EMPEROR

The Old Lady and The Emperor

The final 24 bit grand piano libraries!!! EMPEROR: This library brings you an incredible Bösendorfer 290 SE as the most realistic sample library available today. The piano has a huge dynamic range, with very subtle pianissimo and thunderous fortissimi. 12 recorded velocity layers, with 12 separate sustain pedal down layers and release triggered samples. OLD LADY: This library brings you an amazing Model 1923 Steinway D grand piano. Sampled with 10 recorded velocity layers with 10 separate sustain pedal down layers and release triggered samples.

The recorded piano was equipped with an advanced computer operated playback mechanism that was designed by mathematician, scientist and inventor Wayne Stahnke. The mechanism actually operates the piano keys and pedals with over 1.000 steps accuracy for inverse hammer velocity. The Stancke computer system enabled Amsterdam based sample library producer Michiel Post to capture each velocity layer for this library with absolute velocity levels. These levels guarantee a totally even response across the whole keyboard for all velocities. The programming of this piano is designed to take full advantage of the possibilities of the new GigaStudio 3 software. This results in more programmed velocity layers. The Emperor has 24 recordings for each key. These recordings were further divided in 64 velocity groups, each a slight variation of the underlying velocity layer sample. These libraries use a new programming to create the sustain pedal effect. Traditionally, conventional piano libraries use the sustain pedal as an ON-OFF switch, which has to be pressed before a note is played. These libraries lacked the possibility to re-pedal as in a real concert grand piano. Now this barrier has been broken. The PMI EMPEROR & OLD LADY libraries allow the user to press the sustain pedal at any time while playing notes or chords to start the sympathic resonance of the non-struck strings. There is a choice of convolution using the impulse response of the body resonance of the actual piano and a programming technique that adds the recorded resonance as an extra layer. GigaPulse (the convolution engine in GigaStudio 3) is also used for recreation of the original acoustics of the piano hall where the pianos were recorded.

For the GigaStudio3 version please see this dedicated INFO Page. Special features for GigaStudio 3: Body resonance for reproduction of the true body resonance upon sustain pedal use, Hall resonance, true re-pedalling, sustain pedal triggered pedal noise etc.

- Kontakt 1.5 and Kontakt 2 ,  HALION and EXS 24 ( all 24 bits versions) on one DVD.

 These formats are supported on Mac and PC programs via RTAS, HTDM (Mac), AudioSuite, VST, DirectX (Win), MAS (Mac), and Audio Units (Mac). GigaStudio 3 will be a free update for registered users adding IR’s based reverberation, GigaPulse body resonance and ReWire support. The IR’s and extra noises are also available as a free download in the update section. PMI IR’s. You can download the latest program updates in our on-line: support section .

For the GigaStudio3 version please see this dedicated INFO Page. Special features for GigaStudio 3: Body resonance for reproduction of the true body resonance upon sustain pedal use, Hall resonance, true re-pedalling, sustain pedal triggered pedal noise etc.

Notes on other formats: HALION. The programming for this platforms includes the real-time re-pedalling, special release layers and more features. To be able to use the IR-based features you need to route the piano through your own convolution application (Altiverb, PristineSpaces, Waves, SIR or others). The extra noises upon sustain pedal are not supported at this time. EXS: Real time pedalling is not possible in EXS at this moment. 

For product demos visit: DEMO Page.

You can download free playable demo files (176 MB for the Old Lady and 310 MB for the EMPEROR) on DEMO Page. There are fully functional demo files for Giga 2, Kontakt and HALION. The Giga 2 version uses 16 bits samples, Kontakt and HALION use 24 bits samples. 

Recommended system: 1.0 GHz (MAC) / 2 GHz (PC), at least 1.000 MB of free RAM, recommended OS: Windows XP/Mac OSX.

One of these softsamplers: HALION 2 or higher, Kontakt 1.5 or higher, GigaStudio 2.5 or higher or EXS24 MkII.

The Giga version is compatible with several other softsamplers but PMI does not supply patches for these formats.

To compare this product with the other available pianos from PMI you can visit the Product Comparison Page.

About PMI.

PMI is a leading provider of piano sample libraries for professional and consumer musical markets. PMI has fifteen years of expertise in sample recording and signal processing to radically improve perceived sound quality of sampled instruments. PMI’s award-winning sample libraries are utilized in the creation of many of the world’s most popular music, movie soundtracks, and multimedia titles. Previous products cover musical instruments as concert grand pianos, church organs, harpsichords, historic keyboards, accordions and others.