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Spitfire Audio Château Piano units out to seize a historic Steinway Mannequin B within the acoustic of the Château d’Hérouville and current it as a versatile, manufacturing prepared instrument. In follow it seems like a single piano that convincingly turns into many, formed by a sensible set of alerts, results, and musical presets that transfer from trustworthy room seize to daring color.
Spitfire Audio Château Piano: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/RG94Ly
Placing it within the arms of a pianist
To discover the instrument we invited David Bennett, the classically skilled musician and educator behind David Bennett Piano. His YouTube channel is well-known for breaking down the concord and development of basic songs, and he brings each deep musicality and historic perspective. Sitting him in entrance of Château Piano meant we may hear the way it responded below a pianist’s arms quite than simply in technical isolation.
We arrange at Smart Music in Kings Cross, used Elton John’s Benny and the Jets as a touchstone, and labored via a variety of presets collectively. The train was not nearly whether or not the instrument sounded good, however whether or not it impressed taking part in and carried the immediacy you count on from an actual piano in an actual room.
Indicators and the room
Out of the field the Pure Grand preset presents a brilliant, trendy piano with atmosphere lively. Lowering atmosphere to zero reveals how a lot of the preliminary sheen is coming from the room seize, which is a part of the purpose with this library. The three core mic views are simple to understand.
- Tremendous Shut provides an assertive, percussive assault that fits pop rhythm elements and needle drop riffs
- Shut provides slightly extra physique and maintain with out shedding definition
- Room gives the area that ties the instrument to the place
David instantly gravitated in direction of the Tremendous Shut setting for Benny and the Jets due to its punch and drive, later mixing in a contact of Room to offer area with out shedding edge.
Quick combine check
Dropping the Up Entrance preset into the Benny and the Jets observe confirmed that Château Piano doesn’t want heavy remedy to work in context. It cuts via the association with a ahead midrange and a clear prime that also seems like strings and hammers quite than a processed pad. Including slightly further reverb for intro and fills, then pulling it again below the lead vocal, delivered a wise pop workflow.
Preset households and character
The library teams presets into clear households. Pure provides you the piano with minimal intervention. Traditional leans into seventies references with tasteful processing. Intimate lowers the dynamic ceiling and softens the transient to encourage sparse writing. Lush takes the piano towards ambient and cinematic territory. There may be additionally an Results space for extra radical remedies.
Just a few standouts from the session.
- Yellow Piano within the Traditional financial institution brings in a tape path that provides light harmonics and a sense of analogue glue
- Jethro’s Piano and the opposite Traditional choices typically introduce refrain or modulation that nods to interval textures with out washing out the core tone
- Intimate Studio Mushy Piano invitations sluggish, sparse voicings and makes two word concepts really feel completed
- Dreamy Vivid Piano and different Lush presets develop the area into one thing that seems like a big corridor
- Benny’s Piano is a dry and direct start line that takes exterior atmosphere effectively
- 77 Nightclub Ashtray and Mellow Tape Pad dwell within the Results part and present how far the supply might be stretched whereas remaining musical
Throughout the set the expertise is constant. That is nonetheless one piano, not a random assortment of unrelated sources. The character holds whereas the presentation modifications.
The entrance panel presents a small variety of controls that do rather a lot.
- Dynamics behaves like a musical macro for compression and curve. Flip it up and the piano turns into extra current and aggressive. That is best once you need constant punch with minimal key stress
- Brightness and the filter behave as broad tone shapers quite than surgical EQ. You possibly can darken transients for ballads or open the highest for rhythmic definition
- Tightness reduces sympathetic resonance for clear staccato and exact pop elements
- Noise provides mechanical realism with pedal thumps and key releases that you could preserve refined or characteristic for intimacy
- Modulation gives refrain and flanger that may transfer from light width to apparent seventies swirl
- Reverb and Room allow you to transfer between studio shut up and grand area with out exterior processing
Automation is out there for the inventive strikes that promote performances. Swell the noise and room in transitions, open the filter right into a refrain, or trip dynamics on the hook. Saving your personal variants is easy and encourages constructing a private financial institution.
Playability and response
Velocity response feels even and musical throughout the vary. Tremendous Shut delivers crisp finger suggestions that encourages rhythmic taking part in. Intimate presets slim the dynamic span so tender writing doesn’t vanish. Pedal up and pedal down states are captured convincingly, and the instrument retains physique at low velocities quite than turning into a skinny tinkle. Repetition behaviour is pure due to spherical robin variation, so trills and repeated figures don’t machine gun.
David remarked that, for as soon as, the piano plugin itself was pushing him in direction of new voicings and rhythmic feels, quite than simply slotting into his regular taking part in habits. That’s not one thing he experiences typically with pattern libraries.
Sitting in a observe
In our combine checks Château Piano earned two key compliments. First, it feels like a piano recorded with tastefully positioned mics quite than a plastic pattern, particularly once you mix Tremendous Shut with a touch of Room. Second, it adapts rapidly. Inside a tune you’ll be able to preserve a good, dry verse, widen with atmosphere for a pre refrain, raise dynamics and brightness for the hook, then pull the room again below the vocal. This reduces the necessity for further plugins and retains the tone coherent.
Tape Bias Piano was a specific winner for band mixes. It carries an lively midrange that sits with drums and bass with out harshness. For solo cues the Intimate financial institution is inspiring and tends to make you play much less, which regularly improves writing.
Historic resonance with out being a museum piece
The lineage of the instrument and the room is a part of the attraction, and references to artists who labored on the Château are apparent. The vital level is that the library doesn’t lure you in pastiche. Traditional presets present the flavour once you need it, whereas Pure and Up Entrance sit fortunately in trendy pop and rating work. Lush and Results transfer you into cinematic and sound design territory with confidence.
Strengths, caveats, and who will adore it
Strengths
- Characterful core tone that continues to be recognisable as you progress via presets
- Easy controls that ship musical modifications quick
- Helpful preset households for pop, rock, rating, ambient, and experimental work
- Automation prepared interface that encourages efficiency strikes
Caveats
- If you’d like a very impartial live performance grand for classical repertoire, you might desire a extra medical library
- Among the heavier results presets are intentionally stylised and won’t go well with purists, though the core piano stays accessible in Pure and Up Entrance
Ultimate customers
- Songwriters and producers who need a piano that cuts with out harshness
- Composers who have to journey from dry studio intimacy to widescreen area inside one instrument
- Creators who worth classic color however nonetheless want trendy combine readiness
- Sound designers who need to flip a piano into pads and textures whereas preserving natural motion
Verdict
Château Piano succeeds as each a historic seize and a sensible studio instrument. In our arms and below David Bennett’s fingers it behaved like a effectively recorded grand that could possibly be re-miked on demand. The sound is elegant, the controls are purposeful, and the preset curation invitations concepts quite than menu diving. If you’d like a single piano that may put on many outfits whereas preserving its soul, this belongs in your template.
Spitfire Audio Château Piano: https://sweetwater.sjv.io/RG94Ly
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