The course
Cinematic Piano Course
A beautiful piano sound is just the beginning. Learn to write, arrange and finish emotional piano music for trailers, adverts and television.
View the course →Salamander Grand Piano
A free grand piano from Alexander Holm, played in SFZ player.
The Salamander Grand Piano is a Yamaha C5 grand sampled by Alexander Holm. Two AKG C414 microphones were placed about 12 cm above the strings. It has 16 velocity layers, plus hammer noise and string resonance samples. That gives a well-rounded grand sound with a wide range from soft to loud. It works as an all-round piano for solo themes, orchestral cues and mock-ups. Notes are sampled every minor third rather than on every key. The SFZ Instruments version is built for sforzando and similar ARIA-based players, so other SFZ players may not play it correctly. Soft notes also come out loud until you lower the velocity setting.
Worth knowing: This SFZ version plays properly only in sforzando or another ARIA-based player.
Get Salamander Grand Piano from Alexander Holm →More free grand pianos
- Writing for trailers, adverts and TV
- Arpeggio patterns that make plain chords cinematic
- Making MIDI piano sound played
- Light orchestration with strings
- A quick mix and master for each track