A grand piano beyond tradition
Alt Grand is a unique relic from the 1930s. Filled with the music and memories from almost 100 years of performance.
Captured with and without felt and can be blended for a completely individual sound. With dozens of controls at your fingertips to completely alter the sound and vibe, Alt Grand offers remarkable flexibility. This is a highly detailed and playable piano, recorded through multiple microphones to reveal all of its distinctive personality.
The original recordings have been transformed into over 20 transformative textural layers that can create subtle background ambience or stand alone as atmospheric organic sounds.
An unbelievably valuable addition to your toolkit, this is a grand piano sample library that delivers years of character and extensive tone-shaping possibilities. A must-have for anyone looking for a highly versatile and adaptable piano – from cinema-filling soundtracks to songwriting and modern production.
Natural or felted (or somewhere in-between)
As has been applauded and loved in Alt Piano, we recorded Alt Grand with and without felt. Providing you with two very different and versatile characters. Felting a grand piano is meticulous work and we spent ages on getting the weight and placement of felt just right for every single octave (and in some cases each note).
The natural sound of the piano without felt is bold and open, with the felted recordings much gentler and warmer.
But best of all, you don't have to choose. There's a control which lets you blend between the two recordings to dial in a sound that suits you.
Transformative textures
As with most of our sample libraries, we love to create new sounds from the original instruments. Pushing the boundaries and crafting original sounds. With Alt Grand there are 23 brand new textures made from the source recordings. Tape, guitar pedals and some other unusual methods to create a range of incredible sounds.
These can be used in the background behind the piano to create an atmospheric sub-layer. Or they can be used front and centre on their own as a organic synth-like tone.
Each sound has its own unique secondary layer which can be accessed using the Texture slider. What happens is different on every texture and can be used to morph and manipulate the character of sound.
Behind the sampling
We searched for years for the right grand piano and finally found this beautiful 1930s Chappell grand piano. It was shipped all the way to our second home, Nave Studios, where we spent days sampling it. There are plenty of velocity layers, 3 round robins, pedal up and pedal down samples as well as the complete set of felted samples too. A meticulous task but totally worth it.
Recorded in Studio 1, a live room which has a warm and immediate sound. Captured through vintage Neumann and AKG microphones, a rack of Neve 1073 pre-amps and an AMEK Rembrandt desk.
You can choose between 3 production-ready mixes or create your own mix from 5 discrete microphone positions. An incredible tone that captures all the nuance of this piano.
Dial in the perfect vibe
Tape
A built-in tape machine, including Wow, Flutter, Noise, Tape Saturation and Age controls. You can dial in anything from a gentle reel-to-reel crush to a worn-out cassette.
Transpitch
Our signature FX. Create a darker, moodier sound, unachievable any other way. A powerful, but simple control which pitch shifts and transposes with just one click.
Untune
Make the piano sound like it's fallen out of tune. From a subtle effect for some extra character to an almost unplayable experience for scores and sounds that need it.
"Live" Pianist
Create a more real and authentic performance by adding the sound of a “Live” player including gentle piano stool creaks, clothing foley and some subtle room ambience.
Delay
A super comprehensive delay engine with dozens of options. From clean Digital delay to Tape emulated delay as well as Haze option, for big washy and shimmery atmospheres.
Reverb Reverb
Included is our series of custom reverb impulses, and new to Alt Grand is the ability to have completely different reverbs for both the piano and the textures.
What's includedInstruments & Articulations
Piano
Piano with texture fader to blend between felted and non-felted sounds
Textures
TEMPORAL
FRAGMENT
VIAL
RECURSIVE
BANSHEES
EPHEMERA
GIZMO
INFINITY
PROTOTYPE
LIMINALIS
OPAQUE
OSTERHOUT
PATINA
PHOSPHENE
PROMISE
QUIETUDE
REMNANTS
REVERIE
SINUSOIDAL
SONNERIE
STYGIAN
URSIDAE
VARIATIONS
Mixes & Microphones
Mix 1 – Contemporary
The up close and personal player's perspective. A real feeling of playing the piano with a warm, dry sound.
Mix 2 – Classical
This mix is centred around on the classical mic position. Dry but lively.
Mix 3 – Studio
Get a roomier more distant sound that balances well in a larger ensemble or orchestral setting.
Mic – Close Player
An immediate sound from the player's perspective. Close inside the front of the piano.
Mic – Close Classical
Classical mic placement using a stereo pair of Neumann KM184s.
Mic – Soundboard
A single Neumann U87 in a central position, underneath the piano. Solid vintage tone with a unique sound.
Mic – Room
For this position we used an original pair of vintage AKG 414s made in the 80s, placed in the centre of the studio to match our other libraries.
Mic – Gallery
Another stereo pair of AKG414s placed high up in the studio for a distant and naturally reverberant sound.
- Character grand piano
- Recorded with and without felt
- Tape FX and dozens of controls
- 23 incredible textures
- 3 production-ready mixes
- 5 microphone positions
- “Live” player controls
- Over 100 presetsRequires Native Instruments Kontakt Player or Kontakt FULL v6.7.0 and higher!
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