Westwood Instruments’ ALT Piano gives you the sound of an old upright piano

The Kontakt instrument samples a 60s “character-filled upright piano”.

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Westwood Alt PIano

British virtual instrument maker, Westwood Instruments, has released ALT Piano, a Kontakt instrument that brings an old 60s upright piano to your DAW.

The brand specialises in recording instruments that are imperfect by nature and transforms them into playable virtual instruments. ALT Piano is no different, recorded in two different ways – once with felt and once without. This provides two different characters: “soft and beautiful or bright and lively – or blend between the recordings to achieve a tone unlike anything else”, Westwood Instruments says.

The piano samples have been recorded in three different ways to create a series of textural sound layers. These can be mixed with the natural sound of the piano or used on their own using the Texture dial. The textures included are Air, Grain and Earth, each with a distinctly different feel.

With dozens of other unique and interesting controls, you can create a very diverse range of sounds all from just one instrument.

Westwood Instruments took no shortcuts when recording the samples. All audio was recorded at 96kHz with Neve 1073 pre-amps and Burr Brown AD converters. The signal started with a matched pair of Coles 4038 mics at incredibly close proximity to the hammers, for a true recording of the sound. A stereo pair of AKG C414’s provided an open perspective, while a pair of SE-2s on the rear soundboard gave a bright and boxy sound. A final stereo pair of AKG C414s picked up the deep ambience of the room.

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.

Westwood Instruments’ ALT Piano is available now for an introductory price of £29. Find out more at westwoodinstruments.com 

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