CHROMA UPRIGHT PIANO BY SONUSCORE
KK-ACCESS REVIEW
The humble Upright Piano appears to have undergone somewhat of a popular renaissance of late, with it being the subject of a number of new sample libraries.
Whether this is a result of user demand, or perhaps due to it’s elder and larger sibling, the Grand piano already having been sampled in almost every conceivable way, is a matter for debate.
This new release from Sonuscore, Chroma Upright Piano is their own unique perspective on the trend and is now a companion and stablemate for their existing popular Chroma Grand Piano.
Here, Sonuscore have deeply sampled a 100 year old German Wilhelm Diemer Upright Piano, using a plethora of high quality microphones, and then designed the interface to include both the authentic natural samples, in conjunction with ‘The Engine’ which can add more creative elements.
Chroma Upright Piano boasts 27 velocity layers, 8 round robins, 4 microphone positions, and flexible sound shaping options, meaning that this Upright piano may well offer musicians the best of both worlds in bridging the gap between a traditional, and yet still desirable contemporary atmospheric sound design genre.
TECH SPECS
Chroma Upright Piano requires Kontakt version 7.10 or higher, or the equivalent free Kontakt Player, and is compatible with all versions of Komplete Kontrol as a host for Kontakt.
17GB of hard disk space are required for installation, for the NCW format samples that it uses.
There is one master Chroma Upright Piano Kontakt NKI preset, with a further 97 NKSN snapshot presets all of which will be found within the Komplete Kontrol factory browser.
DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION
As a Kontakt Player product, the entire library can be authorised, downloaded & installed through Native Access 2 after pasting in your post purchase serial number.
Once finished, running Komplete Kontrol either as a standalone application, or directly in your preferred DAW will engage the KK auto scan to add Chroma Upright Piano to the factory browser ready for your immediate use.
FULL KOMPLETE KONTROL NKS PAGE MAPPINGS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE END OF THIS REVIEW AFTER THE MEDIA LINKS
ACCESSIBILITY
The nine available pages of NKS mappings are divided into the two sound aspects that are presented within the library.
The first three pages deal specifically with the Volume & Attack of the main Piano articulations, these being, Key, Felt, Muted, Pluck, Harmonic, and Bowed.
There are also volume controls for Mechanical noise, Note On, Note Off, Pedal Noise and adjustment of the Dynamic Range.
The Reverb and EQ controls are perhaps a little basic, the reverb simply offers the Amount & Size, whilst there is High & Low Gain for the EQ. Both do have On/Off options, making the use of an external choice a tangible alternative.
There are some parameter controls within Chroma Upright which have not been brought across to the NKS template, such as the release adjustment for each of the articulations. This is similarly the case for the octave switching (which allows the transposition of the individual articulations ).
Also, the ability to adjust the velocity curve is strangely absent, which for many pianists may be a reasonably high priority.
Fortunately however, all is not lost with these omissions, provided you are running the latest versions of Komplete Kontrol 3 with NKS 2 integration.
Due to the later version of KK now bringing over any parameters that have been made automatable within Kontakt, they are now also available for loaded instances of Komplete Kontrol, where they are visible in the parameter list of a DAW.
Naturally this is wholly dependant upon the developer having made these parameters automatable in the first place, but fortunately in this instance Sonuscore have done so.
It may not bring all of the convenience we associate with the hardware knob assignments, but it is at least not the accessibility showstopper that it once might have been.
THE CHROMA ENGINE
Our NKS mapping tour now continues with further pages dedicated to what Sonuscore refer to as ‘The Engine’, this is where control of the processed elements of the library reside.
Here, we once again have controls for the same articulations, however this time they reflect their behaviour when loaded into the aforementioned processing aspect of the Engine.
There is an ~Engine Variations On/Off toggle, along with a Timing sync switch, which has related settings for either Milliseconds or Beat Values, the latter is determined by the Sync control being turned on, where it will then lock to your project tempo, and any loaded rhythmic content will follow suit.
We then have assignments for Decay, Density, Spread, Octaves, Detune, Sample Start, Reverb, EQ, Delay, Lo-Fi, Rotator, and finally to conclude, volume controls for the four microphones, which are Front, Above, Below & Rumble.
CHROMA ARTICULATION LOADING
I observed that access to, and the relative control of both the clean piano and engine articulations is as you would expect reliant on them being loaded in the first instance.
However, in this respect, it seems that it is not possible to load them directly from NKS, if they are not already a part of the preset.
As an example, the main Chroma Upright Piano NKI, has only the clean Keys piano articulations loaded, and as such we are unable to directly engage the engine articulations from the Komplete Kontrol keyboard.
The same is true in reverse, meaning Engine only presets will not have the clean samples preloaded.
Again, this is not a showstopper, but it is perhaps something to be aware of, hence choosing to use either a piano, engine or combined preset as a starting point as the way to go.
Fortunately, I once more discovered that it is still possible to turn on the other articulations, but again provided you are running the latest versions of Komplete Kontrol 3, as starting at around number 184 in my Reaper parameter list, there is a whole series of parameters simply labelled as On/Off.
With a little forensic intuition, I was able to determine that these turned on the various Main & Engine articulations, although I have to say that having these properly labelled would make life so much easier, and less of a guessing game.
THE CHROMA PRESETS
The factory presets that Chroma Upright Piano ships with are divided into three bank categories, Piano, Engine, & Combined.
These descriptors are fairly self explanatory, essentially representing the more pure piano sound, followed by the more creative elements, & then finally a mix of the two (which incidentally also features the most content in terms of overall preset count.
