The LOVE Piano

The VSTBuzz plugin deal website is currently offering a previously commercial Kontakt Player grand piano library. Since it does not state anywhere on the site, and due to the nature of similar sites, it is unclear if the offer is temporary or actually there to stay – so, if you’re interested, I encourage you to grab your digital copy while it is (still) possible.

The LO.VE. Piano: A Yamaha C7, Without the Clarity

Originally released in 2019 as a budget-friendly, affordable piano library, The LO.VE. Piano (“LOw VElocity”) by VSTBuzz is a Native Instruments Kontakt Player-compatible plugin, that features a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 concert grand.

It is worth noting, right off the bat, that despite the impressive dynamic range of 12 velocity layers, this piano is definitely not for the versatile-instrument-seeking individuals.

That’s because this specific virtual instrument was actually designed and programmed to be soft sounding. As such, in terms of clarity and timbre, one should not expect an all-around, flexible sound from it. The LOVE Piano is a very good yet “limited” kind of animal, and will only cover certain genres.

The reason for the narrow range of dynamics is, in this case, intentional. As they clearly state in the official product page, and as also reflected in the plugin’s name and appearance, The LOVE Piano was indeed made to be a “one trick pony”. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Yamaha pianos, in general, are known for being clear and bright, but this one, though, seems to take this conception to a whole different realm, far from the Yamaha “comfort zone”.

The soft and intimate approach automatically makes this particular VST instrument good for anything emotional, slow or mellow. It was actually made to specifically complement cinematic type of music, film scores, atmospheric, textural soundscapes and generally the more softer sounding music genres, such as ambient and new age.

The majority of the technical aspects are as follows:

• 12 velocity layers with a dynamic range of “p” (piano) to “mf” (mezzo-forte)
• Dedicated Attack & Release samples (controllable)
• Separate layer of Player Noise that introduces hammer-action mechanism, sustain pedal sounds and natural ambience (controllable)
• Dedicated macro control for sustain samples
• Impulse Response based internal reverb featuring 18 IR variations of different rooms, halls and other spaces and presets