Best Free Software For Midi Keyboard – Getting the perfect piano sound on a budget isn’t difficult. These are the best free piano VST versions that you can download right now.
The piano is one of the pillars of Western music—a foundational element of countless classical, popular, and experimental styles throughout the ages. Once upon a time, only elite royalty and the ultra-rich had access to a piano. Today, anyone with a computer, a MIDI controller, and a free VST piano can learn to play this beautiful instrument.
Best Free Software For Midi Keyboard
Can be a difficult proposition at times. Some digital audio workstations (DAWs) such as Ableton Live and Logic Pro X are loaded with very useful piano sounds. These virtual instruments are great for practicing and getting ideas, but playing straight out of the box, they usually don’t have the unique character you want to bring to your recordings.
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There are two main methods that plug-ins use to reproduce the sound of a piano: sampling and modeling. Sample-based piano instruments rely on real piano recordings that are then played using the keys on your MIDI controller. Model-based piano plugins are more like digital synthesizers: A sound engine recreates the sounds of a piano, simulating how the keys sound when played in real life.
To help you get the piano tone that’s right for you, we’ve compiled a list of the best piano VSTs you can find online. This list is by no means exhaustive, but if you’re looking for advanced virtual instruments that you can download right now to use in your tracks, these plugins will set you up for success. Let’s get started!
(Looking for more free music software to up your production game? Check out our list of 11 free music production downloads.)
Arcade de VST is not your traditional piano. Our huge sample area contains thousands of loops, beats and sounds from all kinds of keyboard instruments, including piano! It is perfect as a starting point for new ideas or to put the finishing touches on your tracks.
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Different songs and styles require different types of piano and keyboard instruments. Maybe what you need is a rousing gospel organ line or a set of jazzy piano chords ready to break into a boom-bap classic. Arcade’s easy-to-use interface lets you search by instrument and style, so you can find classic piano, vintage Mellotron or retro synth keys in a flash. A whole world of different pianos and keyboards are available to add instantly to your mix.
Because Arcade sorts Samplers based on instrument mood and treatment, you spend less time finding the perfect sound and more time writing music. Then, transform the samples inside Arcade using various modifiers and time stretches, change or cut things with the click of a button, while staying in the tempo and key of your track. Ruin and hurt to your heart’s content.
Arcade gives you instant access to all of these amazing piano sounds and thousands of sounds, with hundreds of new sounds added to the library every few weeks.
London-based company Spitfire Audio is known for its sophisticated orchestral libraries and other professional-grade sample collections. While collaborations with famous composers like Eric Whitacre or Hans Zimmer can run you hundreds of dollars, the LABS Spitfire series offers an incredibly proven set of tools that you can use in your DAW for free.
M Audio Hammer 88
Spitfire LABS has a variety of piano instruments for different scenarios. Soft Piano, featuring piano hammers for a more muted sound, is great for meditative tracks, while Piano Pads and Modular Piano are perfect for atmospheric and vocal music. There are also beautiful electronic piano instruments (Wurli, Electric Piano).
Piano One developer Soundmagic has over a million downloads for their free piano plugin, and for good reason. Based on the iconic Yamaha C7 grand piano—one of the world’s best-selling concert-level pianos—Piano One features the same hybrid modeling engine found in other SoundMagic products. This essentially offers a compromise solution between sampling and modeling, aiming for the realism of sampled instruments with the flexibility of a modeled piano.
Piano One is packed full of features for a free plugin. There’s a panel to control the volume of the piano’s auxiliary sounds—like the sound of pedals or “action”—and a set of seven velocity curves to change the dynamic nature of your performance. If you just need a reliable, free VST piano that sounds close to a “standard” piano, than jumping, give this a try.
Sample Science is a one-man audio production company that offers some great free plugins in addition to paid content. One such free tool is Room Piano, a lightweight tool built with upright acoustic piano samples. It sounds great when played on its own, but Room Piano really shines when used as a layer under synths or other sounds. It has a built-in reverb, filter and LFO that can be used to make the piano sound as surreal or synthy as you want.
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There is a drawback. The plug-in has a small file size because it uses a small number of registers – two-note tempos every three semitones – so the dynamic range is very limited. This plug-in will suffice for adding flourishes or placing piano under other sounds, but solo performance can reveal its shortcomings. However, for a free piano VST, Room Piano is a great tool to have in your arsenal.
If you stop and picture a grand piano, you probably think of something like the Steinway Model B, which has been the standard for concert grands for over a century. The Ivy Audio Piano in 162 is a proven virtual instrument built from the sounds of the B model and carefully recorded with a six-microphone setup by engineer Simon Dalzell as a student at the University of Arizona.
Don’t mistake this for a distinctive school project: Piano 162 has a wide dynamic range in its samples, allowing you to be more expressive with your playing. The simple interface allows you to mix the sound of pairs of near and surround microphones to adjust the sound, and most importantly, this tool is available in formats for both Native Instruments Kontakt or SFZ format players, such as sforzando.
Bigcat Instruments’ Iowa Grand Piano is a solid, compact VST piano built from open Steinway samples obtained at the University of Iowa’s Electronic Music Studios. You don’t have any microphone mixing options unlike the Piano on the 162, but you
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Get built-in EQ, reverb and envelope/velocity curve options to make your piano hits perfectly match your production.
Although Bigcat is now discontinued, many of Kontakt’s free libraries and tools are still available on its website. If you’re looking for other piano VST options, check out Urban Piano, Whisperer, and Salamander Piano, all of which are recorded using different piano models and microphone settings and offer unique sounds.
Maybe you don’t need real piano sounds. Maybe the piano you want is textural or more mysterious – in that case the free Electronik Atmos 2 offering is sure to appeal to you. Fans of dark and “cinematic” piano will find things to love in this free plugin.
The defining feature of this instrument is an atmospheric layer that can be mixed with the main piano signal to create a basic drone. You can leave it alone for a subtle effect or fire up the Atmo Lvl button to bring back the ambient layer. The built-in LFOs allow for some variable pitch modulation, giving your entire sound an organic feel. Atmos 2 is a free VST piano, but it’s a special piano that has to be played to be believed.
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If you’re looking for the best free MIDI software, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you need to connect a MIDI keyboard or other MIDI devices, you need a MIDI program. It allows you to play and create music anytime.
Some MIDI software has been developed that sounds like a musical instrument. For example, you play a MIDI keyboard and hear the sounds of a piano or saxophone. Some MIDI programs change the music you play