Piano VSTs are a songwriter’s best friend. The piano is one of the best instruments to use for writing, arranging and producing music.
That’s why a great sounding piano plugin is a helpful and inspiring tool in almost every genre.
Those inspiring sounds lead to creating better music.
For a great rendition of a Yamaha C7, a well-regarded concert piano that’s found everywhere, from studios to concert halls, look no further than Piano. It’s only one of many piano plugins that Sound Magic offers, but it’s the only free VST package. Home Free VST Plugins Piano One VSTi- free Yamaha C7 Concert Grand virtual replica Sound Magic has released Piano One, a free piano VST instrument featuring sounds from the Yamaha C7 concert grand. By utilizing the Sound Magic Hybrid Modeling Engine, Piano One offers both the Realistic Sound of Sampling and the Playability of Modeling.
There are tons of piano plugins out there, but most of them are expensive. The top picks can cost a fortune.
But you don’t have to spend big money to get a great sound.
That’s why I’m rounding up the 10 best free piano VSTs that will give you an inspiring acoustic piano tone in your DAW.
1. Spitfire Audio LABS Soft Piano
Spitfire LABS contains some of the best free plugin instruments available.
LABS is an ongoing series of free software instruments made by musicians and sampling experts in London. It’s updated with new sounds constantly and sports an easy to use user interface.
Their soft piano plugin is still a go-to piano sound for many professional composers. Some musicians have actually used this free VST plugin to write entire albums of solo piano music
Soft piano delivers a warm, solemn tone. This sampled instrument was recorded with a thin strip of felt between the hammers and the strings for an evocative sound.
2. Ivy Audio Piano in 162
Piano in 162 is a sample library of a Steinway Model B grand piano made with a comprehensive sampling approach. The library includes two round robins, five dynamic levels, and separate pedal on/off samples.
Round robins are the number of different samples per note. The plugin will select a random sample each time the note is played, contributing to the realism of the sound.
Round robins are the number of different samples per note. The plugin will select a random sample each time the note is played, contributing to the realism of the sound.
Piano in 162 was recorded at 96kHz through two pairs of Rode NT5 cardioid microphones—an ambient pair in the hall and a close pair inside the piano.
You’ll need a sampler to run this library. Piano in 162 is compatible with the full version of Kontakt, or on Plogue Sforzando which runs .sfz files. Sfz files are text files that store instrument data for software synthesizers.
3. Prism Audio Atmos Piano
Atmos Piano is a perfect piano plugin if you’re looking for that dreamy, distant sound. It’s perfect for intimate ambiences, or a cinematic bed.
Atmos is a robust 2.4 GB library with 241 different samples. There are two separate microphone sources that can blend together with decay and release parameters.
If you’re looking to create an atmospheric, ambient piano soundscape, then this piano plugin is a perfect choice.
4. Keyzone Classic
Keyzone Classic is an all-round piano plugin. This sample based plugin is capable of replicating some of the most sought after piano brands.
The presets include Yamaha and Steinway grand pianos, as well as electric piano and Rhodes.
Keyzone Classic also sports common parameters you would find on a synthesizer. ADSR, and an LFO able to affect pitch, expression, and pan can allow you to shape a unique piano sound.
With its incredible sound shaping parameters, there’s no question why Keyzone Classic is often recommended as a go-to free piano VST.
5. Versilian Studios Upright No. 1
Versilian Upright No. 1 is billed as a lightweight sketching plugin, but definitely sells itself short. It’s an excellent representation of a classic upright piano.
This upright piano VST was sampled using wide and close mics. Like Keyzone Classic, Versilian Upright offers ADSR controls as well as built in reverb and panning.
The intensive sampling of this plugin includes 3 velocity layers with 2 round robins; sampled in tritones with a pair of wide, close mics. The samples include full decays of up to 30 seconds, which allow for great versatility when you use a sustain pedal.
Versilian Upright No. 1 is a go-to upright piano vst that will bring authenticity to your music.
6. Soundmagic Piano One
Soundmagic Piano One comes from the sampling of a Yamaha C7 concert grand. It uses its own hybrid modelling engine to capture the well known sound of the C7.
