Virtual Grand Piano is the Grand Piano that fits into your home computer!. The extensive recordings of a Hamburg Steinway B Concert Grand have been edited and programmed so that you can enjoy the perfect realism of a real Grand Piano in your living room, without the need to make space for one! The high quality of these recordings will also allow you to create professional CD-quality piano recordings without the need to ever visit a recording studio. A large number of recording styles are covered by the numerous presets. All this is possible by the combination of the Art Vista instrument recordings (samples), and the KONTAKT Player technology provided by Native Instruments. This Virtual Instrument can be used both on PC and Mac computers. It is ready to be played - without any additional software!. Use it either as a stand-alone "Virtual Instrument" or as a "plug-in" together with your favorite audio recording software. Choose the preset you want, and tweak it as you like with the sound shaping controls on the interface. There are knobs for Progressive Tone Control (EQ 1), Tone Control (EQ 2), Reverb, Instrument Stereo Width, Compression, as well as knobs for Volume, Pan, and Tuning. Advanced users can also control additional sound-shaping interior parameters by sending MIDI continuous controllers from other software, or from their keyboard. Seven Basic Presets: CLASSIC PIANO - Recreates the keyboard response and dynamics of the originally recorded concert grand piano. POP PIANO - Provides the slightly brighter and more powerful keyboard response needed in pop music. JAZZ PIANO - Has the same keyboard response as the CLASSIC PIANO, but with a mellow tone. This preset will consume twice the polyphony of the other patches, and is therefore more demanding on your computer system. GOSPEL PIANO - Has an ultra-powerful dynamic response that will make the whole piano sing. ROCK PIANO - Same keyboard response as in the GOSPEL PIANO, but with only "pedal-up" notes to provide an even brighter and punchier response. This piano has a smaller "footprint" and is less demanding on computer system resources. LIGHT PIANO - The preset with the smallest demands on your computer system. But don't let the size fool you! Even this smallest preset presents the sound of a full-bloodied Concert Grand Piano. COMPRESSED PIANO - To present the richest possible sound, this preset has been programmed to load with compression. The compression effect will amplify the softer nuances of the piano sounds, and enhance the overall sonority of the piano. As a result, the dynamics of the piano's output are not as wide, but the timbre will still reflect every nuance played. Natural Room Reverb or "Studio Dry" The basic presets come in two versions: "Wet" or "Dry." The natural recital hall reverb was recorded for each note of every dynamic. In the "Wet" presets this natural hall reverb can be heard, and will add an ultimate realism to the sound of the piano as you experience the sense of space where the piano is played. The "Dry" presets do not have the true hall reverb, but are instead programmed to give a "Studio Dry" decay to the piano sound. If you prefer to add your own reverb, these presets will give you the chance to do so. The "Dry" presets are also less demanding on your computer's processing power. Eight Special Effects Presets CHORUS PIANO - This preset is programmed with a "chorus" effect. When used sparingly, it can make the piano sound "richer." Higher settings can make the piano sound like an out-of-tune piano. DELAY PIANO - A "delay" effect is pre-programmed, and will add a bouncing echo. FLANGER PIANO - A "flanger" effect is pre-programmed, and will add a "spacey" stereo effect. PHASER PIANO - A "phaser" effect is pre-programmed and will add a swooshing quality to the sound. MULTI EFFECT PIANO - A combination of phaser and flanger has been pre-programmed. UNDERWATER PIANO - Simultaneous use of all effects makes this preset really weird sounding! VIOLIN PIANO - A slow attack lets the tone fade in, as if played by a violin! SPACE PIANO - Multiple effects in combination with a slow attack. A real Sci-Fi effect! Twenty-two Recording Style Presets These presets have been programmed to emulate the recording styles of pianos heard on famous recordings by various artists from the 1950's through 2005. Sustain Pedal Sounds If you record your Virtual Grand Piano performance, you can also add the sounds of the sustain pedal going up and down. A separate preset with only these sounds can be