Philip Glass turns 85 this week, and you can celebrate by stealing his piano. Well – you can celebrate by getting a free plug-in version of his favorite piano.
He says he’s been playing this for 30 years, which includes a lot of scores (like the Piano Etudes.)
There’s no branding on the piano, but it sure looks like a Steinway Model L, a large-ish baby grand that replaced the early-century Model O. If it is the Model L, it fits Glass perfectly – a New York-built instrument from a high-quality era at Steinway. (Watch me be that precise and then be totally wrong. Commenters, go for it.)
In any event, there are two nice features of using this as a source instrument – one, it’s a little older, and two, it’s got that more intimate sound of a “baby” instrument. Too often libraries go for the concert instruments, which aren’t always the most flexible in actual sampling use, and use instruments that are bit too new, and tuned at concert tuning, which means you miss out on some of the personality of the kind of instrument you’d play every day.
And yes, of course, they use the opening of “Glassworks” as the sound sample, with nice results.
Have at it. And check out the rest of the LABS stuff; it’s really nice.
https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/glass-piano