This engine combines the realistic sound of sampling and the playability of modelling. The playability is responsive due to the modelling while the sampling makes the sound crisp and realistic.
The user interface includes an absurd amount of controls for a piano VST. It allows you to customize just about anything. Interesting features include piano noises, audience and player perspective, and tuning systems.
7. 99Sounds Upright Piano
99Sounds Upright Piano is an upright piano plugin recorded by Italian pianist and engineer Rudi Fiasco. It features four sampled notes per octave and six dynamic layers per sampled note.
99Sounda Upright piano features a simple interface with ADSR, volume, and reverb controls.
What makes this VST a bit different is that it includes filter and tremolo control. If you’re looking to create a vintage lofi sound inside of a plugin, this one’s for you.
8. 4Front R-Piano
4Front R-Piano is a bit different then most of the sample based plugins on this list. R-Piano is inspired by RSP73 pianos, a popular discontinued electric piano plugin.
R-piano generates 127 different layers continuously, under a vintage overdrive. You won’t have worry about common sample library issues like CPU load or stuck notes with R-piano.
While this piano VST doesn’t exactly emulate a realistic piano, it can work well as an alternative to the Rhodes electric pianos
9. DSK The Grand
DSK The Grand is a lightweight plugin at just 51 MB in size. If you’re low on space and need a piano plugin to finish your track, then this piano VST is for you.
It contains 4 velocity layers, with 4-6 samples per note. The user interface is simply laid out containing ADSR controls, and a reverb.
By tweaking the release parameter and using the on-board reverb, you can get this small plugin sounding huge.
10. Bigcat Instruments Iowa Grand Piano
Yamaha Keyboard Vst
Bigcat Instruments Iowa Grand Piano is the free piano plugin you want if you’re looking for absolute realism. Iowa Grand Piano is a Steinway & Sons Grand recorded with a pair of Neumann KM 84 microphones. It’s hard to believe that this one is free.
Most piano VST’s are sampled every third note to save space for round robins and velocity layers. Iowa Grand Piano includes virtually every note of the piano with three velocity layers.
The individual samples are available for download, and exist in the public domain. This means you can use them in your music on the sampler of your choice. The plugin interface features standard ADSR controls, volume, and pan.
Free-an-issimo
You don’t have to empty your wallet for a professional piano sound.
Download these plugins and layer them on top of one another.
Split them by left and right hand to get a unique sound.
Overview
Pianotrone is a grand piano emulation based on the Bösendorfer 170, Kawai 600, Steinway Model C, Yamaha C5 and C7 acoustic grand pianos models. Available as plugin in VST 32 bit and 64 bit and VST3 64 bit versions for Windows / Audio Unit, VST and VST3 for macOS.
Features
• Quick selector to switch between different preset sounds:
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• ADSR envelope generator with Attack, Sustain, Decay and Release parameters:
Ø Attack determines the time it takes for the note to get to the maximum level.
Ø Decay determines the time it takes for the note to go from the maximum level to the sustain level (controlled by Sustain).
Ø Sustain determines level the sound is played at while the note is held (after the other envelope states, Attack and Decay, have been completed).
Ø Release determines the time it takes for the note to fall from the sustain level to zero (silence) level when it is released.
• Pitch Bend: The Pitch Bend knob directly changes the pitch of the selected instrument.
Ø Pitch Bend center position: is normal pitch.
Ø Pitch Bend down: Specifies the amount of pitch change that will occur when the pitch bend/modulation lever is moved to the left.
Ø Pitch Bend up: Specifies the amount of pitch change that will occur when the pitch bend/modulation lever is moved the right.
• Reverb built-in: provides a spaciousness and depth to simulate the sound reflections from walls, floors and ceilings following a sound created in an acoustically reflective environment. Small rooms can be modeled as well as large spaces.
• Filter Type. Combo box to switch between the following options:
Ø Low Pass (LPF): a filter that passes signals with a frequency lower than a certain cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies higher than the cutoff frequency.
Ø High Pass (HPF): a filter that passes signals with a frequency higher than a certain cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies lower than the cutoff frequency.
