Garritan Abbey Road Studios CFX Concert Grand Virtual Piano, Upgrade Dealer Download

Passion Reflected in Every Detail
We placed the awe-inspiring Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Piano in Abbey Road Studio One, where award-winning engineers used the world's greatest microphones and equipment to create a stunning virtual instrument library.

Every facet of this project reflects the perfection that only the most passionate can produce: the instrument, the room, the engineers, and the mics. Experience the passion reflected in every detail.

The Garritan Abbey Road Studios CFX Concert Grand sound library is AAX, RTAS, VST, and AU compatible, and is proudly powered by the ARIA Player. There's no need to purchase a separate sampler.

A truly remarkable virtual piano
The Garritan Abbey Road Studios CFX Concert Grand places the user on the bench before the Yamaha CFX, an incredible concert grand piano characterized by a wide palette of tonal colors and the ability to create the most subtle, expressive nuances. This beautiful instrument is matched with the stunning acoustics of Abbey Road Studios' legendary Studio One and the finest collection of microphones in the world.

All facets of this project - the instrument, the room, the mics, and the recording expertise - work together to create the finest sampled piano ever captured. Experience the passion reflected in every detail.

Engineering
The sound of the Garritan Abbey Road Studios CFX piano was captured by a team of highly experienced Abbey Road recording engineers, each contributing decades of knowledge in recording pianos for a variety of applications.

Microphone set-ups, also referred to as perspectives, have a huge effect on the overall sound of the recorded instrument. Each set of perspectives speaks specifically to various musical settings.

The set-ups are a hybrid of classic techniques handed down from generation to generation of balance engineers within Abbey Road Studios since the 1930s, mixed with more contemporary and experiential arrays that perfectly complement each other. These set-ups have been and are continually used by the finest recording artists in the world and have been presented here for use as a sampled instrument for the first time ever.

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 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 straight forward 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 Garritan Abbey Road Studios CFX Concert Grand sound library is AAX, RTAS, VST, and AU compatible, and is proudly powered by the ARIA Player. There's no need to purchase a separate sampler.

Presets
Garritan has worked closely with Abbey Road Studios to develop presets that are both functionally useful and inspiring to play. Research included artists and genres as well as notable recordings, cinematic settings and live performance examples to make the CFX as flexible and versatile a musical instrument as possible.

Classic

Default
This is the default preset for the Classic microphone perspective of the CFX.

Classic Rock
The M49s and KM184s combine with some EQ and a custom velocity curve to make a "Close" solid rock piano sound with depth for the classic perspective.

Dark Cinema
This preset is designed to emphasize a darker tonal pallet. This has been paired with the "Dark Pad" convolution preset to add a moody and ethereal flavor to the piano.

Dull Resonance
This highly resonant sound is muted with a closed lid position. Minimal dynamic range and a custom velocity curve give this muted sound some sudden timbre changes.

Glimmer
The piano has been set to have a sharp cutoff when a note is released. This has been combined with "Vintage Algo" convolution reverb to create a glimmering after effect in the reverb.

Goldberg 1981
A famous recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations was used as a reference. There is a clear and direct mic position mixed with a more distant and quiet ambient response.

Paul's Perfect Piano
Both sustain and sympathetic resonance are boosted in this very ambient preset.

Solo Piano 1
A slight emphasis on the Close Mic make this an ideal setting moody classical pieces.

Solo Piano 2
Both close and ambient channels are set with short releases give a different shade of the CFX classic tone.

Solo Piano 3
This is a classic sound with the soft pedal engaged and a slight emphasis on the Ambient Mics.

Vintage Evans
Smooth, balanced and classic vintage jazz piano.

Contemporary

Default
This is the default preset for the Contemporary microphone perspective of the CFX.

BBBBennie
This lively preset puts you on stage for a 70's style pop hit.

Big and BOLD
Saturation and ambient bass are pushed to limit in this bombastic sound.

Bright Poke
The D19 and C12 microphones in the close channel with some eq boost create a hot saturated pop sound good for comping and stabs.

Brighton Rock
Set up to bright and taught, this preset has a light touch and is EQ'd to cut through the mix.

Chicken Wire
An alternate tuning, a slightly lighter touch and a closed lid give the piano a raw, moody flavor.

Dark and Distant
This spooky preset is darkened with EQ and given extra space for a lingering suspenseful haunting sound.

Mirek's Rock Sound
Saturation and lower dynamic range with an easy velocity curve puts this piano right in your face.

Newman Beauty
A melodic and ambient preset that is useful for a cinematic sound.

Paul's Pokey Piano
This whimsical preset cuts the bass and decreases stereo width while placed in a jazz club ambience. Great for that in the other room sound.

Soft and moody
A warm atmosphere is created with the D19/C12 combination. Hi EQ is pulled back and a custom velocity curve restricts play to the quietest samples.

Player

Default
This is the default preset for the Player microphone perspective of the CFX.

Big Head Space
The KU100 dummy head is soloed here with cuts in mid and low EQ. A light sound is created that echoes through a deep reflective reverb.

Soft Player
This is KU100 with the soft pedal engaged for a soft and delicate touch and some "Deep Space" optional reverb loaded.

Mad Hatter
A very dynamic and spritely feel that is great for various jazz and dance styles.

CutnRun
Release Decay and Release Volume are set to 0, Release Crossfade is set to 3 and EQ's are sculpted to give the piano a tight and lively flavor.

Edward's Reflection
Only the KU100 is engaged to capture the most natural ambience of Studio One from the bench of the CFX.

Jamamatsu
Highs, Lows and Mids are sculpted with an adjustment to the velocity curve to give the piano a warm and open characteristic.

Lately
The piano is set up to have a warm tone for chords and a shine for stronger lines.

Village Grinder
An emphasis on the KM84 over the KU100 with a "half-stick" combined with some saturation and convolution reverb give this preset the flavor of a "working" piano in a Manhattan jazz club.

Wendyhouse
Featuring a dramatic Scala tuning, this preset has an erie effect perfect for texture and mood.