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Propellerheads Reason Pianos Refill

Propellerheads Reason Pianos ReFill gives you three amazing-sounding Hypersampled acoustic pianos with the kind of presence and playability you normally wouldn’t associate with sampled pianos. Until now. Where other piano libraries leave you with a fixed piano sound that may or may not suit your project, Reason Pianos does just the opposite: these pianos were recorded using multiple microphones, leaving the mixing and shaping of your piano sound to you. You create piano sounds that suit your mix, not the other way around. A large selection of Combinator presets ranging from basic microphone setups to wide multi-mic patches guarantees you absolute sonic control. There’s no one way to record a piano. And, there’s no one way to mix one.

Reason Pianos is the perfect piano package: three stunning sounding, highly realistic pianos for Reason’s Combinator. Reason Pianos were recorded from multiple angles, using six different sets of microphones. Why? Because there’s no one way to record a piano.

The Pianos presentation:
The featured pianos were chosen for their classic pop and rock friendly sound; the Steinway D is considered to be the world’s finest grand piano, the Yamaha C7 is a classic rock and jazz piano with a distinctive sound, and the Steinway K is a well balanced upright known for its deep tone. These instruments were hand-picked and then tuned and adjusted to perfection.

Piano In the mix:
The Piano with its wide tonal range and broad frequency spectrum is a notoriously tricky instrument to fit into a mix. Not any more. The four stereo pairs and the two separate mono microphones used to record the pianos are all represented as individual channels in Reason’s mixer, allowing you to tailor your piano sound to suit the other elements in your songs. Use plenty of mics or just a few, whatever sounds best. The mono ribbon mic signal alone might be perfect for a busy track. Need more bass? Simply bring up the floor microphones a notch. Or, give the individual mics some EQ or compression or other FX. For further sound sculpting, use the Combinator’s front-panel rotaries and buttons to control release resonance, presence, dynamics and more.

Classically unclassical, yet classy:
The Reason Pianos ReFill does not seek to deliver a set of clinically perfect, scientifically reproduced concert pianos in a box. These are pianos you can use. Pianos to play. Pianos that simply sound good - without filling up your harddrive or chewing up all your RAM. These hypersampled pianos are sophisticated and highly responsive instruments - play softly or put some weight into it, and you’ll feel it.

Forget multisampling - this is hypersampling:
The three pianos reproduced in the Reason Pianos ReFill were recorded in large, hardwood floored recording rooms, the perfect environment for pop piano recordings. In order to capture every aspect of the instruments - from the way they resound in the room to their unique timbres and characteristics - they were all recorded at multiple velocity levels, from multiple angles, using six different sets of microphones. A quality blend of vintage and modern day technology was used throughout the recording process, for that warm, yet crystal clear sound.

How does hypersampling works?
Multi-dimensional instrument reproduction The Reason Pianos ReFill was created using Propellerhead Software’s Hypersampling method. Multisampling is the industry standard for digital representation of acoustic and analog instruments. While the method has been refined somewhat over the years, multisampling still has a few shortcomings:

1. The dynamic resolution is too low, failing to capture the subtle nuances between the steps. Reason Pianos use 4 velocity levels and 25 sampling points across the keyboard.
2. Typically, a single microphone (or a merged signal from multiple microphones) is used, leaving the recording distance, ambience and character set in stone. The Reason Pianos samples were captured through ten different microphones (4 stereo + 2 mono), giving the end user complete control over all aspects of the sound relating to microphone placement and signal mix.
3. The strive for manageability and RAM efficiency often results in the omission of certain subtleties, for example the sounds made when strings or keys are released. This negatively influences the realism of the multisampled instrument. Reason Pianos incorporate hammer noise and release resonance samples, thus mimicking real pianos all the way from keystroke through key release.

Propellerheads call this hypersampling. Think of it as multi-dimensional sampling, because it gives you complete control over many aspects of instrument reproduction that are normally off limits to the end user.

Multiple velocity levels for capturing each instrument’s full dynamic range.
Multiple microphones for capturing and controlling distance, ambience and characteristics.
Multiple variation sampling for capturing the human input and the different quirks and noises that bring life to an instrument.

