"The crown jewel of grand pianos": Native Instruments' Claire captures the sound of the world's largest grand piano in production

Hot on the heels of announcing the third iteration of its Maschine software, Native Instruments has unveiled Claire, a new virtual instrument for Kontakt 8 based on the sounds of a concert grand piano.

This isn't just any concert grand, though, but a "world-class" 10-foot Italian concert grand piano (the Fazioli F308) that NI describes as "the crown jewel" of pianos, delivering "immense power and harmonic richness", with its extended string length contributing to its deep bass and exceptional clarity of tone. (Hence the name: Claire is French for "clear".)

According to its manufacturer, the F308 is the world's largest piano in production; unusually, it's equipped with a fourth pedal, which allows the player to soften the sound without changing its timbre by reducing the distance between the hammers and the strings.

Developed in partnership with Galaxy Instruments, Claire's sample library was recorded in the 330-square metre hall of Belgium's Galaxy Studios, utilizing multiple mic placements that can be chosen and blended within the instrument's UI.

In addition to controls for colour, tone, depth and richness, Claire arrives equipped with a comprehensive selection of effects, including EQ, compression, and saturation, while a dedicated Space panel houses controls for reverb and delay. NI's Particles Engine is also onboard, a granular effect that triggers and processes shimmering, ethereal clouds of samples based on your playing.

This isn't the first time Native Instruments has captured the sound of an oversized piano; all the way back in 2012, it released The Giant, a sample library based on the sound of the Klavins Model 370i, the biggest upright piano in the world.

Native Instruments Claire is priced at $149/€149/£129. If you're on a budget but still want to access the sound of the Fazioli F308, try this free sample library over at Pianobook.

Find out more on NI's website.