ASCEND: Modern Grand by Heavyocity grand piano virtual instrument interface for Kontakt

ASCEND: Modern Grand – Cinematic Grand Piano for Kontakt

Rated 4.8/5 on Plugin Boutique (194 ratings)

ASCEND: Modern Grand is a cinematic grand-piano virtual instrument for Kontakt and Kontakt Player, built from deep samples of a nine-foot Concert D and extended with prepared sounds and a new performance engine.

REQUIRESKontaktHost player sold separately

KontaktWindowsmacOS

AVAILABLE ATPlugin Boutique

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01Overview

Heavyocity developed ASCEND: Modern Grand around a nine-foot Concert D recorded at a historic New York City studio. The developer chose this specific piano for its warmth, depth and detail, then captured prepared performances using brushes, hammers, an EBow, chains and twine. The instrument pairs those recordings with the ASCEND engine, which adds layerable sources, effects and a three-point mixer for blending sounds in real time. It is aimed at composers who want a grand piano with a cinematic character and more than the conventional sustain-and-release sound.

Best for

Cinematic piano scores
Emotional ppp passages
Prepared piano textures
Rhythmic piano arpeggios
Layered film score pads

Developer: Heavyocity
Category: Kontakt Instruments
Requires: Kontakt
Store: Plugin Boutique

02Key features

What you get

Nine-foot Concert D grand piano recorded at a New York City studio
Prepared articulations: brushes, hammers, EBow, chains and twine
Soft ppp performance captured for emotional cinematic writing
110 snapshot presets across several categories
16 sound sources with a three-point real-time mixer
ARP for building complex, rhythmic arpeggios
Intuitive Sample Browser for quick sound selection
47.8 GB uncompressed, 23.3 GB on disk with NI lossless compression

03In depth

Concert D Sound and Recording

The core of ASCEND is a set of samples of a nine-foot Concert D grand piano. Heavyocity recorded the instrument in detail at a historic studio in New York City, using a mix of vintage and modern microphones. Film score mixer Satoshi Noguchi worked on the recordings to shape the sound.

The library includes a ppp performance, captured for soft, emotional passages. Heavyocity describes the piano sound as warm and detailed, and the set of 10 Core Concert D presets gives a starting point for the straight piano tone.

Prepared Articulations and the ASCEND Engine

Beyond the standard piano, ASCEND includes prepared-piano articulations. The library contains 110 snapshot presets and sound sources organized into Ascended, Extended, Rhythmic and Rhythmic Melodic groups, with 16 sound sources in total.

The ARP function builds complex rhythmic arpeggios, and the three-point mixer blends sources in real time. The Intuitive Sample Browser helps you find and load sounds quickly.

04Specs

Will it run?

Formats, systems and requirements as listed by Plugin Boutique. Missing details are left out, not guessed.

Developer	Heavyocity
Type	Plugin
Category	Kontakt Instrument
Requires	Kontakt
Formats	Kontakt
Operating systems	Windows, macOS

05FAQ

Questions, answered

What do I need to run ASCEND: Modern Grand?

ASCEND: Modern Grand requires Kontakt. It runs in Kontakt 6 (Player) or later, and the library is also compatible with Komplete Kontrol integration and NKS.

Which operating systems and formats does ASCEND support?

It supports Windows and macOS. The instrument is available in Stand-alone, VST, AU and AAX formats, and the Kontakt version is also listed.

How much disk space does ASCEND need?

The library is 47.8 GB uncompressed and 23.3 GB on disk with Native Instruments lossless compression.

What are the minimum system requirements?

The listed minimums are a Mac running macOS 10.12, 10.13 or 10.14 with an i5 processor, or a PC running Windows 7, 8 or 10 with an Intel Core i5 or equivalent CPU, and 2 GB of RAM.