Special Keyboards

Apple G4 800 MHz (G5 recommended) with Mac OS X 10.4 or higher. RTAS, AU or VST host program.
PC Intel/AMD with Windows XP/Vista 32 and 64 bit versions (Core 2 Duo/Xeon recommended). VST host program.
Also available as stand-alone on Apple and PC.

Requires the ViennaKey.

Contains the following instruments:

Harpsichord

Harmonium

Prepared Piano

The 8 GB collection Special Keyboards offers a state-of-the-art approach to capturing exceptional, rare, but also classic sounds that every sound designer or composer should have.

The harpsichord has a famously bright sound, rich in overtones. This set is great for TV and filmscores, classic rock, and of course this is the definitive instrument for going “Back to Bach.” Recorded in Vienna’s own Silent Stage, the following single notes and repetition performances of a two manual harpsichord were recorded: 8’ register solo, 8’ double, and tutti (a combination of two 8’ registers and one 4’ register).

The harmonium is a free-reed instrument, meaning that air streaming past reeds of different lengths causes them to vibrate. Unlike organ pipes, the harmonium’s reeds produce more disharmonic overtones, creating a unique undulating sound.

The prepared piano is a technique introduced in 1949 by John Cage, where objects like erasers, nails, wire, paper, etc., are inserted between a piano’s strings in certain places, causing them to produce additional tones, harmonics, or percussive sounds. The Vienna team also treated the Bösendorfer grand piano with bare hands (e.g., glissandos over the strings) and with wood mallets in order to get a multitude of creative sounds and colors.

There are no Standard and Extended Library options, as in other Vienna Instruments collections; the Special Keyboards Standard Library includes the full sets of samples along with the software instrument, featuring our exclusive Vienna Instruments engine.

Miss Marple Theme by Ron Goodwin (3.18 MB)
Harpsicord Demo by Christian Kardeis

Two Part Invention in F-Major by Johann Sebastian Bach (3.7 MB)
Harpsicord Demo by Beat Kaufmann

Brandenburg Concerto Nr. 5 - Allegro by Johann Sebastian Bach (8.2 MB)
Harpsicord Demo by Beat Kaufmann

Violin Sonata No. 6, Adagio - Allegro by Georg Friedrich Händel (5.4 MB)
Harpsicord Demo by Beat Kaufmann

Cappriccio by Johann Kaspar Kerll (4.1 MB)
Harpsicord Demo by Stefan Fahl

Canzone by Johann Kaspar Kerll (5.5 MB)
Harpsicord Demo by Stefan Fahl

A la Burla Op. 26/2 by Sigfrid Karg-Elert, (4.6 MB)
Harmonium Demo byStefan Fahl

Scherzino Bizarro Op. 26/3 by Sigfrid Karg-Elert (2.4 MB)
Harmonium Demo by Stefan Fahl

Prepared Piano Elegy (9.8 MB)
Prepared Piano Demo by Guy Bacos

The Vienna Symphonic Library company was founded in Vienna by Herb Tucmandl, a visionary composer, musician, and filmmaker who helped redefine the modern sample library. By inventing new sampling techniques and tools, Tucmandl and his team have created what has become the most widely used orchestral sample library in the industry. Now, the innovation continues with the release of the mammoth Symphonic Cube, powered by Vienna Instruments. Featuring starkly simple yet flexible user interfaces, Vienna Instruments bring orchestral production to another level of realism and provide unprecedented creative freedom for the user.