Free Virtual Piano

When it comes to making music, a computer isn’t really capable of fully replacing an instrument, but it sure can get really close. Depending on the desired result, specialized applications like Free Virtual Piano can be used, in this case to simulate a piano, with a built-in recorder system to also save your jam sessions.

You need to go through a quick, and uneventful setup process so the application can deploy all of its components to ensure functionality. Launching it instantly brings up the main window, with a custom design inside a classic window frame, and high-quality textures used to draw the keyboard, a pair of speakers, and other decorative elements.

Unless any external MIDI device is hooked to your computer, the default input method is your PC keyboard. This can be configured through dedicated drop-down menus, where it’s also possible to pick the recording device. Interacting with the provided keyboard can also be done with the mouse cursor, although it’s difficult to play this way.

Sound quality is decent, but implementation of sound trigger is rather poorly done. In other words, holding down a key doesn’t decay the tone, but rather simulate repetitive pressing. Moreover, real time playback is frustrating, with a short delay now and then between notes, including faulty emissions.

As far as the recorder goes, this can either use speaker sound, or a connected microphone, depending on configurations. Using speaker sound is handy for interacting with the given keyboard, although resulting quality is poor because of faulty sound emissions. Output is always an MP3 file, saved at a custom location, but there are no quality options to configure.

All things considered, we come to the conclusion that Free Virtual Piano manages to make a decent first impression, but a little time spent going through the set of features results in disappointment. The concept is good, with a powerful recorder component, but sound, and trigger implementation have a considerable impact on overall practicality.