Steinway piano in a flash

Sound Magic Mega Steinway Special Edition: a musical collection of virtual instruments based on eight Steinway pianos

Sound Magic creates Mega Steinway SE virtual piano plug-in on flash drive, featuring eight instruments and almost forty user-adjustable controls

Virtual piano software developer Sound Magic has announced availability of Mega Steinway Special Edition — a collection of modelled virtual piano plug-ins based on eight Steinway pianos on a custom flash drive. As implied by the name, Mega Steinway Special Edition is a musical collection of virtual instruments based on pianos occupying a significant place in the company’s history. Steinway is well known for making high-quality pianos and also for inventions within the area of piano development. Founder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg had previously built 482 pianos in Germany before emigrating to the US.

Among the other piano sounds included is Anton Rubinstein’s Steinway, modelled on the piano played by the Russian pianist, composer and conductor during his US tour in 1872-73. The 1927 Vintage Steinway D is modelled on a flagship concert grand piano, representing the early 20th Century Steinway sound. Horowitz Steinway, modelled on the CD 443 by Russian-born American classical pianist and composer Vladimir Horowitz, is arguably the most legendary grand piano of all time. Lang Lang’s Modern Steinway, modelled on the Steinway grand piano used in recent years by Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang, represents the latest Steinway sound in the early 21st Century. Steinway B, modelled on the best-selling grand piano, is widely used as a practice piano by many young musicians and the Boston Home Upright is modelled on Steinway’s mid-level budget brand.

Mega Steinway Special Edition uses Sound Magic’s Neo Piano Hybrid Modelling Engine that evaluates a MIDI track or performance to determine the optimum balance between RAM and DFD (Direct From Disk) usage. The modelling engine also recreates ethereal harmonic changes and, in the case of Mega Steinway Special Edition, Sound Magic captured the harmonics for all eight pianos — 15 harmonics per piano and built mathematical models for each piano, using the Neo Piano Hybrid Modelling Engine to shape the timbre and dynamics to best fit the model.

Moreover, the new user-defined damping system precisely emulates real damper behaviour and another major breakthrough is the resonance engine. Every grand piano has a large soundboard reflecting sound that then resonates with the piano’s wooden body. In order to simulate this behaviour, Sound Magic first captures multi-angle IRs (Impulse Responses) from the soundboard, then converts those IRs into resonance engine algorithms.

Mega Steinway Special Edition is now available to purchase as a custom flash drive featuring the eight modelled virtual piano plug-ins (VST and AU 32- and 64-bit, as well as AAX 64-bit for Mac OS X and Windows) for £240. For more details, visit: supremepiano.com

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