XLN Audio Addictive Keys

Verdict
For Lovely ‘produced’ sound
Great options which include
mechanical noise
Instant piano ix for most mixes
Against Only one instrument
An excellently produced piano sound,
with plenty of tone and behaviour-
shaping lexibility
8 / 1 0
virtual pianos roundup / reviews <
October 2022 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 77
Your choice of piano
really comes down to
the music you make. If
you are a singer/
songwriter with the
piano as your main song
focus, go for one of the
larger multisampled
instruments that focus
on all of the detail of
famous – and expensive
– grand pianos. In this
respect, it’s hard to
overlook Spitire
Audio’s Hans Zimmer
Grand Piano that
delivers all the sound of
the super-composer’s
favourite grand, with
meticulous recordings
at many diferent
microphone positions.
Similarly, Garritan’s
Abbey Road Studios
CFX Concert Grand
delivers a legendary
grand in a legendary
setting – an older title
but it still delivers an
amazing sound. We also
have to mention
Synthogy Ivory II Studio
Grands here as you get
two pianos, both of
which sound incredible.
If you aren’t focused
on grand pianos and the
piano being your main
instrument, then there
are two other options
that deliver great piano
sounds alongside other
key-based instruments.
Spectrasonics Keyscape
is just about every
keyboard instrument
you can imagine in one
package. Expensive,
yes, but its quality
emulations and efects
are right up there with
the best software
instruments available.
Finally, one of the few
modelled instruments
that scores well
whenever a new version
is released, is Modartt’s
Pianoteq, an instrument
that will run light on any
system but sounds
anything but light, and
with loads of
purchasing options for
any budget level.
Like some of the other piano plugins in
this roundup, Alicia’s Keys has been
around for a while. But good piano
plugins stay around and this 2010
release is still one of Native Instruments’
better Kontakt piano instruments (you
can also choose from The Giant, The
Maverick, The Gentleman among
many others).
Developed in collaboration with
Alicia and her engineer Ann Mincieli
(and with Thomas Skarbye
programming) the result is an
instrument based on her own Yamaha
C3 Neo, and one she has used for most
of her work in the studio and live.
There is just one main piano
instrument here, but it’s accompanied
by six tabbed pages with features
ranging from algorithmic and
convolution reverbs to attack/release
behaviour and sympathetic resonance
settings. Both sustain and sostenuto
pedals are catered for, and if you have a
continuous sustain pedal, there’s a
simulated half-pedalling option.
One of the nicest features is a simple
fader control for mechanical noise,
including pedal, key and even
microphone hiss.
The pink interface may not appeal
to everyone, and the sound lacks some
of the natural room character
associated with classical piano
instruments; however, that clearly wasn’t
the remit. Alicia’s Keys delivers an
excellently ‘produced’ piano sound, with
plenty of tone and behaviour-shaping
lexibility, all from a fairly compact 7GB
drive footprint.
native-instruments.com
TYPE: Sampled Yamaha C3 Neo grand piano owned by Alicia Keys | PRICE: £89 | KEY FEATURES: 17GB of
samples, 12 velocity layers per key; other details include mechanical release noises and a specially developed
sympathetic resonance and release system | SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: VST, AU, AAX Kontakt instrument (free
player included); macOS 10.14, 10.15, 11 or 12, Windows 10 or 11 (latest Service Pack), Intel Core i5 or equivalent CPU;
2GB RAM, 7GB hard disk
Native Instruments
Alicia’s Keys £89
Computer
Music
choice
CMU312.rev_pianos_roundup.indd 77CMU312.rev_pianos_roundup.indd 77 21/07/2022 17:5621/07/2022 17:56