[NAMM] EastWest Quantum Leap Pianos

More than half a million dollars’ worth of pianos are included in this collection, all meticulously recorded by EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP producers Doug Rogers and Nick Phoenix. These include a $225,000 Bechstein D-280 Concert Grand, the same kind of piano engineer/producer Ken Scott used to record Elton John, David Bowie, and Supertramp. EASTWEST invited Scott to engineer the Bechstein’s close-miced recordings to provide users with a cutting, dynamic pop/rock piano sound, in addition to the variety of other piano sounds included in the collection.

Other pianos featured in the library include a Steinway D Concert Grand; a Bösendorfer 290 Concert Grand; and a Yamaha C7.

The Quantum Leap Pianos library is packed with 270 GB of content at 24-bit/44.1kresolution, the largest and most detailed piano collection ever created. Users can install one, two, three or all four pianos on their computer’s hard drive. The collection also offers added flexibility, providing users with three microphone positions per piano as well as ten to 16 velocities per note (and again in soft pedal, sustain pedal, and soft sustain). In addition, every piano offers 16 distinct staccato velocities.

For a true repetition sound, repetition samples are taken from 180 BPM performances and the software detects true repetitions. Pedal resonance was recorded for every note at multiple velocities, as well as with the soft pedal down. Proprietary resonance was captured on the Bösendorfer. True multi-velocity soft pedal samples with and without sustain pedal are also included, as well as release samples with software envelope follower.

The Quantum Leap Pianos library was recorded at EASTWEST Studios—formerly Cello Studios and site of the legendary United-Western Studios in Hollywood, California—with three user-controllable microphone positions for each piano. Every sample was recorded in a proper piano environment with vintage Neumann microphones, a vintage Neve 8078 console, and Meitner analog-to-digital converters.

Quantum Leap Pianos carries a MSRP of $495.