Piano V2

Even with the advent of synthesizers, samplers, and digital audio workstations, one classical instrument still prevails. I’m writing, of course, about the piano, an instrument that never seems to get old and can be heard throughout many contemporary music genres. While many professional musicians will argue that nothing sounds better than a good acoustic piano, there are still plenty of digital options available for those who can’t afford the real thing (or don’t know how to play one that well).

So if you want to achieve realistic piano compositions inside the box, then you should really consider a virtual instrument called Piano V2.

No high-quality digital piano will use samples to produce sounds, and Arturia’s Piano V2 makes no exception. Advanced physical modeling was used to recreate not one, not two, but 12 different acoustic pianos. You can thus switch between a few grand pianos, a few upright pianos, and even two “oddities” like a glass and a metal piano. I’m no expert, but they all sounded very authentic to my ears.

Moreover, you can adjust a wide variety of parameters that can alter your sounds significantly. Tuning strings and hammers is done by just twisting a few knobs. You can also adjust the velocity curve that affects key response; needless to say, this application/plugin works best when played with a MIDI controller with at least three or four octaves.

In the plugin’s intuitive interface, you can switch between different studio setups for positioning microphones, choose one of many different rooms with different sizes and reverberations, add a bit of delay, and use a compressor and an equalizer to polish the sound. You can also browse through a few presets and determine how and if you can add them to your compositions.

To conclude, the Piano V2 is an extremely versatile virtual instrument that is very fun to use and can make a worthy addition to your plugin collection.