Its never been a better time for music makers. With access to a range of plugins, soft synths, and sound libraries, music production is within the reach of many.
Plugins for Music Production
Its easy nowadays to get a recording software, lay your tracks and mix them down. However, to better the overall sound quality of your mix, you will need recording plugins (of good quality).
However, for several music producers out there, the value offered by plugins is irresistible – after all, you can buy several plugins and run dozens of instances of each, for the price of a single vintage hardware. And the difference in sound is almost negligible.
For creating your music, besides the recording software, you’ll need lots of sounds, which are also known as sound libraries. Most of these sounds are available as VST plugins which can be triggered using a midi controller.
VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology, which is an interface for integrating software audio synthesizer and effect plug-ins with audio editors and hard-disk recording systems.
VST plugins are generally run within a Digital Audio Workstation (recording software), providing the host application with additional functionality.
Plugins are quite simple to use, many of them have only a few controls, so just plug them in your sequencing software and instantly you will notice a difference in your mix.
These are a great investment for any recording hobbyist and even professionals.
While there are hundreds of plugins out there, we will take a look at the few best plugins.
Universal Audio is among the leading developer of audio recording products, widely respected not just for their impressive hardware, but also for their top quality plugins. Several of its plugins recreate the sound of classic gear that can be found only in the big commercial studios.
You also quality plugins from other audio companies such as Waves, Izotope, Slate and Avid.
Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL)
Piano VSTs (Virtual Instrument), sound libraries for your recordings
Best piano virtual instrument for your recording sessions. Not everyone can buy the top concert piano to use it for their recordings; its just too cost-prohibitive. Thanks to music technology, its easier now to get the piano sounds of the top concert pianos by using virtual instruments. Some VSTs come with minimum options (few but excellent piano samples) while other libraries have lots of choices. Here we have reviewed the top piano VSTs and also provided a guide on how to select the right one for your needs.
The quality of the recording shave only gotten better in recent times. You will need good speakers/amp in order to hear the true depth/realism of these instruments.
Here are the best piano virtual instruments. You can read more on VSTs here.
C. Bechstein Digital Grand Instrument Pack
Bechstein concert grand piano sound samples (authorized by Bechstein) will now be available as an instrument pack for the Pianoteq 6 software. Modartt’s C. Bechstein Digital Grand virtual piano (based on C. Bechstein D 282) works as a standalone product and can also be used as a plug-in within popular digital audio workstations (DAW). The piano samples (fairly bright and rich) are already creating a buzz and many feel they are the best ever derived from an acoustic piano.
The piano sample can be bought as an instrument pack (for existing Pianoteq users); you can even try it out within the free trial version of Pianoteq 6 (with some performance limitations).
Modartt Pianoteq 6
Pianoteq is a virtual core instrument for platforms like MacOS, Windows and Linux. It can be used as standalone software on your computer or as a plugin inside most DAWs. You will find different instrument packs – acoustic pianos, harpsichords, harps, vibraphones, celestas, and more. All Pianoteq instrument packs are authorised by the top piano manufacturers including Steinway, Bechstein, Petrof, Bluthner, Steingraeber, Grotrian, and Hohner.
Pianoteq has only grown stronger with every new version. It offers astonishing realism with remarkably low CPU and hard-drive requirements.
- Modartt Pianoteq’s acoustic piano is excellent, covering four centuries and every musical style imaginable. The electric piano and percussion instrument sounds are also top class.
- Karsten Collection of Historical Keyboards for Pianoteq: The pack features five historical keyboard instruments (built between 1600 and 1858) from the collection of Peter Karsten, an engineer and academic specialising in acoustics.
Native Instruments Alicia’s Keys
This virtual piano has been developed in cooperation with Alicia Keys herself to meet her professional standards that has helped Keys win multiple Grammys and reach the top of the charts.
ALICIA’S KEYS VST is sampled from her own piano playing, recorded in the supervision of her trusted engineer. The instrument samples are from Alicia Keys’ Yamaha C3 Neo grand piano recorded using vintage microphones and preamps.
See PRICE on Native-instruments
Synthogy Ivory II Grand Pianos
Synthogy Ivory II is produced by Joe Ierardi, an accomplished pianist and producer of piano modules for Kurzweil Music Systems, and renowned DSP engineer George Taylor.
See PRICE on Amazon
Steinberg The Grand 3 Virtual Piano Suite (VST Virtual Piano)
The Grand 3 boasts of a variety of piano sounds for different music styles, and the sound quality is exceptional. Piano sounds taken from the highly acclaimed grand pianos: the Yamaha C7, the Boesendorfer 290 Imperial and the Steinway D. Also includes two additional virtual pianos with the distinctive character of the vintage Yamaha CP80 Electric Grand and the upright by Nordiska Pianofabriken.
