The Crow Hill Company’s Vaults collection offers a continually rotating selection of virtual instruments and sample libraries that are offered for free upon release, before being retired for the current line-up and remaining available via a small donation. 

The latest addition to the line-up is Harmonic Piano, which captures the sound of a pair of two grand pianos played without lids at Castlesound Studios, and with the creators employing an interesting technique. Aiming to sample the instruments’s quietest, most elusive voices, the team reached inside each of the pianos and lightly touched each string at around the quarter-way mark as it was struck by the hammers, resulting in bell-like harmonics that would be almost impossible to produce consistently during a performance. 

The Crow Hill Company say that because the technique is so delicate and impractical, they wanted to make sure the new library explores its full potential. Both of the sampled instruments are presented in “an ultra-wide stereo antiphony”, and are said to offer extraordinary depth, space and character while delivering an expressive, ethereal sound that’s completely unlike any conventional piano. Check out the video below to hear it in action. 

Video of How Do You Play Piano Harmonics?

Harmonic Piano is supported on PCs running Windows 10 and above, and Macs running macOS 11 or higher. VST, VST3, AU and AAX plug-in versions are available.

Harmonic Piano is available now as a free download.

thecrowhillcompany.com/harmonic-piano