Piano VSTs are a songwriter’s best friend. The piano is one of the best instruments to use for writing, arranging and producing music.
Best Free Realistic Instrument VST Plugins So, if you're looking for free virtual instruments that can be used for composing orchestral or realistic music, these 5 plugins will help you do just that. And all but one will work on both Windows and Mac, but I do mention an alternative for the one that doesn't plus a bonus free sound library at the. Looking for Synth, Bass, Piano, Electric Guitar, and Acoustic. The options seem overwhelming, and the ones Ive downloaded sound subpar. Also, I dont have an MIDI keyboard. Can I get by just using the piano roll in LMMS to create my melodies. I have a 88 key Casio PX130 electric piano, is there any way I can use this like an MIDI keyboard? Best Free Piano VST. Today we are going to be taking a look at the best free DAWs for producers on a budget. LMMS is eerily similar to FL Studio and this is a.
That’s why a great sounding piano plugin is a helpful and inspiring tool in almost every genre.
Those inspiring sounds lead to creating better music.
There are tons of piano plugins out there, but most of them are expensive. The top picks can cost a fortune.
But you don’t have to spend big money to get a great sound.
That’s why I’m rounding up the 10 best free piano VSTs that will give you an inspiring acoustic piano tone in your DAW.
1. Spitfire Audio LABS Soft Piano
Spitfire LABS contains some of the best free plugin instruments available.
LABS is an ongoing series of free software instruments made by musicians and sampling experts in London. It’s updated with new sounds constantly and sports an easy to use user interface.
Their soft piano plugin is still a go-to piano sound for many professional composers. Some musicians have actually used this free VST plugin to write entire albums of solo piano music
Soft piano delivers a warm, solemn tone. This sampled instrument was recorded with a thin strip of felt between the hammers and the strings for an evocative sound.
2. Ivy Audio Piano in 162
Piano in 162 is a sample library of a Steinway Model B grand piano made with a comprehensive sampling approach. The library includes two round robins, five dynamic levels, and separate pedal on/off samples.
Round robins are the number of different samples per note. The plugin will select a random sample each time the note is played, contributing to the realism of the sound.
Round robins are the number of different samples per note. The plugin will select a random sample each time the note is played, contributing to the realism of the sound.
Piano in 162 was recorded at 96kHz through two pairs of Rode NT5 cardioid microphones—an ambient pair in the hall and a close pair inside the piano.
You’ll need a sampler to run this library. Piano in 162 is compatible with the full version of Kontakt, or on Plogue Sforzando which runs .sfz files. Sfz files are text files that store instrument data for software synthesizers.
3. Prism Audio Atmos Piano
Atmos Piano is a perfect piano plugin if you’re looking for that dreamy, distant sound. It’s perfect for intimate ambiences, or a cinematic bed.
Atmos is a robust 2.4 GB library with 241 different samples. There are two separate microphone sources that can blend together with decay and release parameters.
If you’re looking to create an atmospheric, ambient piano soundscape, then this piano plugin is a perfect choice.
4. Keyzone Classic
Keyzone Classic is an all-round piano plugin. This sample based plugin is capable of replicating some of the most sought after piano brands.
The presets include Yamaha and Steinway grand pianos, as well as electric piano and Rhodes.
Keyzone Classic also sports common parameters you would find on a synthesizer. ADSR, and an LFO able to affect pitch, expression, and pan can allow you to shape a unique piano sound.
With its incredible sound shaping parameters, there’s no question why Keyzone Classic is often recommended as a go-to free piano VST.
5. Versilian Studios Upright No. 1
Versilian Upright No. 1 is billed as a lightweight sketching plugin, but definitely sells itself short. It’s an excellent representation of a classic upright piano.
This upright piano VST was sampled using wide and close mics. Like Keyzone Classic, Versilian Upright offers ADSR controls as well as built in reverb and panning.
The intensive sampling of this plugin includes 3 velocity layers with 2 round robins; sampled in tritones with a pair of wide, close mics. The samples include full decays of up to 30 seconds, which allow for great versatility when you use a sustain pedal.
