Spitfire Audio have teamed up with legendary composer Philip Glass (!) to record his personal baby grand piano, at his home in Manhattan NYC, to create their latest LABS instrument. This is released today to coincide with his 85th birthday, on Monday 31st January 2022. What's more it's free to download!
Glass’s entire breadth of compositional work over the past 30 years has been written on this piano — this includes seminal works The Piano Etudes, all of his Academy Award nominated film scores (Kundun, The Hours, and Notes on a Scandal), all 14 symphonies, operas In the Penal Colony and Galileo Galilei, among hundreds of other compositions. Glass is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century.
Now available to the public for the first time, you can download this new LABS instrument and discover the unique sonic personality of Glass’s piano via a range of sounds — from the classic and beautiful Glass Grand preset, to soft and atmospheric warps, produced by the Spitfire Audio team from raw recordings.
Philip Glass's Manhattan home
Talking about his beloved instrument, Philip Glass said:
“My piano has been my piano for thirty years. I have a tuner who makes it sound the way I want it to sound. When I’m writing music, and if I play it, it’ll be on this piano.
"It’s not just the piano and its sound. It’s the room it’s in, it’s the density of the walls and floorboards and the temperature. It’s how young or old a piano is. My piano has a heavy action. It’s even how the keys are varnished. Just like people, pianos have personalities.
"Especially the low parts of the piano tend to be pitches that are very clear to me. If you look at all 88 keys, the piano is different in different places. The lower octaves of my piano are not meant to be bold and aggressive. They are meant to be beautiful and spiritual, and that’s how they sound.”
KEY FEATURES
- LABS Glass Piano shares the legendary composer’s piano with the world for the first time.
- Glass’s entire breadth of compositional work over the past 30 years has been written on this piano.
- Recorded in Philip Glass’s home studio in Manhattan.
- 6 presets.
- Suited to beginners and professionals alike.
- It's free!
