Review by George Shilling
The story from Sonuscore is that a team was sampling a high quality grand piano, but were drawn to an “unassuming upright” in the same studio. So having completed the initial job, decided they should comprehensively sample it. The instrument is a 100 year old Wilhelm Diemer – outwardly nothing special. But they clearly felt it had a certain magic. And indeed, it’s an interesting contrast to their Chroma Grand Piano which sampled a beautiful sounding Yamaha C3.
Simple Life
The software instrument comprises a nearly 19GB sample library which runs on Native Instruments Kontakt sampler – you can download the free player version if you don’t own it. It’s a big download but other than that there were no pitfalls or problems with installation and authorisation through the NI Service Centre software.
The Bitch Is Back
The previously released Chroma Grand (posh Yamaha) instrument introduced some innovative features. These included unconventional articulations such as plucking and bowing. And a suite of effects, allowing for all kinds of sounds that are sometimes far removed from the conventional piano. This has been carried over to the new Upright instrument. So along with the comprehensive samples of the natural, warm and characterful instrument, there are many other presets and options for more experimental and atmospheric sounds.
Cold Heart
The Kontakt instrument has three pages: Main, Engine and Mix. The first two feature little animations like fireworks or bubbles when notes are played. These can be disabled on the third page. All controls display a useful ‘help’ explanation on the Info pane (if you have it showing) when you hover over them. On the main page you can set the amount of mechanical noise – separately for note on, off and pedal. The note noises are mainly little subsonic thuds, pedal clonk is fairly quiet even when turned up full, so these add to the realism, but make little difference in most scenarios unless you lower the relative level of the played notes articulation. There is basic reverb (four types) and EQ (high and low gain). Six articulations can be enabled or disabled here in any combination… “Key” on/off is normal playing – with it (and other articulations) turned off you just hear the mechanical noise! Felt is for your Ólafur Arnalds or Nils Frahm style soft sound, Muted is a plinky-plonky sound, Plucked is more honky, ‘Harm’ has something of the ring modulator about it, while Bowed buzzes the notes like a wasp. Hours of fun can be had mixing these in various amounts. Each has accompanying volume, attack, release and (+/-2) octave knobs, so quite a bit of adjustment is possible here for creating unusual voicings and tones.
All Quiet On The Western Front
The Mix page allows blending between different mic setups: Front, Above, Below and Rumble. Mics used for the sampling included Coles 4038s for close-up and Neumann KM140s spaced wide. Here you can also switch on or off the Resonance captured for the Key articulation with the sustain pedal pressed – subtle, but interesting to compare. And a comprehensive Velocity curve editor allows for curves or S-shapes, or you can draw your own custom curve. But the straight-line default setting felt great to play, very natural and satisfying.
Crazy Water
The Engine page is a dedicated special FX department, where rhythmic (or slightly random) echoes, atmospheres, arpeggios (and so on) can be generated. The manual doesn’t really explain it that well, but diving into the presets reveals its power. The overall intensity of these effects is controlled by your Mod Wheel. There’s an articulation mixer similar to that on the main page, along with another Reverb and EQ plus Rotor, Delay, Tape and Lo-Fi effects sections. There are also further controls for Decay, Density, Spread and so on which determine the nature of the effects. A lot of possibilities are available here, but it’s often best to start from a preset and tweak from there. Clicking on the preset window at the top opens a browser with some category filtering available, and there are plenty of excellent starting points.
Honky Cat
The basic instrument has a less than perfect sound. It’s not a honky-tonk or tack piano, but it certainly sounds rather different from a concert grand, in a kind of homely and warm manner. There is a lot of midrange richness, and the sampling has been carried out beautifully. It really does feel like you are in the room with the instrument. The dynamic range is excellent, from the softest and warmest light touch, to the weighty emphasis of giving it a good hammering! It’s possibly the closest I have felt to sitting in front of a real piano when playing a MIDI keyboard.
You Know It Makes Sense
My best mate and co-conspirator in my Sundae Club project happens to be one of the leading piano technicians in the UK. So I sent him a recording of every note of Chroma across the range of the keyboard (without reverb etc.) to see what he made of the instrument. Known for his frank views, his (perhaps unsurprising) response was, “An excellent set of samples illustrating exactly the kind of piano you’d try not to buy or emulate in any way. What a horrible instrument. It’s obviously got a use, but the hammers and/or soundboard were on the way out! It’s definitely got a use, and fills a gap because most piano sample sets are of posh pianos. And of course a good upright sounds as good as a small grand, so why not sample a bad one?!”
The One
And yes, he’s right…! You might not set out to buy such an instrument, but it certainly has its uses – in many musical genres. I slotted it into a diverse range of projects in a short amount of time, with it always adding something useful, especially whenever something a bit ear-catching or unusual was needed. The Chroma Upright Piano is fun to play and play with, a rich source of inspiration, and something rather different from the plethora of piano sample instruments available.
Pros: Colourful and characterful piano that’s very satisfying to play, comprehensive effects engine with unexpected textures and sounds.
Cons: 19GB download.