Ø None: No filter is applied.
Ø Cutoff Frequency Filter: Sets the cutoff frequency for the low pass and high pass filters.
• Volume: Adjusts the volume of the instrument.
• Panning potentiometer control: Set the panning of the instrument. Adjusts the stereo pan position of the signal output, which determines how much of signal is sent to the left and right channels.
• MIDI CC Automation: Implementation of MIDI Continuous Controller parameters for use with external hardware control via DAW, such as: expression (CC#11), volume (CC#7), pan (CC#10), balance (CC#8), filter cutoff (CC#74), ADSR (Attack: CC#73, Decay: CC#75, Sustain: CC#76, Release: CC#72) and reverb depth (CC#91).
Before you install VST, VST3 or Audio Units plugins, please make sure your computer fulfills the following requirements. Please test extensively the demo version of this product in your host to make sure there are no misbehaviors before purchasing.
Operating System: Windows Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit platforms).
VST or VST3 compatible host application 32/64 bit: These VST/VST3 software can be 'plugged in' to any host application that supports VST or VST3 Technology like: Image-Line FL Studio, Steinberg Cubase Pro, Artist and Elements, Steinberg Nuendo, Cakewalk by BandLab, Cockos REAPER, PreSonus Studio One, Acoustica Mixcraft, Ableton Live, MakeMusic Finale, Avid Sibelius, Magix ACID Music Studio, Magix Samplitude Music Studio and Pro X, Cantabile, n-Track Studio, DarkWave Studio, Bitwig, VSTHost, SAVIHost among others.
MIDI Controller Device: A MIDI Controller is required to play this VST instrument. The most common type of device in this class is the keyboard controller. After launching the Digital Audio Workstation or MIDI host application be sure to select the appropriate MIDI device before attempting to play your MIDI controller.
An ASIO® sound card is recommended for low latency real-time play.
Operating System: macOS Sierra, macOS High Sierra, macOS Mojave, macOS Catalina, macOS Big Sur. We do not officially support older systems such as PowerPC or deprecated versions of Mac OS X. However our plugins may work, but we cannot guarantee any performance on such old systems. In all cases, always we encourage you to test the free demo version of the software.
Audio Unit, VST or VST3 compatible host application. They can be 'plugged in' to process audio by applications such as Logic Pro, GarageBand, Cubase, Ableton Live, REAPER, Studio One Professional, Ardour, MainStage and Digital Performer among others.
MIDI Controller Device: A MIDI Controller is required to play this VST instrument. The most common type of device in this class is the keyboard controller. After launching the Digital Audio Workstation or MIDI host application be sure to select the appropriate MIDI device before attempting to play your MIDI controller.
Limitations of the Unregistered/Demo Version:
The AU, VST2 and VST3 Plugins DEMO versions is only meant to give you a taste of what is possible with this plugin in a limited range of an octave with random ‘white noise’, where Middle C equals C4. All full versions have sampled 61 keys, except the Yamaha C5 module with 88 keys. For complete information of MIDI key range available, check out the pdf file titled 'Comparison Chart for Limitations of the Demo Version'
- Minor adjustments in GUI.
- Minor modifications have been made to the default settings.
- Added link to website in company logo.
Fixed bugs:
- Message error in selector was fixed for Cubase, V-STack, Sibelius and Reaper hosts.
- Sporadic crash in Synapse Orion was fixed.
- Small bug fixes.Electric Piano Vst Free
The full version is available to purchase, as downloadable software, the price isUS$ 44,90
Please be aware that we do not offer refunds. To determine whether the software meets your requirements prior to purchase, we encourage you to test the freedemo of the software plugin and read our License.
Piano Free Vst
VST™is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- und Hardware GmbH
Audio Units™ is a trademark of Apple Inc.
Bösendorfer is a registered trademark of L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH.
Free Yamaha Piano Vst Plugin
Kawai is a registered trademark of Kawai Musical Instruments Mfg. Co., Ltd.
Steinway is a registered trademark of Steinway & Sons.
Yamaha is a registered trademark of Yamaha Corporation.