Let’s talk about vintage keys. No, not Minimoogs and Roland Junos. I mean really vintage keys: 17th and 18th Century clavichords. Assuming you don’t work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, why not turn to our friends at Post Musical Instruments (PMI) for some sample libraries:


PMI Clavichords (New from PMI; US$55)


PMI Historic Keyboards (Existing library; $125, minus $36 this month if you buy the clavichords)


Your formats are covered here: 24-bit samples for GigaStudio 3, Kontakt, EXS24 (aka Logic Pro) and Halion3. And the keyboards sound great: a small clavichord after an anonymous German instrument dating from c. 1650 and a large clavichord after Johann Heinrich Silbermann, Strasbourg, dating from 1775. Add that to the existing historic keyboards library, which includes a Flemish Harpsichord, French Harpsichord, Virginal and Fortepiano. That library is 16-bit only but is also available in various formats for your sampler of choice.


Ah, my music geek heart is beating faster. This retro enough for ya?