BBC Symphony Orchestra Piano Professional

The complete gold standard piano.

The BBCSO Piano is an exciting addition to the BBCSO line. Spitfire's most detailed and versatile piano to date, the BBCSO Piano faithfully captures the live concert sound of a pristine Steinway Model D grand, at the iconic home of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Maida Vale Studios — also host to The Beatles, Hendrix, Bowie, and countless film scores.

Recorded in concerto position in Studio One, this highly expressive piano has been captured with the same expertly curated microphone positions, designed to blend seamlessly with the orchestra. A range of specific close mics are available for cinematic and pop contexts, as well as pedal and hammers volume control, for stunning realism. The Professional edition is unmatched in its versatility, featuring 15 signals for endless sound sculpting possibilities. Whether paired with the BBC Symphony Orchestra or played as a standalone instrument, BBCSO Piano promises to provide a rich, authentic piano sound suited to any genre.

Since its release in 2019, the BBCSO Orchestra library has become a core staple in the musical journey of thousands of composers, producers and musicians worldwide. With this new grand piano, we're enabling users at any level to further expand on their virtual orchestra — with a path to upgrade to new features and sonic possibilities when you're ready, through Spitfire's innovative mode switching technology. This feature also makes it easier than ever to share and collaborate with fellow composers, regardless of which edition they own.

The BBCSO plugin.

The library opens in the existing BBCSO plugin, allowing for seamless integration with the rest of the BBCSO line and proving incredibly useful when writing for the piano and orchestra together. In the Professional edition, the majority of mic signals are recorded in the same configuration as the original BBCSO library, while the close mics get you straight to the heart of the instrument. The piano has been expertly played by BBCSO concert pianist Elizabeth Burley — an exceptional player with a consistent touch.

Award-winning technology.

With a beautiful, modern design by ustwo (Monument Valley, DICE), BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBCSO Piano are housed in Spitfire's award-winning dedicated plugin (VST2, VST3, AU, AAX & NKS ready) developed primarily for composers, by composers — easy-to-use, intuitive and inspiring.

Like all my favourite Spitfire products, it just sounds so good from the first note you play! I always like to personalise the sounds I use so the extra control and mic positions in BBC Symphony Orchestra Piano Professional go a long way to making this possible.

Segun Akinola - Doctor Who, 9/11: Inside the President's War Room, Stephen.

One piano, three editions:

• A universal starting point for composers and music creators of every level, BBCSO Piano comes in three editions: Professional, Core and our trial version — Discover.
• Core: Full sampling depth and controls, with one curated Mix signal.
• Professional: Full sampling depth, two mixes and the full range of signal options (15 in total), including hammer and pedal volume control.

The Professional edition

The Professional edition is the definitive tool for writing professional, world-class music. Its 15 signals and controls offer all the options you could possibly need to curate your own bespoke mix to match the exact sound you're looking for. It's also ready to play straight out of the box, with two expertly curated professional mixes to choose from — Mix One offering your standard orchestral mix, and Mix Two offering a wider, more vibrant cinematic sound.

Key features:

• ~35GB.
• 15 signal options – including two bespoke mixes.
• 4 Round Robins.
• 6 dynamic layers.
• Reverb, tightness, hammers & pedal volume control.
• Velocity curves.

Well, I think I've found my new go-to piano! It's gorgeous, warm, and cinematic right from the start, with a fantastic dynamic range and plenty of tweakable features that I've come to expect from Spitfire.

Matt Novack - Miracle Workers, Murderville.

Mode Switching.

It's now easier than ever to share and collaborate with fellow composers, collaborators and directors — whatever edition of BBCSO Piano you own. Spitfire's groundbreaking mode switching technology makes each edition of BBCSO Piano and BBC Symphony Orchestra interchangeable, so you can mock up your scores quickly and with ease.

For composers on the go or with a limited technical setup, start writing a piece of music using Discover, and finish it in the Core or Professional edition, with a fuller range of signals, controls and versatility. It also works the other way around: write a piece in the Professional edition and a collaborator can open it in Discover, play what you've written (with the sounds intelligently substituted), and add to it. When you reopen their edited version, you will hear their additions alongside your original composition – with your full selection of signals.

Maida Vale Studios

The iconic Maida Vale Studios holds a rich history, having been at the centre of BBC music since 1934 when it became home to the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Built in 1909, it was originally the largest indoor roller-skating rink in Europe, before being transformed into seven unique sound studios. From The Beatles to Beyoncé, Led Zeppelin to Bowie, from the Undertones to the swansong of the late Bing Crosby, from the era-defining John Peel Sessions to Radio 1 Live Lounge: over the last 75 years, Maida Vale has captured the performances of more famous artists than any other.

Responsible for some of the most influential and innovative developments in music technology and electronic music, including the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, it's also renowned for its impressive gear list, including a diverse range of equipment from various eras and technologies — a unique combination of vintage gear, custom BBC designs, and state-of-the-art digital equipment — making it the preferred recording destination for countless musicians.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra

The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the musical beating heart of the BBC itself - the oldest entertainment organisation in the world, trusted and respected globally. The BBC Symphony Orchestra has been performing for nearly a century, and is at the forefront of championing new orchestral music and composers at the BBC Proms and beyond, selling out concert halls the world over.

In the spirit of the BBC's founding values — to inform, educate and entertain — Spitfire has created a frequently updated range of free resources designed for the next generation of producers, composers and musicians — from templates, to tutorials, to score breakdowns.

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