Pros: Excellent collection of virtual pianos. Works on Mac and Windows
Who is it for: Musicians, keyboardists and composers
The Grand 3 also includes: Customizable tuning editor, 4-band EQ for quick sound shaping, idea scratch pad, metronome.
Minimum System Requirements: Mac OSX 10.5 or Windows XP (SP2) or Vista, G5 dual 2.0 GHz or Intel Core Duo 2.0 GHz (Mac) or 2.0 GHz Dual Core (Windows), 2 GB RAM (3 or more recommended), 32 GB Hard Drive Space, CoreAudio (Mac) or ASIO (PC) compatible audio hardware / soundcard, DVD-ROM Drive with Dual-Layer support, Display Resolution 1024 x 768 pix. Steinberg Key is required, which is sold separately.
The ANT. PETROF 275 Virtual Piano
The ANT. PETROF 275 concert grand piano has been physically modelled by French software house Modartt and is now available as an instrument pack, which can be played using their Pianoteq modelling engine.
ANT. PETROF 275 Concert Grand Piano is the flagship piano of PETROF company.
The new ANT. PETROF 275 Concert Grand Piano instrument pack, authorized by Petrof, is now available for Pianoteq users. Existing Pianoteq users check out the evaluation copy.
More details with audio samples on the Pianoteq website.
Waves Grand Rhapsody piano (virtual instruments)
The Grand Rhapsody is sampled from the Fazioli F228 grand piano housed at London’s Metropolis Studios (the very piano on which several GRAMMY-winning hits have been played, including Adele’s “Hello.”)
Its been recorded using eight different pairs of state-of-the-art microphones (B&K 4007, Shure SM57, Neumann U87, Royer R121, SE RN17, Coles 4038, Neumann KM84 and AKG C451) and using the highest-quality preamps and converters.
The Fazioli F228 grand piano uses the finest Italian parts and craftsmanship, taking its wood from the same red spruce forest where Antonio Stradivari cultivated his rare and celebrated violins. Concert pianists love the deep bass, rich resonance and crystal clear tonal qualities produced by the wood of the Fazioli piano, making it a highly coveted instrument.
What else can you do with Waves Grand Rhapsody Piano?
- Waves Grand Rhapsody provides a wide range of tones for musicians and producers, be it for pop/rock songwriting, electronic production, intimate jazz or classical piano.
- You can blend up to three mic pairs of your choice and choose their position; control how much of the pedal, key up and sympathetic resonance you mix into the overall sound; and apply Waves’ award-winning effects including EQ, compressor, limiter, delay, and reverb based on Waves’ state-of-the-art H-Reverb Hybrid Reverb.
- You can use this as a plugin in your DAW, or as a standalone instrument. You can use one of the expertly programmed presets or create your own sounds from scratch.
Waves Grand Rhapsody piano provides you with all the warmth and richness you’d expect from Fazioli – one of the most luxurious pianos in the world.
More Piano VSTs
There are many more piano virtual instruments out there, they are good but not as good as these ones (doesn’t sound very realistic and in some case you have tweak the sounds to get what you like).
NOIRE from Native Instruments
NOIRE offers two distinct pian sample sets. On eof its USP is the Particles Engine (more like an arpeggiator) but more “musical” lot more sophisticated. NOIRE runs within the KONTACT 6 PLAYER, which is compatible with most DAWs.
Sampleson also offers a nice collection of piano libraries.
Sampleson Model T (Spectral modeled Hohner Pianet T – electromechanical piano), ELECTRIX EP (Rare Electric Piano).
More at sampleson.com
Galaxy D, QL Pianos, Xpand, Emotional Piano, Digi Mini Grand, True Pianos are some of the other piano VSTs.
Toontrack EZdrummer
EZdrummer is a drum software synthesizer that comes with a huge library of real drum kits and loops.
Toontrack has powerful solutions if you’re looking for production-ready drum tracks to add to your project. You can even play the drum part yourself; just tap into the vast library of top-notch drum and cymbal tones designed to cater to a wide range of music styles.
These takes drum production to a whole new level, and has several features for quick and easy songwriting. The software gives you good variety of sounds and allows you to quickly come up with drum tracks while writing music.
You can select from a a growing selection of sound library expansions, mix-ready drums for a wide range of styles. These have been created/performed by top drummers and are recorded in some of the world’s finest acoustic environments.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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