loaded after you have finished your piano performance. The pedal sounds are mapped to "middle-C," and respond to dynamics - an abrupt quick down-and up movement will result in a realistic corresponding pedal noise. The pedal sounds presets can be found in the folder: "Sustain Pedal Sounds" next to the folders for Hard, Medium, and Soft presets. The Control Knobs The interface of the Virtual Grand Piano has eight control knobs that will allow you to customize the sound of each preset according to your personal taste! These knobs are loaded with a preset value. In the "Basic Presets," and in the "Recording Style Presets" the knob assignments are: Knob 1 - EQ 1. A "progressive" tone control that has larger effect on the lower parts of the keyboard. With this EQ, you can filter out the bass frequencies of your left-hand playing without affecting the right hand solos. When making your own recordings, this is a way to emulate different microphone set-ups. Note: No note should be longer than 45-50 sec when "EQ 1" is used. At around 50sec into the note there will be a slight bump in volume. Note 2: In the "Recording Style Presets" Knob 1 is assigned to Reverb Room Size. The Room Size control is only active when Reverb is set to a value higher than "0". Knob 2 - EQ 2. A tone control that affects the whole keyboard range equally. Turn the knob clock-wise to make the piano sound "thinner." Use this control on its own, or together with "EQ 1" to shape the sound of the piano so it will "sit right" in a mix with other instruments. This control is also practical to adjust the amount of bass frequencies when playing back from your home stereo speakers. Knob 3 - Reverb. Turning this knob clockwise will add a digital room reverb (not to be confused with the true hall reverb available in the "Wet" presets). If the knob is left at 0%, the Reverb will be disconnected and will not put any strain on the computer processor. Knob 4 - Width. Regulates the stereo width of the piano sound. At a 50% setting the stereo width will be the perspective actually recorded. At a setting higher than 50%, the stereo width will be artificially expanded. A smaller setting than 50% will render a shrunken stereo width. This effect comes in handy if you would like to change the placement of the piano on the sound stage. Just shrink the stereo width of the piano, and then use the "Pan" control knob to shift the piano to the left or to the right. Turning the knob all the way counter-clockwise will result in a mono signal. Knob 5 - Compression. Turning this knob clock-wise will amplify the softer sounds in the piano. The result will be a richer sounding piano with less dynamic difference between soft and loud. To compensate for the overall higher volume, you may need to turn down the volume knob somewhat. Knob 6 - Tune. This knob will adjust the overall tuning up or down. Knob 7 - Pan. This control moves the sound to either Left or Right in the stereo perspective. Use this knob with "Knob 4" to position the piano on the sound stage (stereo field). Knob 8 - Volume. Turn the Volume knob to a value above "0" for a louder sound. Values below "0" will lower the sound. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Minimum Requirements 6.0 GB Free Hard Disc Space DVD Drive Windows XP, Pentium 4/Athlon 1.8 GHz Mac: OS 10.2.6 or higher, G5 512 MB RAM The Kontakt Player needs a soundcard for playing the sounds of Virtual Grand Piano. Standard DirectSound, MME or ASIO drivers required; Windows-compatible MIDI hardware if required. The Kontakt audio engine is designed to make use of the processing power of your computer?s CPU. The powerful and complex algorithms of the Kontakt Player work best on modern CPUs. Recommended Requirements 6.0 GB free hard disk space DVD-ROM drive Windows XP, Pentium 4/Athlon 2.4 GHz or faster Mac OS 10.2.6 or higher, G5 1.6 GHz or faster A MIDI interface is required if you are using a MIDI keyboard, another MIDI controller or an external sequencer. The MIDI interface integrated in many sound cards can also be used. We recommend 1 GB or more of RAM. The more RAM the better. The Kontakt Player needs an audio card for playing the sounds of Virtual Grand Piano. Standard DirectSound, MME or ASIO drivers are required. Windows-compatible MIDI hardware is required. The Kontakt audio engine is designed to make use of the processing power of your computer?s CPU. The powerful and complex algorithms of the Kontakt Player work best on modern CPUs. Compatibility Windows XP (Standalone, VST