Rigid Audio has unveiled the free Rigid Grand piano virtual instrument, designed for the full version of Kontakt.
This 1.5 GB grand piano library is multi-sampled, featuring 16 velocity layers and distinct release samples.
Rigid Grand delivers a natural and warm sound. Users can adjust the sound using the integrated reverb control and blend control, which incorporates a downpitched variant of the piano.
Based in Berlin, Germany, Rigid Audio is known for its specialized Kontakt instruments.
Rigid Grand was crafted exclusively for the paid version of Kontakt, with version 6.8.0 or newer being necessary.
The original sampling of the piano library was conducted by Alexander Holm and Chisato Yamauchi.
Rigid Audio’s founder and CEO, Dennis Lenz, showcased the creation of Rigid Grand using Kontakt GUI Maker in a video on the product page.
The video serves both as a demonstration and a brief audio demo of Rigid Grand.
This virtual instrument is based on an open-source piano library uploaded by Holm and Yamauchi the previous year, which is also linked on the product page.
Holm and Yamauchi’s 48 kHz, 24-bit library is described as an “SFZ semi-concert grand piano with a high level of homogeneity/continuity, capable of producing beautiful sounds by remastering all 480 samples of the Salamander Grand.”
Additional audio demos of the original piano library, hosted by Yamauchi, are available in a detailed post about the library’s creation here.
The creation process of the library was meticulous, ensuring top-quality samples as explained in the post.
Professional musician Katsuhiro Oguri contributed to the audio demos by providing the necessary MIDI data.
These demos highlight various classical piano performances.
The project by Yamauchi and Holm is ongoing, with version 4.0 of the instrument released on May 14, 2024, followed by a beta for version 4.1 a week later.
Development for version 5 is currently underway.
Lenz utilized Kontakt GUI Maker to develop Rigid Grand.
Kontakt GUI Maker is a Rigid Audio product that enables users to create and sell their own Kontakt instruments without needing programming knowledge.
This tool is available for Windows and macOS, currently offered at an introductory price of $60, down from the regular $80.
The full version of Kontakt is 64-bit only and compatible with Windows and Mac in VST3, AU, and AAX formats.
Download: Rigid Grand (FREE – Kontakt version 6.8.0 or higher required)
