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Alicia's Keys

$119 / €99
Alicia\\\\\\\'s Keys
Alicia's Keys by Native Instruments is a Virtual Instrument Audio Plugin and a Software Application for macOS and Windows. It includes, and is therefore "powered by", Kontakt Player, which functions as a VST Plugin, an Audio Units Plugin, a VST 3 Plugin, an AAX Plugin and a Standalone Application.
The OS and Format icons below are for the latest version of Kontakt Player. The version numbers are for Alicia's Keys.
Product
Version
1.5
Product
Version
1.5
Instrument
Formats
Copy Protection
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Alicia's Keys is a software instrument that recreates Alicia Keys' personal grand piano with authenticity and playability. Developed in close collaboration with the Grammy-winning artist, the software is used as the primary instrument on her new album and on the current world tour. Alicia's Keys is a unique way for musicians of all experience levels to utilize Alicia's acclaimed signature piano sound in their own music production, live performance, and recreational playing.

Designed as a comprehensive digital recreation of Alicia Key's own custom Yamaha "C3 Neo" grand piano, and based on Native Instruments' Kontakt 4 sampler platform, Alicia's Keys provides a soulful and intimate piano sound that perfectly accommodates R&B, soul and pop styles. The instrument was meticulously recorded in Alicia's personal studio by her engineer Ann Mincieli and sampling expert Thomas Scarbee over the course of two years, using vintage microphones and high-end outboard studio gear that produced "an exquisite piano tone with supreme sonic fidelity".

Utilizing 17 GB of high-resolution samples with 12 discrete velocity layers per note, and sophisticated emulation of crucial sonic aspects like key release, sustain pedal functionality and sympathetic resonance, Alicia's Keys sets a benchmark in the digital recreation of acoustic instruments. The convenient user interface of the software gives intuitive control over the sound to further adjust it to the specific musical context and personal playing style, and also includes a studio-quality convolution reverb that provides various authentic room ambiences ranging from a small piano chamber to a large stage or concert hall.

Alicia's Keys can be used on any Windows and Macintosh computer with the included free Kontakt Player, and can also be loaded into the full-featured Kontakt 4 sampler for additional in-depth sound editing.

Latest User Reviews

Average user rating of 4.00 from 2 reviews
Alicia's Keys

Reviewed By digitalboytn [all]
September 16th, 2011
Version reviewed: 1.2 on Windows

I like this piano...She sings softly with a beautiful sweet voice...

Kudos to the people involved in engineering and producing this instrument.

It is mellow and intimate - a "parlour piano" - and the attention to detail really shines through.

With a HPF,a little EQ and some compression,this is a very good "pop piano" with more warmth than most of the C7 offerings out there...

I have a friend with a beautiful sounding C3 supplied through an artist deal with Yamaha and the AK reminds me so much of that particular piano...

It's also a little easier to cart around and keep in tune which is the main reason Alicia decided to get this project happening anyway...

This is the perfect alternative to my other favourite pianos - the Ivory Italian Grand II and the Sonivox Eight Eight Steinway...

All of my other sampled acoustic pianos have got the flick because there's no need to jam up the hard drives with pooh :)


I did change the velocity levels to suit my requirements and you really do have to install the 1.2 update to get this running smoothly...

The only negative I have about this piano is the "girly" wallpaper with some flowers,a lamp and a drink bottle thrown in,but this is Alicia's baby and that is a small price to pay for such a wonderful sounding instrument.

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Alicia's Keys

Reviewed By MeldaProduction [all]
May 6th, 2010
Version reviewed: 1 on Windows

I have been searching for some good sounding piano for along time and I'm still dissatisfied with TruePianos (which I own) and similar ones, because they have some weird phasing issues, which make it sound "far away", are not mono compatible etc. Eventhough I generally don't like Kontakt, after some audio demoes I decided to take my chances and bought this one.

1) Sound
I like it a lot, finally... It is recorded as it should be, so it sounds like you are very close to it, which is IMHO essential when mixing, especially modern jazz/electro/r'n'b stuff. And here's the thing - it is really only a soft jazzy piano. I love that, but I don't think you will want to use it for classic music or just have it is "piano for everything".

One thing I'm not sure about yet is the response - it just feels to me like it is playing "behind", on the other hand I'm often getting ahead, so this kind of fixes me :)).

2) Features
Basically there aren't any. Although Kontakt knows a lot, there isn't anything I found useful, except amounts of mechanical noise and stuff like that you will probably leave the way it is. But well, it's a piano, so what :).

3) Requirements
And here are the negative sides - it needs lots and lots of memory... Actually I have finally run out of 32-bit system memory. Kontakt shows it uses about 400 MB, but I measured something very different... Honestly I don't think a piano should need so much, but that's probably a price for a good sound.
But it's worse - it takes so much time to load, that I can literally grab a coffee everytime I reload a project :)... And if it runs out of memory it crashes...

4) Kontakt
As I said I don't like Kontakt - you cannot demo the library, it takes a lot of system resources, GUI is too complicated if you just need a piano, but well, it could be worse :).

Conclusion:
If you need a smooth jazzy piano, this one sounds great, but be prepared you will have to use a 64-bit OS (which IMHO is not an option on Mac, and won't be for a couple of years) and will need lots of system RAM ;).
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