Upright Piano
Key Features
- Sampled Kawai upright piano with 2 velocity layers per note, capturing the raw tonal character suited to lo-fi and dark melodic styles
- Dedicated lo-fi effects module alongside reverb, chorus, and delay for adding vintage degradation and spatial depth without external plugins
- ADSR envelope controls with separate gain knobs for main sound and key click release samples, giving fine control over the mechanical feel
- Selectable lowpass and highpass filter with cutoff control for shaping the piano tone from bright and cutting to warm and muffled
- Compact 60 MB footprint with low CPU usage, loading quickly even in sessions with heavy plugin chains
- 100% royalty-free samples cleared for commercial music production and content creation
Description
Upright Piano by Audiolatry is a sampled Kawai upright piano plugin with a distinctive sharp, fuzzy tone designed for modern lo-fi production. The 2 velocity layers per note deliver a raw, slightly imperfect character that sits naturally in stripped-back arrangements without sounding overly polished.
Recorded at 44.1kHz/16-bit quality, the samples capture the mechanical warmth and tonal grit that real upright pianos are known for. The result is a sound that works especially well anchoring melancholic chord progressions or providing gentle melodic hooks over lo-fi hip-hop and trap beats.
Version 2.0 added four built-in effects: reverb, chorus, delay, and a dedicated lo-fi module for adding vintage degradation directly within the plugin. ADSR envelope controls let you shape note attack and sustain behavior, while separate gain knobs for the main sound and key click release samples give precise control over how much mechanical character comes through.
A selectable lowpass/highpass filter with cutoff rounding out the tone-shaping options means you can push the piano from bright and present to dark and buried without leaving the plugin window. At just 60 MB on disk, Upright Piano loads quickly and uses minimal system resources.
The plugin supports VST3 on Windows and both VST3 and AU on macOS, covering most major DAWs except Pro Tools.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does Upright Piano work with Pro Tools?
No, Upright Piano does not support the AAX format required by Pro Tools. It is available as VST3 on Windows and VST3 plus AU on macOS, so it works with DAWs like Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro, Cubase, and Studio One.
What changed in the version 2.0 update?
Version 2.0 was a significant overhaul that added four new effects modules (reverb, chorus, delay, and lo-fi), introduced ADSR envelope controls, added separate gain controls for the main piano sound and key click samples, and redesigned the user interface for easier navigation.
How does Upright Piano compare to Grand Piano XXL from the same developer?
Upright Piano has a sharp, fuzzy character suited to lo-fi and trap production, while Grand Piano XXL is a cleaner Yamaha C5 grand piano with 16 velocity layers and a 1.19 GB sample set. Upright Piano is intentionally rawer and much lighter at 60 MB, making it better for textured, lo-fi aesthetics rather than realistic classical performance.
Can you adjust the key release click sounds?
Yes. Upright Piano includes a dedicated key click gain knob that controls the volume of the mechanical release samples independently from the main piano sound. This lets you dial in as much or as little of the key release character as your mix needs.
