XLN Audio Addictive Keys

The piano is one of the most popular
instruments in the world, so creating a
realistic software virtual piano emulation
has been the number one priority for
software and DAW developers for the last
couple of decades. As such, most DAWs
already ship with decent enough software
pianos, but they don’t usually ofer quite
the nuanced character and breadth of
dynamic sound you can expect from a real
upright or concert grand. Third-party
software developers have therefore been
falling over themselves to create even
better software virtual pianos so there are
now loads of options out there.
Software virtual pianos use either
modelling algorithms or samples of real
instruments to create beautiful emulations.
We’ll discuss more about these in our
Buyers advice. Many piano instruments –
modelled or sampled – feature efects and
can have a number of tweakable
parameters like other virtual instruments.
What you can expect from both kinds of
instrument are exceptional piano sounds
as developers have been perfecting these
instruments for many years so there are
some excellent titles available as we detail.
But the best thing is that you have access
to models of pianos that can cost tens of
thousands of dollars/pounds. And with
your DAW as a host, you don’t even need to
play like a concert pianist to sound like one.
Get the best piano sound without shelling out thousands for the real
thing. We have ten great options to suit all budgets and each one will
help you sound like a concert pianist within the comfort of your DAW…
72 / COMPUTER MUSIC / October 2022
> reviews / virtual pianos roundup
Best software virtual pianos
Broadly speaking you can divide
software piano instruments up
into the most popular
multisampled type, and then the
rarer modelled instrument.
Multisampled pianos are created
by recording the sounds from the
original pianos, usually in an
exceptional environment –
recording studio or concert hall –
to capture the sound of the room
as well as the instrument. The
recordings comprise the actual
notes, all played at several
velocities, diferent microphone
positions (close up giving more of
the sound of the piano, far away
giving more of the sound of the
room) and even sounds made by
the instrument – key presses,
hammer noise and so on. Some
multisampled instruments sit
within shells like Kontakt, so if you
have used Native Instruments’
sample player before you should
be at home with these.
Modelled instruments use a
synthesis engine to model the
sound of a piano. As they don’t use
samples, they are often that much
smaller in terms of how much
hard drive space they take up.
With hard drive storage now
relatively cheap, you might think
there’s not so much advantage to
using a modelled instrument.
However, some multisampled
instruments will take time to load
up their various sounds – in
Kontakt, for example – so you
might have to expect some long
load times, especially with
instruments that require a lot of
RAM. Modelled pianos take less
time to load presets.
In truth, both types of pianos
deliver amazing results, but
multisampled instruments that
focus on perhaps one or two
models, will deliver all of the
character of the originals. These
are the ones to choose if you want
exacting detail, and perhaps if you
are using the piano as a solo
instrument, or the main focus of
your music. Otherwise, every
other instrument here will deliver
a great piano sound for any kind
of mix. Check out our overall
recommendations in the
Computer Music Choice section
on page 77.
Buyers’ advice
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