Honky Château Pianos and Prophets – Sounds and Presets
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A classic piano gets the Spitfire Audio treatment in the form of Château Piano and we’ve got Prophet sounds galore!
Sounds and Presets
Château Piano by Spitfire Audio
Some recording studios have a certain legend, a mystique, and, some might say, a magical influence. Château d’Hérouville is one such place. Many people will have their favourite recording made their, but one particular album and megastar is very closely associated with the French retreat.
Elton John’s ‘Honky Château’ is named after this place, and its iconic 124-year-old Steinway B Grand, the star of Château Piano, is all over that album and many more by Elton. His iconic track from ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’, ‘Benny & The Jets’, features it prominently in its infectious and unmistakable intro.
And now Spitfire Audio have captured this classic instrument in their Château Piano instrument. Recently restored, along with the studio itself, there could possibly be no better company to do this iconic piano justice.
Using multiple mic positions and types, Spitfire have sampled every inch of the Château Piano and then used a multitude of their effects to deliver almost every possible variation one might require. Spitfire have given us thirty-seven presets, plus 50 grouped into six categories within their ensemble plugin, to get us started, but there’s plenty of scope for customisation.
Château Piano is housed within Spitfire’s own instrument plugin, so there’s no need for a third-party host. The library size is fairly modest at just under 20GB and will set you back £129, but it is currently on a limited offer at just £103!
Prophecy Vol.3 for Sequential Prophet 5/10 Rev.4 by GEOSynths
Jamie Morden, aka GEOSynths, is no stranger to this column, knocking out, as he does, bank after bank of top-notch, quality and, most importantly, incredibly usable patches. This week sees the launch of volume 3 of his collection for Sequential’s brilliant Prophet 5/10 Rev.4.
Confusingly titled ‘Prophecy’, which had me all excited for a new bank of sounds for my little silver KORG, the bank contains 80 brand new presets. There’s something for everyone, showing off the Prophet’s legendary tone.
And as in many of his previous collections, Jamie has also created a set of FX patches for two free plugins, Blue Cat Audio’s Chorus and Valhalla’s Supermassive, to complement the patches. These FX patches are custom built for each preset so you get a lot for your money here!
And it’s not a lot of money either! You can pick up Prophecy Vol.3 for just $39. And if you missed Vol.1 & 2, you can pick up all three as a bundle for just $99!
The Phoenix Collection Vol.3 for Prophet 5/10 Rev.4 by Pulsophonics
And as if GEOSynth’s Prophecy Vol.3 bank wasn’t enough, we have another Vol.3 bank for the Sequential Prophet 5/10 Rev.4, this time from French sound designer, Pulsophonic. The Phoenix Collection is now bolstered by this 40-patch bank.
This third volume delivers piano-style analog keyboard sounds, so expect plenty of retro synthy electric piano tones with percussive attacks that evoke memories of the 80s. This, and all the other Phoenix banks, are compatible with both 5 and 10 voice versions of the Prophet, along with their desktop equivalents.
You can buy Volume 3 of the Phoenix Collection, as well as the first two volumes, for a mere €15 each. Each bank comes as a collection of five SysEx files that you can send directly to your Prophet.
SCREAM! for DSI Prophet Rev2 by Kulshan Studios
Keeping things on a Prophet-y theme, we have another soundset from the productive team at Kulshan Studios, this time from Dawnchaser. Entitled SCREAM!, it is billed as a ‘wave-your-hands-in-the-air-like-you-just-don’t-care’ bank!
Inspired by the likes of Cascada, Groove Coverage, Alex Megane and more, there’s no filler stuff in there. It contains 94 sounds sculpted for Hands Up and Eurodance styles. Just listen to the demo and you know exactly who and where these sounds are aimed at.
It’s a full-on analog synth rave bank for the long-serving and much-loved Prophet REV2 that remains in production to this day and has a huge following of fans and users. This bank will breathe new life into yours, for sure!
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