The recoding studios:
The Steinway D and K pianos were recorded in Studio 5 at Sveriges Radio, Sweden’s public service radio. In the early 1960s, SR built a number of large studios to accommodate orchestras and big bands, for recording and live broadcasts. The smallest, Studio 5, is known for its warm and pleasant acoustics and soon became a favorite for chamber orchestra and jazz ensemble performances. The Yamaha C7 grand piano was recorded at NordHansen Studio (formerly known as Europa Studio), one of Sweden’s oldest and most renowned studios where artists like Bob Marley, Quincy Jones, Errol Garner, Sivuca, Refugee All Stars and Jojje Wadenius have recorded music.

Reason Piano Refill Contents:

1 Steinway D Grand Piano
1 Yamaha C7 Grand Piano
1 Steinway K Upright Piano

42 Preset Piano Patches:

Ready-made Combi patches comprising numerous microphone setup combinations for all three pianos: 29 Style Piano Patches;
A selection of Combinator patches ranging from classic piano sounds to tweaked-out layered instruments: 11 Producer Piano Patches;
Producer Patches Top producers have created production friendly piano patches using Reason’s processors and effects: 8 Template Patches;
Pre-wired empty piano patches to serve as starting points for creating your own sounds: 14 Reverb Patches;
Reverb Patches Luxurious, Piano-friendly reverb patches for Reason’s excellent RV7000 unit: 5 Demo Songs;
Demos Professionally produced, differently styled demo song files. Created and mixed in Reason.

Propellerheads Reason Pianos Videos:
Quicktime Format: Good: View / Download (17 mb); Better: View / Download (33 mb);
WMA Format: Good: View / Download (25 mb); Better: View / Download (33 mb);

Propellerheads Reason Pianos Demo Mp3 Songs:
Devine Prelude by Richard Devine (2.8 mb);
Fawke’s Last Flight by Chris Griffin (3.2 mb);
Praise the Pianos by Andreas Aleman (1.4 mb);
Princess Kumi by Jae Deal (4.4 mb);
Printz Board by Printz Board (2.7 mb).

Recording Reason Pianos Screenshot:
Propellerheads Reason Piano Recording

Reason Pianos ReFill Microphone sound examples:
To demonstrate more specific characteristics of the Reason Pianos ReFill, we have put together the following audio examples:

Microphone Parade
A track that demonstrates the sound of each mic lined up one after the other. The mics fade in and out in the following order:
1. Close mics
2. Jazz mics
3. Ambience mics
4. Floor mics
5. Ribbon mic
6. Bottom mic
Listen: Microphone Parade example;

Mic Combinations
A track that demonstrates combinations of microphones. They change every four bars and sets of between two and three microphones are used in each segment. Note that the ONLY thing that changes is which mics are used. Not compression or EQ or any of that, only the mics:
1. Close + Bottom
2. Bottom + Ribbon
3. Ambience + Ribbon
4. Jazz + Floor + Bottom
5. Close + Ribbon
Listen: Mic Combinations example;

Release Samples demo
Release samples consists of two elements, independently controllable from the combinator panel; Release Resonance and Hammer Noise. This example shows the same track with and without these elements. Note that for the purpose of demonstration the levels of the release elements has been set fairly high.
Listen: Release Sample On; Release Sample Off;

Reason Pianos Screenshots:
Propellerheads Reason Piano Combi Skin

Pricing and Availability:
The Reason Pianos ReFill is now available from all Propellerheads Dealers Worldwide or directly online from Propellerheads PropShop for a MSRP of US$129 / EUR120.

About Propellerhead Software:
Propellerhead Software is a privately owned company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Formed in 1994, Propellerhead has created some of the most innovative new music software (ReBirth, ReCycle and Reason) and technology standards, including ReWire and the REX file format, which are used extensively in all kinds of music production. Propellerheads’ ReBirth program was the first virtual emulation of vintage analog gear - a trend that now dominates the music software arena.