Garritan Abbey Road CFX Concert Grand Announced

MakeMusic, Inc. and Abbey Road Studios announced today the upcoming release of a new virtual instrument, Garritan Abbey Road CFX Concert Grand, featuring the Yamaha CFX Concert Grand piano recorded in Abbey Road Studios' historic Studio One.

"In creating our new CFX Concert Grand virtual piano, we've partnered with the very best," said Gary Garritan, MakeMusic director of instrumental sciences. "Abbey Road Studios is an undisputed world leader, where brilliant engineers blend the latest technology with legendary equipment and acoustics. This same 'best of both worlds' approach also drove the design of the Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Piano. The flagship concert grand of the Yamaha piano line, the CFX is a stunning instrument that has elevated the art of piano making."

"We're delighted to have captured the fine details of this remarkable piano in this spectacular studio. The result is an incredible new virtual piano with a power, richness and clarity that is unmatched."

Garritan Abbey Road CFX Concert Grand provides users three discrete microphone perspectives:

• Classic – captures the natural tonal character, clarity and nuance of the CFX.
• Contemporary – produces a bright and brilliant sound with definitive attack from the hammers.
• Player – delivers the unique experience of playing from the piano bench in Studio One.

The CFX Concert Grand includes the powerful ARIA player, and is designed to be a perfect addition to music notation-based programs, like Finale, as well as to all sequencers and digital audio workstations.

"It's been an absolute pleasure working with Gary and the MakeMusic team on the CFX project," said Mirek Stiles, head of audio products at Abbey Road Studios. "The ability to mix both close and ambient signals, as if you are in Studio One, is simply breathtaking. This beautifully sampled instrument is worthy of the Abbey Road Studios name."

The CFX virtual instrument will be available as a download for $259.95, and as a boxed (USB flash drive) version for $299.95.

Product downloads and additional information will be available at Garritan.com.

MakeMusic's Garritan and Finale products are exclusively distributed through Alfred Music in North America, India, Australia and New Zealand and are available through music resellers worldwide.