SampleScience has introduced the Pianotone 600, a freeware virtual instrument featuring the sounds of the Jen Pianotone 600 electronic keyboard.
Pianotone 600 is a sample-based instrument developed with Maize Sampler. It is powered by a 10 MB set of authentic Jen Pianotone 600 samples in 16-bit WAV format (not available separately).
SampleScience used their standard virtual instrument layout for the Pianotone 600 instrument. It provides a lot of ways to add more interest to the original samples, including a multi-mode filter (high-pass and low-pass), an LFO modulator, an ADSR envelope, a room reverb effect, and a preamp simulation. The instrument also features a virtual keyboard for previewing the sounds.
Since the original Jen Pianotone 600 didn’t offer velocity sensitivity, SampleScience decided to provide two different versions of the plugin. You can choose the one that emulates the original’s behavior, or the alternative velocity-sensitive edition of Pianotone 600 which is suitable for more expressive playing.
It’s also worth noting that the Pianotone 600 plugin supports polyphonic, monophonic, and legato voice modes. The legato mode can be combined with portamento for some interesting lead-like sounds.
Choose the “Amplitude Velocity” patch for a more expressive sound.
The instrument is worth downloading if you’re a fan of old electronic keyboards. Don’t expect to get a realistic piano sound out of the Pianotone 600. It’s more of a lo-fi approximation of a piano using subtractive synthesis.
Pianotone 600 is available in VST, VST3, and AU plugin formats for digital audio workstations on PC and Mac. The VST3 version of the instrument is only available for 64-bit hosts. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the Maize Sampler platform, the plugin is not compatible with macOS Catalina.
The plugin can be downloaded entirely free of charge from the SampleScience website. You don’t need to register or sign up to get the download link. Optionally, users can donate $1 or more to support the developer.
More info: Pianotone 600 (5.1 MB download size, ZIP archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/VST3/AU plugin formats for Windows & macOS)
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4 Comments
Brenny C
onI love me some SampleScience.
MRG
onNo wuv for the .wav? Sad face emoji. Strange rationale over at SampleScience, sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t. Anyway, thanks for the… hmm lovely sounds? ^_^; This seems like a very obscure synth. o_O
Brenny C
on“This seems like a very obscure synth.”
That’s what makes this such an interesting release. I do agree, though, that some WAV (or better yet, SFZ) files of the Jen Pianotone 600 would be a killer bonus. What say you, Sci?
Francisco Ramirez
onI downloaded the pluggin… where to I download the samples?