Garritan Abbey Road Studios CFX Concert Grand Piano Software

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Bring your MIDI tracks to life with a meticulously sampled Yamaha CFX concert grand piano -- recorded in Abbey Road Studios with multiple mic perspectives.

This Garritan virtual instrument library captures the awesome Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Piano in Abbey Road Studios' legendary Studio One. Award-winning engineers produced three discrete microphone perspectives to create a virtual piano of breathtaking power and beauty.

Microphone Perspectives: To expand your creative possibilities, Abbey Road Studios' engineers created three discrete microphone perspectives: Classic, Contemporary, and Player.

- Classic: The Classic perspective most faithfully captures the natural tonal character, clarity and nuance of the instrument. Close - 2 x Neumann M49 and 2 x Neumann KM184 Microphones: As every piano, recording venue, repertoire and pianist are different, the M49 and KM184 are used to capture a close detailed sound, which is especially good for chamber music. Mid Field/Wide - 2 x DPA 4006 Microphones: The DPA 4006's placed at each end of the piano create a wider and more spacious sound picture. Main - 2 x Neumann TLM50 Microphones: The Neumann TLM50 are placed 2m away from the instrument and at 2.6m in height. This captures the overall complex frequency response and dynamic range of a grand piano.

- Contemporary: The Contemporary perspective creates a piano sound that is bright and hard with lots of attack from the hammers, but also maintains the piano's warmth with intimate ambience. Close - AKG C12 & D19 Microphones: The AKG C12 is a bright sounding valve microphone with bite and some nice valve warmth. The mono D19 placed in the centre read more over the hammers was run via a classic REDD.47 valve microphone preamp, adding central focus and "poke" to the close sound of this set up. Ambience - Schoeps MK 2H Microphones: For the Ambience microphones Schoeps MK 2H are used in a close position. They are able to bring the sound of the room to the mix, without losing too much of the definition of the piano's initial attack.

- Player: The Player perspective offers the experience of playing the CFX, from the piano bench, in Studio One, particularly when reproduced over high quality headphones. Close - 2 x Neumann KM84 Microphones: This is a straightforward stereo pair placed closely and directly over the hammers. It provides an immediate sound of the piano with little coloration from the room. Player - Neumann KU100 Dummy Head: The Binaural KU100 Dummy Head was placed directly behind the musicians head. This provides an intimacy to the instrument mixed with the unmistakable sense of playing the instrument in the acoustics of Studio One.

The Piano

The mighty CFX concert Grand is Yamaha's flagship piano. It represents the pinnacle of what is truly possible when no expense or resource is spared to create the ultimate concert grand piano. In fact, a team of 40 of the world's most talented piano designers, craftsmen and pianists spent 20 years developing this piano; it truly is a masterpiece of craftsmanship, power and beauty. Each CFX is painstakingly hand-crafted by a small, dedicated team and each CFX has a fully removable action that can be specifically calibrated for the setting, performer and even the repertoire. Additionally, it has never been sampled for a software library before!

The Studio

Since it's inauguration by Sir Edward Elgar in 1931, Abbey Road Studio One has become one of the most famous and busiest recording spaces in the world. From the Beatles to Adele and from Star Wars to James Bond, it is almost certain that you have something in your media collection that was recorded in Studio One. It is the venue to which the world's top musicians and composers turn when they require the very best.

The Recording

The sound of the CFX was captured by a team of highly experienced Abbey Road Studios recording engineers, each contributing decades of knowledge in recording pianos for a variety of applications. At their disposal was arguably the richest and most storied microphone collection available anywhere.

The entire Garritan team has endeavored to create a virtual instrument that is an organic, expressive and versatile tool for the creation of piano music of any kind. Garritan's dedication to accessibility and excellence is epitomized in the CFX Concert Grand Library. Without this new virtual instrument, few would have access to Yamaha's phenomenal CFX concert grand piano, let alone the opportunity to record in Abbey Road Studios' historic Studio One with the greatest technicians and recording equipment in the world.
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System Requirements

- Windows: Microsoft Windows 7 or later, Audio interface compatible with ASIO
- System Requirements - Macintosh: Mac OS X 10.7 or later

General Requirements:
- Multi-core processor required
- 4 GB RAM minimum required (8 GB RAM or greater recommended)
- 122 GB of free hard drive space is required for "Full" installation; 24.5 GB is required for "Compact" installation.
- A dedicated hard drive with fast interface (SATA, USB 3.0, Firewire 800, Thunderbolt) is recommended. A solid-state drive (SSD) is preferred.
- Internet connection for updates and online registration
- USB port required for boxed version installation

Recommended:
- A MIDI interface may be required if you are using a MIDI keyboard. Many keyboards now use USB.
- The ability to assign controllers within your keyboard, music program, or sequencer is recommended
- High-quality speakers and amplifier, or high-quality headphones

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 360-376-5766

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars. (1 ratings)
Submitted December 28, 2014 by a customer from hotmail.com

"Garritan Abbey Road Piano Software"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
excellent ~ a gift at the price point.

Musical Background:

50+ hobby

Musical Style:

church, christian, children, comedy, show, swing, folk, bluegrass, country, rock, blues, jazz, tv, film, songwriter.
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