Cassette Piano.02 SFZ preset pack artwork for SFZ players

Cassette Piano.02 SFZ: Lo-Fi Upright Piano Preset Pack by THEPHONOLOOP

Cassette Piano.02 SFZ is a lo-fi piano sample instrument by THEPHONOLOOP, built from recordings of an old upright piano in a ballet training room. It is designed for SFZ-compatible players.

AVAILABLE ATPlugin Boutique

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01Overview

Cassette Piano.02 SFZ is the latest entry in THEPHONOLOOP's Cassette series of lo-fi instruments. Its samples were captured from an imperfect upright piano with microphones placed at the back of the instrument, giving the sound natural character and small irregularities. Four processing decks offer different levels of pitch instability and noise, so producers can shape a piano that ranges from clean-sounding to heavily worn. The pack is a practical choice for vintage-flavored keys in lo-fi, indie and sample-based production.

Best for

Lo-fi piano chords
Vintage keys for indie
Sample-based beat production
Detuned piano textures
Nostalgic film scoring

Developer: THEPHONOLOOP
Category: Expansion Packs
Store: Plugin Boutique

02Key features

What you get

Piano samples recorded from an old upright piano in a ballet training room
Four processing decks with different levels of pitch instability
Stereo and mono versions of the recordings
1325 samples totaling 5 GB
Five noise samples, each around two minutes long
Three velocity layers per note
Noise knob for independent noise level and filtering
Sample start knob controllable from the GUI or mod wheel
Octave down switch and two-band Instrument Tone equalizer
Simulated round robin for faster note passages
Five basic presets included

03In depth

Sound Character and Recording Decks

The sample set was recorded in stereo and mono and processed through four decks. Deck A Stereo is the highest quality of the set, with very low pitch instability and a stereo image. Deck A Mono offers the same quality in mono. Deck B Mono, reused from earlier Cassette instruments, has a slightly loose drive belt that introduces noticeable pitch wobble, which the developer notes sounds especially good when transposed down. Deck C Mono is the noisiest deck with a medium amount of pitch instability. Deck D Mono is similar to Deck A but with more pitch and tonal instability.

Each note has been denoised with a high quality algorithm to prevent noise stacking across chords. A separate noise knob adds controlled noise back in, letting you set its volume and apply filtering independently. A five-voice chord therefore carries one noise layer rather than five stacked ones, which the developer says sounds more realistic.

Playing Controls and Workflow

The sample start knob, controlled from the GUI or the mod wheel, lets you adjust the initial transient while you shape a sound. An octave down switch in the GUI makes it quick to add the low, lofi character that transposed-down samples provide. A simple two-band equalizer called Instrument Tone sits at the bottom of the interface for basic tonal adjustment.

The instrument includes a simulated round robin, which the developer says makes faster note passages sound more realistic and adds nonlinearity to the overall sound.

04Specs

Will it run?

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

Developer	THEPHONOLOOP
Type	Preset pack / expansion
Category	Expansion Packs

05FAQ

Questions, answered

What format is Cassette Piano.02 SFZ?

Cassette Piano.02 SFZ is an SFZ instrument. It is one of several formats the Cassette Piano.02 series is offered in, each sold separately or as part of a multiformat bundle.

What do I need to use Cassette Piano.02 SFZ?

You need an SFZ-compatible player to load the instrument. Any SFZ player should work, and a free option such as Zampler is one example.

How does the noise knob work?

The noise knob adds the included noise samples back into the sound at a level you choose. Because it is separate from the samples, you can adjust its volume and filtering independently.