Plucked Grand Piano

Introducing 8Dio’s Plucked Grand Piano library dedicated to deep sampling of plucked and hammer struck grand piano strings. The Plucked Grand Piano was created by public demand from 8Dio users, since it’s never been properly deep sampled before. The instrument is best described as a hybrid crossbreed between a harp, clavinet, guitar/lute and the unforgettable sound of the harpsichord. In addition, there is an added bonus hammer-struck articulation, using a custom miniature hammer. The sound has some resemblance to a hammered dulcimer.

Every note was captured with sustains and release triggers, over multiple velocities and round-robin variations, using a massively over-sized nylon guitar pick for the “plucked” articulation. Then a small 1-oz. stainless steel hammer was used to strike each string for the “hammered” articulation. The unique thing about plucking or hammering a piano string that creates such a starkly different sound from simply playing it with the normal keys is that first, you only strike a single string, rather than the full choir of 2-3 identically tuned strings that a pianos hammer normally strikes to achieve the full sound typical of a piano. Even though the other strings resonate sympathetically with the primary string being struck or plucked, the sound is much more singular, focused and narrow, with more buzz and “wah” in the sound. It’s much more like a harp crossed with a gigantic 88-string guitar, yet completely unique.

The purpose of this library was essentially to focus on the clean and most direct interpretation of plucked and hammered piano, presenting it as a massive ultra-wide-ranged zither/dulcimer-esque instrument, as a clean, fundamental starting point on what is becoming our long journey into the inner world of the piano.