The Canterbury Suitcase redefines what detail and expression means in a virtual electric piano.
Back in June of 2012 we were recording Grand Marimba at Canterbury Music in Toronto. Studio owner Jeremy Darby was showing us his collection of vintage instruments, and let us try his Suitcase 88.
We knew immediately it was one of the most beautifully maintained and best sounding Suitcases we’d ever played.
In the summer of 2016 we went back into Canterbury to sample it, and with the invaluable help of Adam King and Robbie Grunwald we got an amazing, authentic and dynamic sound. We recorded three different signals, the line-out, the tightly close mic’d speaker cabinet, and natural room ambience.
That was just the beginning. After several months of painstaking editing, we finally have what we feel is the best sampled Suitcase EP available.
The front panel is the centre of the EP sound: the faders give control over the main line output of the suitcase, as well as the stereo close speaker mics, and the ambient room mic pair. Each channel can be routed to a seperate DAW output if desired. The bass and treble controls of the original keyboard are closely modelled, as is the tremolo, which can be sync'd to DAW tempo if desired.
This panel allows you to dive deeper into shaping your sound. Each fader channel has its own dedicated filters with velocity mod., and the 3 harmonic controls allow subtle adjustments to the electro-mechanical response.
Fine tuning the reponse of the EP is crucial for getting the right feel for your playing. Pedal noise and key-off sounds can be adjusted to taste, and fine adjustments can be made to the top end scaling. The Velocity section allows precise adjustment of the reposnse curve to make sure it plays exactly how you need it to with your own keyboard controller.
The Tuning panel offers powerful control over scales and individual notes. Choose from over 50 preset scales including pentatonics, African, Chinese & Mesopotamian setups, or create your own unique micro-tuning.
A completely user configurable FX chain: choose from 16 different effects in 6 insert slots - in any order you like. The Space processor offers everything from straight rooms and halls to ambient convolution effects.
This is a Kontakt Player instrument. This means that you do not need to own the full version of NI Kontakt to use it. It will run as a plug-in instrument in any VST/AU/RTAS/AAX/WASAPI,compatible host program or DAW eg: Cubase, Logic, Ableton Live, DP, Reaper, Pro-Tools. No extra purchase necessary.
System Requirements:
Windows 7 or higher (latest Service Pack, 32/64 Bit), Intel Core Duo or AMD AthlonTM 64 X2, 4 GB RAM (6 GB RAM recommended)
Mac: OS X 10.10 or higher, Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM
Requires KONTAKT 5 or KONTAKT 5 PLAYER version 5.6.8 or later
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