The Originals series is enriched by the Firewood Piano, an upright piano with a vintage sound and a timeless atmosphere.
The piano was recorded by Spitfire in Colorado Sound Studio together with Jeremiah Fraites of "lumineers”, An American folk-rock band from Denver, Colorado.
The sound characteristic of this piano is given by the very particular resonances created by a damaged bridge. In the past many instruments of this type have already been made by other companies and even one sampled while the piano literally caught fire. This is not the case with this instrument which is called precisely Firewood, but just to point out the fact that the instrument is so shabby as to be good only to be burned for someone's intentions.
A piano from the 1955 with the strings never changed, but with a very characteristic sound and a timbre that derives from the defects due to time. Spitfire has succeeded in providing a piano with a charming sound.
Presets
The interface is the same as the Originals series. There are 5 presets:
1. Firewood
2. Firewood + Pad
3. Felt (Felt)
4. Felt + Pad
5. Warps
It is possible to choose 3 types of microphones: Close, Mid e pad. As for the usable effects:
Reverb: You can add reverb
Tightness : Makes notes tighter without losing realism. Using low velocities increases the mechanical noise of the piano
Hammers: Controls the volume of the piano hammers, adding depth to the sound Pedal: Controls the volume of the sustain pedal sound when pressed and released.
For a test of realism on this piano, try pressing the central pedal of the piano and maintaining the sustain, playing the high notes, you will be able to reproduce the harmonic resonances of the high notes without their attack!
Conclusions
Firewood Piano represents an interesting product for both high audio quality and low price. The product is attractive and comes out of the standard of playing a “Top acoustic grand piano” tone. This library is ideal for making soundtracks and music for video games. I found it very interesting to further interact on the sound with some very colorful EQs and adding very long REVs.
PROS
Same audio quality as more expensive libraries
CONS
Timbral not suitable for all musical genres
Video
Useful Information
Product: Firewood Piano
Distributor: SpitFire Audio
Price: € 29
Umberto Sorbo