Versilian Upright No. 1 is a go-to upright piano vst that will bring authenticity to your music.
6. Soundmagic Piano One
Soundmagic Piano One comes from the sampling of a Yamaha C7 concert grand. It uses its own hybrid modelling engine to capture the well known sound of the C7.
This engine combines the realistic sound of sampling and the playability of modelling. The playability is responsive due to the modelling while the sampling makes the sound crisp and realistic.
The user interface includes an absurd amount of controls for a piano VST. It allows you to customize just about anything. Interesting features include piano noises, audience and player perspective, and tuning systems.
7. 99Sounds Upright Piano
99Sounds Upright Piano is an upright piano plugin recorded by Italian pianist and engineer Rudi Fiasco. It features four sampled notes per octave and six dynamic layers per sampled note.
99Sounda Upright piano features a simple interface with ADSR, volume, and reverb controls.
What makes this VST a bit different is that it includes filter and tremolo control. If you’re looking to create a vintage lofi sound inside of a plugin, this one’s for you.
8. 4Front R-Piano
4Front R-Piano is a bit different then most of the sample based plugins on this list. R-Piano is inspired by RSP73 pianos, a popular discontinued electric piano plugin.
R-piano generates 127 different layers continuously, under a vintage overdrive. You won’t have worry about common sample library issues like CPU load or stuck notes with R-piano.
While this piano VST doesn’t exactly emulate a realistic piano, it can work well as an alternative to the Rhodes electric pianos
9. DSK The Grand
DSK The Grand is a lightweight plugin at just 51 MB in size. If you’re low on space and need a piano plugin to finish your track, then this piano VST is for you.
It contains 4 velocity layers, with 4-6 samples per note. The user interface is simply laid out containing ADSR controls, and a reverb.
By tweaking the release parameter and using the on-board reverb, you can get this small plugin sounding huge.
10. Bigcat Instruments Iowa Grand Piano
Bigcat Instruments Iowa Grand Piano is the free piano plugin you want if you’re looking for absolute realism. Iowa Grand Piano is a Steinway & Sons Grand recorded with a pair of Neumann KM 84 microphones. It’s hard to believe that this one is free.
Most piano VST’s are sampled every third note to save space for round robins and velocity layers. Iowa Grand Piano includes virtually every note of the piano with three velocity layers.
The individual samples are available for download, and exist in the public domain. This means you can use them in your music on the sampler of your choice. The plugin interface features standard ADSR controls, volume, and pan.
Free-an-issimo
You don’t have to empty your wallet for a professional piano sound.
Download these plugins and layer them on top of one another.
Split them by left and right hand to get a unique sound.
This article is about free piano VST plugins. For more categories, return to the Free VST Plugins page.
We truly live in the golden age of audio production, as there have never been more accessible or realistic virtual piano plugins. But with so many great options, how do you find one that will provide the sounds you’re looking for?
There are a variety of options modeling acoustic and electric pianos on this list, each with distinct features. Some are plain virtual piano instruments, and some offer a host of sounds and features. But no matter what kind of piano sounds you’re looking for, there is a plugin that will fit the bill. Here is a list of the best free piano VSTs.
Upright Piano by 99Sounds
BPB’s sister website 99Sounds recently released Upright Piano, a freeware piano VST plugin based on a set of samples recorded by Rudi Fiasco. The cool thing about the Upright Piano instrument is that it can sound both realistic and lo-fi. The built-in filter, tremolo, and reverb effects can be combined to create a lovely tape-like vibe. However, when used as-is, the instrument sounds very realistic thanks to the excellent source samples provided by Rudi Fiasco.
Upright Piano also features key release samples and envelope controls for adjusting the attack and release time. If you need a versatile free piano VST that is easy to use, this offering from 99Sounds is well worth looking into.
More info:Upright Piano
Upright No. 1 by Versilian Studios
Upright No. 1 is an upright piano plugin that offers a tremendous dynamic response. The articulation of your playing will really translate – and if you have a good enough MIDI controller, it can be almost as realistic as the real thing.
