Upright piano samples
There are lots of great, big sounding sampled pianos out there, but no homely sounding uprights. So we visited some old uprights and sampled them. We even used the old STC/Coles 4038 ribbon mic to record some of them.

These are sounds with character. They will not cut through in the mix, but they will help in providing a different atmosphere than most other piano libraries.

Here's a free demo comprising the individual samples of program 006 for you to map in to your sampler. The mp3 encoder we used added silence at the start, so strip that out yourself. You'll have to recreate the loop points using your sampler's autoloop function. Envelope settings are here.

If you do not have Halion or Kontakt, you can purchase either the Halion or Kontakt format and map the sounds yourself. These sounds are already looped and are 16 bit uncompressed AIFF, unlike the demo samples above. For those of you importing into other formats, the envelope settings are listed here. Please contact us if you want the note mapping table.

For an additional price you can purchase the 24 bit upgrade. This is the "Hansons pianoforte" program(2 velocity switching layers) unlooped with extra samples in the bottom octave, so you get a better tone overall, and the natural decay of the instrument.

MP3 demo tracks
Preset 004- DJ Shadow
Preset 003- Debussy
Preset 005- Scott Joplin
Jazz piano- solo by Mr. Thomas Hughes
Note: Reverb was added to the first two demos.

Upright Pianos Download Contents
Hansons piano
Hansons forte
Hansons pianoforte- velocity switching p and f layers.
Hansons 717a
Ladbrooke 717
Hansons 717b (mono)

User comments

•Rich Aitken of Nimrod Productions: They're ace. Did the job wonderfully. (These guys created the soundtrack for the game and second series of "24". Rich used the pianos in two forthcoming PS3 games Astro Zoo and Super Rubber Dub).

•William Coakley: I've enjoyed playing your pianos... even stuck the Hansons piano in a mix and it did just fine. For my taste number 3 with the V switch was my favorite but for a funky old upright sound for 'who about does beers' saloon playing... nothing like the Ladbrooke.
(William created the PERFECT PIANO sample CDs)

•Mats Grundberg: ...I'm happy to say that your pianos are very much what I expected: a sound that doesn't occupy to much space, that has a nice "everyday" character, slightly imperfect but also because of that perfect for conveying a relaxed, intimate, "everyday" sort of sound.
I'm especially fond of the X-switch patch, but also enjoyed playing the Ladbroke...

•Ben Steer: its exactly what i was looking for. thanks again for the bargain.

•wigworld: it sounds great - loads of character.

•David Miller: The sample banks are great - exactly what I was looking for,
and they seem completely bug-free - I'm very happy with them. Good Work Fella!!!

Technical info
The Hansons is a British upright/overstrung piano with old style action, built in 1908.
The Ladbrooke is c.1955 with modern action, parallel strung.
All samples stereo except where indicated.
Microphones: STC 4038, Audio Technica MB3000L (as a mid-side pair), Sony ECM-717 (stereo mic).
Outboard: LA Audio MLX20 mic. pre., Echo Layla 20 bit.
DSP: Cubase VST, KS Waves, Propellerheads ReCycle!, Audio Ease Barbatch, Antares Infinity.

The price is only €20.00
Click here to purchase

To send us your feeback just email us.