'The Piano Suite' 2 is our flagship acoustic piano expansion featuring 7 beautifully multisampled acoustic pianos recorded with up to 8 velocity layers to create breathtakingly realistic pianos that allow for dynamic and expressive playing in all modern MPCs and the Akai Force.
The expansion features the following acoustic pianos:
- Concert Grand A vintage concert grand piano with a dark, rich timbre. 8 velocity layers
- Studio Upright Clear tone with plenty of depth and presence. 8 velocity layers
- Console Piano A compact upright piano with a contemporary sound. 4 velocity layers
- Saloon (Tack) Piano Distinctive piano sound indicative of old Western movies. 4 velocity layers
- Toy Piano tine-based toy piano with distinctive bell-like sounds. Single velocity layer with round robins.
- Parlor Grand a medium sized grand with a very pleasing tonal character. 4 velocity layers
- Spinet Upright a small vintage upright with a timbre that falls somewhere between the console and saloon sound. 4 velocity layers
In total we've included 72 ready-to-play instrument patches covering a broad range of piano sounds including pop, bright, ballad, intimate and a number of more unique patches including 'old vinyl', experimental patches, and the classic 'layered strings' piano sound:
We've spent serious time optimising these instruments utilising sustain looping to ensure that even the 8 velocity pianos remain 'standalone-friendly' - for example, loading the 8 velocity Concert Grand still leaves 92% of system memory available. We've also included great sounding 'compact' versions that use approximately half the memory which are perfect those times when project memory is really tight.
And with the 2.1 update, Piano Suite now features our innovative 'Sample Chain' tech, super-charging load times so all instruments now load almost instantaneously on standalone MPCs (2-3 seconds each on the notoriously sluggish Force browser!).
The Piano Suite 2 uses standard MPC keygroup programs making all patches fully compatible with pad perform mode and the arpeggiator, or you can simply hook up your favourite MIDI keyboard and play the pianos as nature intended! Browser previews are provided for all 72 patches so you can quickly find the exact piano sound needed for your project, and you can of course 'dive in' to tweak any instrument to your exact requirements by adding or change FX and adjusting a number of performance features. Full installation & customisation instructions are given in the included User Guide.
Requirements:
Piano Suite 2 is compatible with any modern MPC running MPC 2.10 or greater. This means it is 100% compatible with any of the following:
- MPC X, MPC Live (I & II), MPC One, MPC Key 61
- Akai Force (3.1+)
- MPC Software 2.10 or greater
- MPC Beats App
- MPC Renaissance/MPC Studio/MPC Touch running MPC Software 2.10+
- The new MPC Studio 'Mk 2' controller
- Any non-MPC controller mapped to MPC Beats or the MPC Software 2.10+
The download contains a dedicated installer for standalone MPCs & the Force, plus a separate 'drag and drop' XPN installer for the MPC Software and MPC Beats. Full step-by-step installation instructions are provided in the included User Guide. Total disk space required for installation is 720 MB.
Built For Modern MPCs & Force
Piano Suite 2 is compatible with all modern standalone MPCs running MPC2 & MPC3, the MPC Software, MPC Beats and the Akai Force.
FAQs
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Does this work in standalone MPCs and the Akai Force?
Yes, it's 100% compatible with all modern MPCs such as the MPC X/SE, MPC Live 1,2 & 3, MPC One/One+, MPC Key and Akai Force. We've included a dedicated 'standalone' installer for easy drag-and-drop installation to your standalone MPC disk (plus an XPN file for optional MPC Software installation).
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Are the patches easy to edit?
Yes, they use standard keygroup programs so you can easily edit effects and programs parameters such as LFO, filter, envelopes etc.
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How did you get 8 velocity layers? Doesn't the MPC only have 4?
An MPC keygroup program has 4 velocity layers per keygroup, so we can achieve 8 velocity layers by assigning two keygroups to the same note, with one keygroup handling lower four layers, and the second keygroup handling the higher four. Then repeat this for all the required notes - find out more in MPC-Tutor's 8 layer MPC instrument tutorial.
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Do these pianos require a lot of memory?
No! We've spent a lot of time optimising the instruments use the smallest memory possible - and once a piano is loaded into RAM you can load all its patches without using any additional RAM (all patches for a particular piano share the same underlying samples). Loading an 8 velocity piano and all its patches leaves around 93% of system memory still available.
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How do I preview the different instruments before loading?
Go to the browser and make sure 'AUDITION > AUTO' is set. Now when you tap on an instrument in the browser the MPC will play a short audio demo for that instrument.
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Can I play these instruments with a MIDI control keyboard?
Yes, just hook up your keyboard to your MPC (via USB, MIDI cable etc) and you can immediately play the instruments with the keyboard. Set up instructions are provided in the User Guide.
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I cant play keyboard, can I still use these instruments?
Yes! You can play the instruments directly with your pads and they also fully support PAD PERFORM mode which maps pre-built chords and scales across your pads.
Technical Specs
| Contents: | 7 multisampled acoustic pianos with 72 instrument patches and 940 samples (merged into 34 sample chains) |
| Format: | 24 Bit WAV, XPM. |
| Compatibility: | Modern MPCs running MPC2 or MPC3 in standalone or controller mode. Also suitable for the Akai Force, MPC Software & MPC Beats |
| Supported Hardware: | MPC XL, MPC Live 3, MPC One / One+, MPC Live, MPC Live 2, MPC X / SE, MPC Key 37/61, Force. |
| Minimum Software/Firmware: | MPC 2.15, MPC 3.6, Force 3.3 |
| Disk Space Required For Installation: | 720 MB |
| Developer: | Pad Pimps |
| Delivery: | Download instantly after purchase |
| More Info: | Piano Suite 2 User Guide |