The plug-in comes with onboard volume, panning, and reverb controls, and also offers direct control over the ADSR curve of the envelope with individual knobs. Versilian comes in VST and AU formats and uses minimal CPU resources.
More info:Upright No. 1
LABS Soft Piano by Spitfire Audio
Piano Vst Lmms
Spitfire Audios LABS is a freeware virtual instrument in VST and AU plugin formats that comes with an extensive collection of freely downloadable add-on sound libraries. Soft Piano is a free piano sound library for the LABS workstation. The samples were recorded with a felt-tipped piano and high-end Scheps microphones at London’s infamous Air-Edel studios.
The sound is very warm and subdued, so if you’re looking for a bright piano with a fast attack, you might have to look elsewhere. Two sliders control the expression and attack, and there is a singular knob to control the amount of reverb.
This is another plugin that is great for music production as well as sound design. It has a somewhat limited application and isn’t for everyone, but if you specifically need a moody, vibey piano sound, the Soft Piano is the way to go. Included in the library are sustain pedal up and down samples for even more dynamic variation. It can waver a bit as the samples are trimmed at the heads, giving it more of a human feel – which is not ideal if you’re creating EDM or house music but perfect for more organic genres.
More info:LABS Soft Piano
4Front Piano by George Yohng
Not all virtual instruments need to offer the most extensive feature set, and 4Front Piano is about a minimalist as they get. The sound is naturally pretty bright like you imagine a parlor piano would be. This allows 4Front Piano to cut through a mix but it might be a little too bright for solo piano parts.
While the instrument might not offer much at all in terms of customization or visualization, it is a good free piano VST plugin that takes up virtually no resources. It runs on a mix of sampling and synthesizing technology to make a convincing hybrid virtual instrument. 4Front comes in several plugin formats, including VST, AU, and RTAS.
More info:4Front Piano
DPiano-A by Dead Duck Software
DPiano-A is based on MDA Piano, an old freeware plugin that seemingly has no visualization other than a few control settings. But what it completely lacked in GUI, it made up for in the number of sound customization options it offered. In the meanwhile, MDA Piano became open-source software and Dead Duck Software refined the code to create a more polished-looking piano plugin called DPiano-A.
With DPiano-A, you have control over the decay and release of the envelope, hardness, and treble, as well as the stereo width parameter. You can also set the velocity sensitivity, tuning, and polyphony. Messing with the sliding polyphony control can even get you into synth territory, going way beyond simple piano sounds.
It’s not the most realistic-sounding free piano VST here, but it has some great presets that are useful not only for music but also for post-sound production for film.
More info:DPiano-A
Keyzone Classic by Bitsonic
Some freeware plug-ins are more robust than others, and Keyzone Classic is one of the more advanced free piano VST plugin on the market. It offers presets that emulate various acoustic pianos like Steinway, Yamaha, Rhodes, and more.
The control set allows you to set each stage of the ADSR curve, as well as adding in reverb and detuning within the plug-in. There are also master volume and controls over the rate and depth of the LFO. Keyzone’s sample library sounds excellent, and the architecture of the plug-in is beyond solid. It works with VST and AU plugin formats for 32-bit and 64-bit DAW software.
Best Free Piano Vst Plugin
More info:Keyzone Classic
Honorable Mentions
Best Free Piano Vst Fl Studio
- Piano One by Sound Magic is a synthesis-based piano virtual plugin. It doesn’t feature samples at all. The plugin uses Sound Magic’s piano modeling engine which is also used in the company’s paid piano plugins. Unlike sample-based piano plugins, this one is much smaller in size, so it is a quick download. I still prefer the sound of sampled piano instruments, though. The free Piano One plugin emulates the Yamaha C7 concert grand piano.
- Atmos Piano is a free piano instrument by Prism Audio. It has a soft and unique sound that is suitable for cinematic scoring and ambient music. The free piano plugin is based on the much more advanced Piano Model S instrument by the same developer.
Best Free Piano Vst Plugins
For more freeware plugins and instruments, return to our Free VST Plugins page.