Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars
Soniccouture’s Deep Felt is a beautiful Kontakt instrument for a specific piano timbre that continues to be very on‑trend, thanks to its usage by numerous electronic artists and soundtrack composers.
The principle behind this piano sound relies upon a pedal commonly found inside upright pianos, which drops a layer of felt between the hammer and strings. Often described as the practice pedal (with the original intent being to decrease the instrument’s volume for the purposes of practice), it has now become a piano category all of its own.
Soniccouture have sampled an Essex upright, which they cruelly describe as “nothing fancy!” I would disagree, as the Essex brand is part of the Steinway family, albeit manufactured in the Far East, rather than Hamburg or New York. The sampling process employed a pair of Schoeps MK4 mics taking care of a more intimate close‑up signal, with an equally stunning pair of Earthworks used as a more distant spaced pair. The net result is a visually appealing minimal interface, with volume controls for each of the signals. Even in its default mode, the quality of the sampling is truly engaging when played, sounding more European than I might have expected.
An enormous amount of attention has been paid to the resonance across the range of the instrument. Despite the felt, initial string strikes provide a full tone, coupled with a beautifully sympathetic cabinet resonance which is particularly evident in the upper register of the instrument. It’s very organic and natural in sound. There are also volume adjustments for the actions, such as the hammer against the felt and the pedal mechanism. This is a medium‑sized upright, so bass reproduction isn’t huge, but it is firmly in keeping with the intimate nature of the instrument.
This library does, however, move way beyond the basic felt piano sound. SC provide five menus that allow control of envelope, filter and LFO modulation. This may feel counterintuitive, being a piano library, but the lengths to which you can go to create interesting snapshots (patches) is very welcome. As if to prove the point, SC provide 36 snapshots that demonstrate everything from natural usage to overt sound design. This is heavily bolstered by the effects section, which provides some exemplary treatments, such as bit‑crushing and saturation — both surprisingly useful!
There is also a Generative Tools page, which includes sequencers named Jammer and Weaver. The latter provides the ability to host up to eight lanes of sequence, so that when you play a chord, each note will be directly triggered and effected by the Weaver lane, in a form of sequential playback. This is totally mesmerising, providing beautiful pulsating Steve Reich‑like backdrops with incredible ease.
The additional elements are an enormous bonus, extending a beautiful library way beyond its first impression.
Like so many previous encounters with Soniccouture, this library, which provides up to 18 velocity layers within 6.4GB of compressed sampled content, begins with a beautifully captured instrument. The additional elements are an enormous bonus, extending a beautiful library way beyond its first impression.