Audio example of Chroma Upright Piano, from the Sonuscore Trailer
The Chroma Upright Piano has certainly been nicely sampled, it has a rich, well balanced tone, with a wide and dynamic range which feels responsive to play.
When you hit and hold down a note, even without the use of sustain, it will ring for a long time, with a clear and natural resonance, the person who restored and tuned this piano certainly knew what they were doing!
There are single preset articulations available for each of the (for want of a better word, clean ) articulations, and here the Felt was especially pleasing, I did drop the volume for the ‘below’ microphone position by a small amount, which reduced the slight boominess to my personal preference, leaving a warm and intimate velvety timbre.
There are a few presets which demonstrate the more radical library possibilities, such as ‘Synthetic Drizzle FX’ or ‘Electric Surge FX’, which if nothing else, do show off the libraries diversity.
Take a click on the media links at the review footer to hear the Chroma Upright Piano in action, the song demos on the product page are certainly well worth a listen.
CONCLUSION
Sonuscore have delivered a versatile piano in Chroma Upright. The wide tonal flexibility mean that it is equally comfortable in the conveying of a gentle, emotive cinematic cue, as it is an up tempo rock song.
It is also equipped with enough of the necessary mechanisms for use within more ambient style tracks.
Chroma Upright Piano from Sonuscore can be purchased directly from their website, currently on a limited period intro price of $109.00
Bundle offers are also available when bought with Chroma Grand Piano.
Chroma Upright Piano Product Page:
Chroma Upright Piano Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBxK4BEhCBc
Chroma Upright Piano – Preset Playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQAxjb9f5WM
Chroma Upright Piano User Manual:
https://www.sonuscore.com/guests/manuals/Chroma_Upright_Piano_Manual.pdf
KOMPLETE KONTROL PLUG-IN EDIT NKS PAGE MAPPINGS
Page One – Main Articulations
Knob 1 – Key Volume
Knob 2 – Key Attack
Knob 3 – Felt Volume
Knob 4 – Felt Attack
Knob 5 – Muted Volume
Knob 6 – Muted Attack
Knob 7 – Pluck Volume
Knob 8 – Pluck Attack
Page Two – Main Articulations, Mechanics, dynamic Range
Knob 1 – Harmonic Volume
Knob 2 Harmonic Attack
Knob 3 – Bowed Volume
Knob 4 – Bowed Attack
Knob 5 – Mechanics Note On Volume
Knob 6 – Mechanics Note Off Volume
Knob 7 – Mechanics Pedal Volume
Knob 8 – dynamic Range
Page Three – Main Reverb & Main Reverb
Knob 1 – Reverb On/Off
Knob 2 – Reverb Amount
Knob 3 – reverb Size
Knob 4 – Not Allocated
Knob 5 – EQ On/Off
Knob 6 – EQ High Gain
Knob 7 – EQ Low Gain
Knob 8 – Not Allocated
Page Four – Engine Articulations
Knob 1 – Key Volume
Knob 2 – Key Attack
Knob 3 – Felt Volume
Knob 4 – Felt Attack
Knob 5 – Muted Volume
Knob 6 – Muted Attack
Knob 7 – Pluck Volume
Knob 8 – Pluck Attack
Page Five – Engine Articulations & engine Settings
Knob 1 – Harmonics Volume
Knob 2 – Harmonics Attack
Knob 3 – bowed Volume
Knob 4 – Harmonics Attack
Knob 5 – Engine Settings, Variations
Knob 6 – Sync On/Off
Knob 7 – Time in Ms
Knob 8 – time in Beat Values
Page Six – Engine Settings
Knob 1 – Decay
Knob 2 – Density
Knob 3 – Spread
Knob 4 – Octaves 1 to 4 Upwards
Knob 5 – detune
Knob 6 – Sample start in Ms
Knob 7 & 8 – Not allocated
Page Seven – Engine Reverb & Engine EQ
Knob 1 – Engine Reverb On/Off
Knob 2 – Reverb amount
Knob 3 – Reverb Size
Knob 4 – Not Allocated
Knob 5 – Engine EQ On/Off
Knob 6 – EQ High Gain
Knob 7 – EQ Low Gain
Knob 8 – Not Allocated
Page Eight – engine Delay, Lo-Fi, Tape
Knob 1 – Engine Delay On/Off
Knob 2 – Delay Amount
Knob 3 – Delay Feedback
Knob 4 – Not allocated
Knob 5 – Engine Lo-Fi On/Off
Knob 6 – Lo-Fi Amount
Knob 7 – Engine Tape On/Off
Knob 8 – tape amount
Page Nine – engine Rotator, Microphone Mixer
Knob 1 – Engine rotator On/Off
Knob 2 – Rotator Amount
Knob 3 – Rotator Speed
Knob 4 – Not Allocated
Knob 5 – Front Microphone Volume
Knob 6 – Microphone above Volume
Knob 7 – Microphone Below Volume
Knob 8 – Microphone Rumble Volume
(c) Chris Ankin
KK-Access.com
4TH July 2024
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About the Author
Based in Buckinghamshire, England, Chris Ankin has worked as a freelance review writer and contributor with articles published in Sound On Sound, Home & Studio Recording and ST Format Magazines.
He has also successfully worked extensively in and around the music, recording, film Soundtrack scoring, Game & media composition, the creative arts, Charitable trusts,publishing, music streaming and property investments since 1982 whilst continuously and deliberately managing to evade any mainstream recognition under his own name by the use of various pseudonyms.
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