Rigid Audio has introduced the free Rigid Grand piano virtual instrument tailored for the full version of Kontakt.
This 1.5 GB multi-sampled grand piano library features 16 velocity layers along with separate release samples.
The Rigid Grand boasts a natural and warm sound, which can be customized using the integrated reverb control and the blend control that mixes in a downpitched variant of the piano.
Based in Berlin, Germany, Rigid Audio specializes in creating instruments for Kontakt.
Rigid Grand was specifically developed for the paid version of Kontakt, requiring version 6.8.0 or newer.
The piano library’s samples were originally captured by Alexander Holm and Chisato Yamauchi.
Dennis Lenz, founder and CEO of Rigid Audio, demonstrated the creation of Rigid Grand using Kontakt GUI Maker in a video available on the product page.
This video also serves as a brief audio demo of Rigid Grand.
The virtual instrument is based on an open-source piano library uploaded by Holm and Yamauchi last year, which is linked on the product page.
Holm and Yamauchi describe their 48 kHz, 24-bit library 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.”
More comprehensive audio demos of the original piano library, hosted by Yamauchi, can be found in a post about the library’s creation here.
The creation process of the library was meticulous, ensuring high-quality samples as detailed in the post.
Professional musician Katsuhiro Oguri assisted in creating the audio demos by providing the necessary MIDI data.
These demos showcase various classical piano performances.
Holm and Yamauchi’s project continues, with version 4.0 of the instrument released on May 14, 2024, and a beta for version 4.1 following a week later.
Development for version 5 is also in progress.
Lenz used the Kontakt GUI Maker to create Rigid Grand.
Kontakt GUI Maker is a Rigid Audio product that allows users to create and sell their own Kontakt instruments without programming skills.
Available for both Windows and macOS, the product is currently offered at an introductory price of $60, reduced from the regular price of $80.
The full version of Kontakt is 64-bit only and is available for Windows and Mac in VST3, AU, and AAX formats.
Download: Rigid Grand (FREE – Kontakt version 6.8.0 or higher required)
