Butter Knife Upright
An upfront mono piano of a Ludwig upright
Bylorenzowoodmusic
The story
I did this sample really quickly using just my iPhone, using GarageBand so I could record higher quality than voice memos. I recorded the individual notes pretty close to the hammers so it’s not a typical regular sounding piano. I find it can be useful when an upfront mono piano is needed. Hope you enjoy!
Reviews
I can't believe this was recorded with a phone.
So you are telling me this pristine sound quality comes from an iPhone recording? Unbelievable, honestly. And not only this is sampled amazingly well, it also plays well in all aspects. As for the character of it, well, it speaks for itself. The very prominent attack is one of the best ones, if not the best I've heard on Pianobook. It is slightly controllable via the Tone knob too, since it takes away some of the higher frequencies. The release triggers are also nice and optional.
A very nice contribution, especially considered this is available for DecentSampler which means completely free for everyone.
For a recording made with an iPhone this is seriously impressive...
I'm amazed at the quality here of the recording. There's a hint of that subtle natural compression that iPhone recordings tend to have but that actually adds to the character of this instrument. The mono style make it perfect for running through tape emulators etc. But also this has such a bright sound that it works great for lead lines that need to pierce through a mix.
Playing the strings with a butter knife..?
Look how far sampling has come, the end result is fantastic no matter how you recorded it, but it's all the more impressive from a phone. Definitely not a typical piano, almost reminds me of when I played the piano strings with a butter knife years ago, not sure if that's where the name came from. With just a small amount of reverb this piano really widens out and sounds great. I think these recordings close to the hammers would be perfect for a Swarm or Stratus style approach if you ever want to go reuse the samples for something really crazy.