PRIPYAT Pianos by Strix Instruments Kontakt piano instrument interface

PRIPYAT Pianos: Kontakt Piano Instrument by Strix Instruments

Rated 4.6/5 on Plugin Boutique (604 ratings)

PRIPYAT Pianos is a Kontakt piano instrument by Strix Instruments that combines 20 pianos recorded in Pripyat into one instrument. It includes an Age knob that shifts its sound from 1986 to 2019 and 23 convolution reverb impulse responses.

REQUIRESKontaktHost player sold separately

Kontakt

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01Overview

PRIPYAT Pianos draws its sound from pianos found in and around the city of Pripyat, in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Strix Instruments recorded 20 instruments in varying states of wear and merged them into a single Kontakt instrument. The result is a piano library aimed at sound design as well as composition, with controls for how worn and how spacious the sound should be.

Best for

Sound design textures
Cinematic piano pads
Atmospheric film scores
Lo-fi piano production
Experimental composition

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

02Key features

What you get

20 Pripyat pianos combined into one Kontakt instrument
Age knob morphing from 1986 to 2019 sound states
Separate volume sliders for release, keystrokes, pedal, damper and resonance
Three microphone positions: close, medium and far
Adjustable lid opening and sample start trimming
23 impulse responses with location descriptions and photos
Up to 9 velocity layers with 4 to 16 round robins
14 snapshots, NKS mapped, 48 kHz 24-bit samples

03In depth

Sound, Age Control and Character

The Age knob is the core control. It moves the instrument between the nearly untouched sound of 1986 and the state of the pianos in 2019, so small changes give a subtle, lively character and larger ones give a heavily degraded tone. The developer notes that the 1986 sound uses the most suitable pianos and keys, and that some string artifacts were deliberately kept to preserve authenticity.

For more detail, separate volume sliders let you adjust release, keystrokes, pedal, damper and sympathetic resonance layers individually. You can also control the lid opening and trim the sample start to soften the attack.

Impulse Responses and Recording Positions

The instrument includes 23 convolution reverb impulse responses recorded in Pripyat and the outskirts of the Chernobyl NPP. Each one comes with a short description and a photo of the location where it was captured, along with the gamma radiation level at that spot. Some are subtle and add a light tint, while others convey the scale of city or power plant interiors.

Three microphone positions (close, medium and far) set the distance to the instrument. The library contains 14 snapshots to help you start from a preset point.

04Specs

Will it run?

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

Developer	Strix Instruments
Type	Plugin
Category	Kontakt Instrument
Requires	Kontakt
Formats	Kontakt

05FAQ

Questions, answered

What do I need to use PRIPYAT Pianos?

PRIPYAT Pianos requires Kontakt 5.8.1 Full or higher. The free Kontakt Player is not supported.

How much storage space does PRIPYAT Pianos need?

The download is 2.62 GB, and the installed content takes about 3.62 GB uncompressed, with about 11 GB as an equivalent .wav library. Plan for at least 2.62 GB of free storage space.

What does the Age knob do?

The Age knob changes the instrument's behavior based on the years of degradation from 1986 to 2019. Low settings give a nearly untouched piano sound, while higher settings move toward the current condition of the instruments.

What are the impulse responses for?

The 23 impulse responses are for convolution reverb. Each was recorded in a real location in Pripyat or the Chernobyl NPP outskirts, so you can place the piano in those spaces.