Clark Audio’s recently released Lo-Fi Keys is a FREE piano plugin featuring the sounds of a sampled upright piano and digital keyboard.
Lo-Fi Keys has very straightforward controls. At the top of the UI, there is an option to select the preset, with a total of 9 presets spread across 4 instruments. To really personalize your sound, you can make use of the eight parameters to hone and customize the tone.
The settings available on the interface are Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release, Volume, Pan, Reverb, and Delay. This interface offers simplicity for quick results while simultaneously providing enough complexity to get particular tones if you need to.
The parameters are quite self-explanatory if you have used piano software before; it is especially great for new users seeking simplicity.
The UI is all black, great for dark mode enthusiasts. For your convenience, there is a graph showing the EQ. All accents are in muted dark green, and the text is simply white for clarity.
The disk space required for the plugin is 1 GB (the download is less than 500 MB), which is higher than many other free instrument plugins we’ve seen. But this is a good sign, as a larger size usually correlates to better quality samples and sounds.
Lo-Fi Keys is available for both Windows (Windows 8 and onwards) and macOS (10.9 Maverick onwards) in 64-bit versions. The supported formats are AU, VST2, and VST3; the plugin will work with any software compatible with the three formats, hence most DAWs.
Clark Audio is an indie developer of plugins and sample packs. You can try out their free sample packs if you like Lo-Fi Keys. They also have a paid plugin – Lo-Fi Panda 2, which features 42 instruments, 100 presets, and is currently on sale for just $10.
I tested Lo-Fi Keys myself and liked the sound quality a lot. True to its name, it certainly has a ‘Lo-Fi’ feel to it. The Wavy Piano preset was one of my favorites, but there’s a lot of tonal depth even in such a simple plugin.
It’s a lightweight plugin and definitely a useful one to keep for some quick piano jams and for adding chill melodic vibes to just about any track.
For more piano sounds, take a look at our free piano VST plugins article. Or, visit our free VST instruments page.
Download: Lo-Fi Keys
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