

I was surprised to see how fast this plugin loaded up as well. This allows you to easily change how "up front" you want the piano to be. One thing I really like is how you can change the position of the virtual microphone. It provides an ultra-realistic sound that is highly customizable. XLN knows what they’re doing when it comes to creating realistic, acoustical software instruments.

Each of the included pianos, depending on which bundle you purchase, has a ton of unique presets.Īddictive Keys is made by the same guys that created Addictive Drums, arguably the greatest acoustic drum plugin to ever hit the market. Short Review: I love Addictive Keys and always use it when I need a virtual piano. For that reason, people that go through all the work of making a piano plugin have a strong argument for putting a price tag on their creation. And if you're not a programmer, you would have to hire someone to help you out with all of the code that goes into your plugin. The best piano plugins are recorded in quite expensive studios.

Not only is creating a virtual piano a time investment, but it is also a monetary investment. You'll have a lot of sample recording to do. There are plenty of hobbyist musicians out there, right? Well, creating an audio plugin that emulates a piano is a lot of work. While there are some free plugins that sound decent and "get the job done" (we'll discuss them in this guide), the most beautiful sounding virtual pianos tend to cost money. One piano on this list uses nearly 3000 samples! The average software piano has more than 10 different variations per key! That means that at a minimum, on an 88-key piano, the recording engineer would have to record AT LEAST 880 samples. The next step to making a realistic sounding piano VST would be to record each key AGAIN at different velocities. When you tap a key on a piano ever so gently, it has a completely different tone than if you really slammed down on a key.Ī piano plugin creator knows that in order to produce a realistic sound, they have to record many different samples for every single key - played at all sorts of velocities. While a piano might seem like a very easy instrument to emulate, you have to understand that it is an incredibly dynamic instrument. Someone who is new to music might think that all a piano plugin does is play tiny piano note samples that were quickly recorded off of some guy's piano. Modern piano plugins are an incredible asset to have in your digital musician toolbox.
