This bundle includes a Native Instruments Alicia's Keys virtual piano and an Akai MPK 88 piano controller keyboard.
Native Instruments Alicia's Keys virtual piano, sampled from the artist's own Yamaha C3 Neo grand piano. Includes Free Kontakt 4 Player.
Together with Danish sample specialist Thomas Skarbye and impulse response expert Ernest Cholakis, Alicia Keys has created the Native Instruments Alicia's Keys virtual piano that meets her professional standards and embodies the soulful sound that has become her trademark as a superstar.
Native Instruments Alicia's Keys was sampled from her own playing, recorded in the artist's own studio under the supervision of her trusted engineer, Ann Mincieli.
The instrument samples of Native Instruments Alicia's Keys come from Alicia Keys' very own Yamaha C3 Neo grand piano. This unique and highly-sought after instrument was built to celebrate Yamaha's 100th anniversary in 2002 and represents the very top of the Conservatory Collection line.
The exquisite and unique sound of the C3 Neo were painstakingly captured by Thomas Skarbye, Kontakt script wizard Nils Liberg, and Grammy-award winning engineer Ann Mincieli - making this exclusive instrument available to everyone.
Using vintage microphones and preamps and through detailed analysis of Alicia's playing, the team succeeded in capturing the warm, soulful and inspiring sound of the C3 Neo all the way down to the finest nuances.
Great effort was put into making ALICIA'S KEYS as authentic as possible. Designed with incredible precision, and incorporating subtle details such as mechanical release noises, a specially developed sympathetic resonance and release system, and even the sound of fingers hitting keys (optional), this unique instrument delivers plenty of lively realism. So much in fact, that Alicia Keys herself used it exclusively on her latest album.
Native Instruments Alicia's Keys features include:
- The sound of Alicia Keys' own personal Yamaha C3 Neo piano
- Almost 3,000 individual samples on 12 discrete velocity layers with and without pedal — equivalent to 17GB of uncompressed WAV files!
- Sampled from Alicia Keys' own playing, recorded in her studio with her own engineer
- Developed with the artist and tailor-made for her recording and performance needs
- Meticulous sampling technique including the noise of the finger hitting the keys (optional)
- Sampled sustain and release phases with authentic implementation of the sustain pedal
- All-new sympathetic resonance system for harmonics in undampened strings
- Exceptionally clean quality, yet featuring adjustable microphone noise for old-school sound
- Natural mechanical release noises for each of the 88 keys and pedal noises
- Integrated convolution reverb for tweaking the sound directly in the instrument
- Easy user interface providing integrated documentation of all settings
- You need the FREE KONTAKT 4 PLAYER or KONTAKT 4 (both in version 4.0.5 or higher) to run this product
- Mac: OS X 10.5 or higher, Intel Core Duo 1.66 GHz, 1 GB RAM
- Windows: XP (SP2, 32bit) / Vista® (32/64 Bit), Windows 7 (32/64 Bit), Pentium or Athlon XP 1.4 GHz, 1 GB RAM
- Stand-alone, VST, Audio Units, RTAS (Pro Tools 7 or higher)
- 7 GB free disk space is required for complete installation
The Akai Professional MPK88 Keyboard Controller is a professional performance keyboard controller with MPC production controls.
The Akai Professional MPK88 draws on the design of the popular MPK49, the first keyboard ever to features MPC pads. This first-of-its-kind keyboard is ideal for performance, starting with a premium, fully weighted, hammer-action keyboard, adding MPC pads, Q-Link controls, and a selection of MPC technologies.
The Akai Professional MPK88 Keyboard features an 88-key keyboard and 16 genuine MPC pads. The hammer-action keyboard is fully weighted and features aftertouch for expressive melodic control. The MPC pads are pressure and velocity-sensitive to capture every nuance of your creative concepts. The pads can access four banks of sounds, so you have 64 samples at your fingertips with the touch of a button.
The MPK88 places dedicated transport controls within your reach for easy control of some of the most important tracking and editing controls. The MPK88 has modulation and pitch-bend wheels for expressive musicality, and two assignable footswitch inputs enable you to connect an expression pedal or other continuous controller and a footswitch for momentary controls like patch change or start/stop.
Akai Pro built a massive collection of Q-Links into the MPK series. The MPK88 gives you eight virtual knobs that are assignable to control nearly any software parameter. You can control three different parameters per knob thanks to the knobs' three-bank selection, totaling 24 parameters of instant, hands-on control. Like the virtual knobs, eight virtual faders and eight virtual buttons also control three banks of parameters each, so you get 24 virtual faders and 24 virtual buttons. That's 72 Q-Link controls.
MPC Swing is sometimes referred to as "the heart and soul of hip hop" because it turns perfectly aligned sequences into human feeling time alignments. You can specify exactly the degree and timing of swing you want to apply for the perfect feel.
The Akai Professional MPK88 Keyboard Controller Main Features Include:
- 88-key fully weighted, hammer-action keyboard with aftertouch for expressive melodic creativity
- MPC-pad section of 16 genuine MPC pads with pressure and velocity sensitivity
- MPC pads access four banks each for instant access to 48 samples
- Assignable Q-Link controller section for flexible control of most software parameters
- Eight Q-Link knobs, eight Q-Link faders, eight Q-Link buttons, three banks each
- Key Split enables control of two different sounds from the same keyboard
- Dedicated transport controls for tracking and editing
- MPC Note Repeat, MPC Swing, and arpeggiator aid in creative process
- MPC Full Level, MPC 16-Level, Tap Tempo, and Time Division assist with tempo and dynamics
- MIDI output over USB, bus powered, class compliant: plug and play with one USB cable
- Comes with Ableton Live Lite Akai Edition software
- Works with most MIDI recording, sequencing, and performance software
- Number of Keys: 88 + 16 x 4 banks of drum pads
- Type of action: Fully weighted hammer action
- Aftertouch (Channel)
- Computer Interface: USB/MIDI
- Displays: Custom LCD
- Footswitchable Patch Changes: yes
- Number of Independent MIDI Ins/Outs: 1
- Programmable Continuous Footpedals: 1
- Programmable Footswitches: 1
- Programmable controllers: MMC, MIDI START/STOP, MIDI CC
- System Real-Time Controls: MMC, MIDI START/STOP, MIDI CC
Native Instruments Alicia's Keys & Akai MPK 88 (code 72375)
Virtual Piano Software & 88 Note Weighted Key MIDI Keyboard Controller Bundle [UXB]
£589.00 (inc vat)