Gloom: Pitched-Down Upright Piano Instrument for Kontakt

The core of Gloom is an upright piano sampled across the keyboard and pitched down five semitones. Iamlamprey explains that downward pitch shifting, depending on the stretching algorithm, can smooth the harmonics of the samples and remove some high-end content in a way that feels musical. The developer says this produces a softer perceived sound.

The instrument covers a key range from C1 to C8. Eight velocity layers let the tone shift with how hard you play, and two round robins add variation when notes are repeated.

Additional release and player noises are included, which can add texture around the note endings and performance gestures.

Gloom includes four built-in processors: Reverb, Worble, Drive and Filter. Each has automatable controllers, so their settings can be drawn or modulated over time within your host session.

Using these built-in effects, you can shape the sound further without loading external processing. Automating the controls can help the instrument change character across a track.