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Best software virtual pianos

Get the best piano sound without shelling out thousands for the real thing. We have ten great options to suit all budgets and each one will help you sound like a concert pianist within the comfort of your DAW…
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Computer Music
October 2022
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welcome
welcome
DOWNLOAD See page 83 to find out how
Essentials
When you can’t stand the heat
NEW RELEASES • COMMENT • INDUSTRY HAPPENINGS
IK Multimedia’s AI Machine Modeling
IK’s AI Machine Modeling will model whatever gear
Get with the programmers
Steinberg have recently ditched the dongle in favour of a better and faster licensing system. Here’s the company’s Ben Timms to explain all…
App watch
We report on the latest developments in phone and tablet music making
COMPUTER music 10 years back
Our monthly shake-of-thehead at our earlier selves’ news choices…
Spitfire announce a complete orchestra, for free
It’s not often that we cover anyone other
Ins & outs
FENDAW Fender’s Andy Mooney has said that having
Bargain Basement Beats
ONSALE WED 7 SEP Get your beats for
15 Questions with…
15 questions with… The Maghreban
With three decades of production in many different genres under his belt, Ayman Rostom’s latest album, Connection, could be described as ‘a bit of a melting pot’ of different styles. But with praise from Pitchfork, The Quietus and Resident Advisor, plus fans including Ben UFO, Benji B and The Horrors, it might well be a candidate for dance album of 2022…
Cover feature
DELAY TACTICS
The delay effect is the pro producer’s favourite effect. Here’s how to get creative and cost effective with your own set of delay tactics
DELAY DECADES
All good effects begin with a great sound source, and they don’t begin in a more organic setting than this
Using delays
There is more choice in delays than there are repeats created from the feedback control, so we guide you through the best place to use certain styles and types
6 of the best paid-for delays
When it comes to choosing the perfect delay, there’s plenty of choice and delay types out there. Here’s our round up of the top paid-for contenders
6 of the best free delays
Despite the lack of pricetag, there are still some highly impressive delays to call upon, if you’re working to a tight budget. Here’s our rundown of the best freebies…
Jean-Michel Jarre-style delay
Throughout the early years of electronic music production, tape delays were a reliable tool for thickening textures. We draw a little ’70s inspiration, and apply some tape work to a String Machine
The WEM Copicat delay
The WEM Copicat was one of the first tape delays to be widely available. Fast forward and Computer Music has its very own tape-style delay from PSP Audioware and we’ll put it to some good guitar use
Create Jon Hopkins-style delay degrading
We’ll now use a delay to influence a reverb and some bit-crush distortion, a popular effect used by many of today’s electronic artists like Bonobo and Jon Hopkins…
cm/expert guides
Kate Bush’s synth sound
Recreating a synth sound from an ’80s classic? Stranger things have happened, and that’s the hill we’re attempting to run up this month
Create chill-hop drums
In this tutorial you’ll learn how to combine sampling with synthetic tools to create your own drum patches
cm/interview
CHICANE
Dance music legend Chicane, aka Nick Bracegirdle, is back in the UK and revisiting the blissed-out, Balearic beats he’s renowned for – his new release celebrates the 25th anniversary of his debut album Far From the Maddening Crowds, produced with an all-digital computer music setup
Old-school vibes for the new Chicane album
When he was getting ready to start work
Back To Basics
The Pro Producer’s Guide To Headroom and levels
How loud can you go? Where’s your head(room) at? Why do you have to be careful with levels? Here’s our guide to signal-to-noise ratio, gain staging, headroom and a lot more as we continue our Back To Basics journey through some of the first principles of music production…
cm/reviews
The latest computer music gear tested and rated!
Reviews
Softube Model 82 €99
It’s the return of the unintended vintage classic! Softube revisit 1982 and teach us a thing or two about old-school charm with their 101 clone
Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL) Synchron Prime Edition €595
If you’re considering dipping your toe in the orchestral palette, VSL may have the prime package for you, as their new edition gets Synchron-ised
Solid State Logic DeEs s £89
De-essing can be a tricky thing to get right. Maybe this new plugin from SSL can help you crack it
Bitwig Studio 4.3 €399 PC MAC LINUX
Each regular update makes genuine additions to this impressive contemporary DAW. Let’s see what the latest has to offer
GoranGrooves PC MAC Handy Drums $60
In the market for powerful, punchy drums without the long-winded faff of fine-tuning your life away? Handy Drums might just rock your world…
Spectrasonics Keyscape €349/$399
TYPE : Keyboard with 36 modelled keyboards |
Spitfire Audio Hans Zimmer Grand Piano £349
TYPE : Multisampled grand piano | PRICE: £349
Garritan Abbey Road Studios CFX Concert Grand $199
TYPE : Sampled version of the Yamaha CFX
Synthogy Ivory II Studio Grands £285
TYPE : Two sample-based grand pianos | PRICE:
Native Instruments Alicia’s Keys £89
TYPE : Sampled Yamaha C3 Neo grand piano
Orchestral Tools Vivid Keys €79
TYPE : Sampled Yamaha C3 grand piano |
Toontrack EZKeys From €29 to €155
TYPE : Multiple sampled instrument and MIDI file
XLN Audio Addictive Keys €199.95
TYPE : Multisampled keyboards | PRICE : £199.95
Modartt Pianoteq 7 $899
TYPE : Modelled pianos | PRICE : Stage
e-instruments Session Keys Grand Bundle €159
TYPE : Two iconic multisampled grand pianos |
Soundware round-up
HydraTek Mutant £19.99 Next level soundpack for Vital,
cm/downloads
> Free software PC MAC HORNET MULTICOMP CM
This month, the cm Plugin Suite gets a big boost with a fantastic new dynamics processor from long term contributor, HoRNet
Delay samples!
It’s a delay theme so we’ve got two all-new packs of d-d-d-delay samples plus classic echoes and the latest Loopmasters samples. Download them now!
Classic echo samples
We go back to issue 280 for these two classic sample packs…