Sound Magic has released Piano Thor, offering the sound of the piano "Thor" developed from the most famous Steinway piano - perhaps the most famous grand piano in history.

This is the Steinway D numbered CD443, the piano that Vladimir Horowitz loved most. The CD443, Mr. Horowitz's last piano, was selected by the artist for his own personal home use. When he was first introduced to this instrument, Mr. Horowitz had reservations about the piano's action (which was rather heavy) but came to love the instrument so much that, when he briefly considered concertizing in 1989, he planned to take the CD443 with him. This piano was used for recording sessions made at his home in both 1988 and 1989.

Piano Thor featured an amazing dynamic range which other pianos were hard pressed to compete with. It had more "bite" when it was played really hard but it produced a soft, singing tone when played softly. And Steinway's famous singing tone and bell like sympathetic resonances made it a truly great piano. This vast dynamic contrast and its lighting fast response won this superb instrument the name "Thor", the Norse god of storms and thunder.

Sound Magic's NEO Hybrid Modeling is a new way to offer the Realistic Sound of Sampling and the Playability of Modeling. The NEO Hybrid Modeling Engine provides a small footprint, low latency and a true, rich sound. Piano Thor uses the latest version of NEO Hybrid Modeling Engine which has over 100 improvements than previous version.

The Artificial Intelligence Assistant Tool (A.I in short) will auto test your keyboard - learn all about it - and then use artificial intelligence to make suggestions. A.I will test your keyboard velocity response, pedal support and most importantly suggest ways to shape the sound that you are looking for.

Piano Thor supports Add-ons
You can choose over 10 different add-ons from online store for different usages. Add-ons are like a Swiss army knife that will make Piano Thor fits for different situations or solves different problems. Add-ons add different special features to Piano Thor.

Some features of Piano Thor:

• Piano Thor gives you absolute control over every aspect of a piano. You can adjust hammer actions, microphone positions, sympathetic resonances, dynamics and more. You can even design your own piano.
• HD Velocity Layer Ver. 2 supports up to 65,536 Velocity Layers and CC#88 for High Definition Velocity.
• Multi-microphone positions enable users to mix between different microphone positions and create new sounds that easily fit into a mix.
• Real Piano Legato make the legato passage so real with a sustaining tone.
• Scala Tuning System enable users to select different temperaments for their music.
• Powerful Add-on System.
• Meticulous Dynamic Response controls enable users to adjust the dynamics of the piano, change the keyboard response, and achieve both realism and playability at the same time.
• A 264-string Sympathetic Resonance System adds beautiful harmonies to both pedal up and pedal down notes.
• Piano Thor is able to detect repeated notes and activate True Staccato Mode which precisely reproduces staccato notes.
• Built-in professional Reverb Engine simulates resonances with environment and soundboard, adding extra realism to the sound.
• Actual modeling and soft pedal samples vividly present the sound of four kinds of pedals.
• Treasure Map GUI.
• Customizing pictures/icons on GUI.
• Add-on data bank which makes getting a huge variety of sounds fast and easy.
• Faster load times. Smaller hard drive footprint, less memory and less CPU usage.

Pricing & Availability

Piano Thor costs €129 and is available for 32- and 64-bit Windows and Mac OS X in VST and AU instrument plug-in formats.