Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.5/5 Stars
Music Row Piano (Nashville Studio Grand) from WilTone Productions is a new and refreshingly simple piano library, designed to offer the perfect commercial piano sound right out of Kontakt. The brainchild of Nashville session player Will Houchens, Music Row Piano is sampled from a single instrument, a Yamaha C7. This is easily one of the most popular models for commercial work, benefitting from a degree of brightness in its tonal colour. European instruments might sound superb in isolation, but can sometimes sound muddy and dark in a mix, requiring extensive EQ’ing.
According to Houchens, great care was taken in the selection of mics, placement and signal path assignment, arguably going further than a regular recording session. He also called upon the help and talents of local Nashville engineers to capture the perfect tone through three microphone signals, which are presented in a basic mixer format as part of the interface.
In terms of mics, a pair of AKG C414s were used for close‑up detail, a single Sennheiser MD 421 for midrange punch, and a pair Peluso P‑47s offer a natural and warm signal. Each of these signals have their strengths, with the appeal of avoiding EQ by being able to blend the signals.
The interface itself is simple; the default view provides a nice graphic with a quick click on the settings cog revealing the mixer interface. From here, you have access to the three microphone signals, as well as independent control over mechanical and pedal noise.
There is an intrinsic, satisfying playability to this library. Sitting and just exploring the microphone signals in isolation reveals its flexibility. The combination of 47s with support from 414s provides natural appeal. More commercial mixes benefit from the unleashing of the MD 421, adding punch without the need to emphasise frequency content. Of course, the success of this depends on what else you have in your mix, but Music Row Piano wears its heart on its sleeve by providing a useful solution for piano in a mostly commercial context.
I did get the sense of a velocity band where sampling is less extensive, in the upper dynamic range as samples move from forté to fortissimo. This is a range that can always present pianistic challenges, both from the sampling and playing perspective, but with the ability to switch velocity curves through the interface a move to a softer curve helped to make this less obvious.
The instrument is also equipped with some excellent iso‑booth and large room reverberation settings, with impulse responses being curated from some of the finest studios and rooms in Nashville — although anonymity has been preserved!
This could be the perfect companion for your productions if you struggle to get your pianos to sit in a mix.
There may be less flexibility here compared to libraries that offer more than one model of instrument, but this could be the perfect companion for your productions if you struggle to get your pianos to sit in a mix.