recordings, we selected the best samples to be used as convolution reverb, ultimately creating a plugin that integrates the piano with the cityscape.

In total there are 44 city samples that you can use as convolution reverb.

Presets

Downtown Grand Piano comes with 39 presets divided into the categories: ambient, city-based, and piano. You can also create your own categories and presets within the panel.

The ambient presets were created by removing the dry piano signal and experimenting with the wet signal of the convolution reverb. The city-based presets were created by blending the piano and convolution reverb signals to generate a hybrid sound. And the piano presets were exclusively designed using the samples from the acoustic grand piano.

Engine

XY filters, low-pass, and high-pass filters

Specifications

Recorded at 44.1 kHz / 24 bit with seven microphones
6 gradual velocity layers for the piano
Control for the piano’s hammer release
The grand piano is made with 1800 samples
44 city sounds for convolution reverb
39 presets divided into three categories
Saturation, reverb, stereo width, limiter, and delay effects.
Customizable velocity curve
Multi-band EQ, XY filters, lowpass, and highpass
2.8GB of space

Requirements

Windows

Windows 7 or higher (64 bit)
A VST3-compatible DAW
RAM: 4GB (Minimum) / 8 GB (Recommended)

macOS

macOS 10.11 or higher
A VST3 or AU compatible DAW.
RAM: 4GB (Minimum) / 8GB (Recommended)

* Native Apple Silicon support

FAQ

What does the purchase include?

Includes the download of the instrument plugin “Downtown Grand Piano” in VST3/AU version for Windows and macOS.

How long does the license last?

The license lasts forever; it is a single payment. You can check the EULA here.