Italian Grand Expansion Pack for Ivory

A Joy To Play

Immediately gratifying to play, the Italian Grand expansion for Ivory elevates this already great virtual piano collection to new heights.

For those who don’t already own Ivory 1.5, the Italian Grand Expansion Pack is the most compelling reason I can offer for getting on board. I was fortunate to review Ivory when it was first released, and it immediately became the center of my studio. Since then, Ivory has become a standard for virtual pianists and project studios everywhere. With this addition, Ivory has captured a grand piano that is sonically distinct. While I anticipated a great sound from the new Italian Grand, I did not realize it would be the best virtual piano I have yet to play.

The sampled 10-foot Italian Concert Grand provides twelve velocity layers (as well as Una Corda samples at multiple velocities). Within seconds, you know this isn’t just another virtual grand, but an instrument with character. The release samples - triggered by duration and velocity - round out its distinct tone, giving this instrument an incredible full-bodied sound.

To play this instrument is to fully appreciate it. In addition to the rich and dynamic flavor of this grand, the word “even” comes to mind, particularly for its balanced tone across all octaves. Personally, I think this is the first sampled piano that nails the mid range so convincingly. This alone will restore your faith in a virtual piano being expressive.

Sonically Distinct

For me, the new Italian Grand is incredibly versatile when trying to fill that ever-elusive sweet spot in an arrangement. I was immediately struck by its full, rich presence, with far more resonance than I’m accustomed to. Talk about wow factor. Swapping out pianos from existing projects (yes, even Ivory’s own pianos), the distinct character of this grand - particularly its clarity and resonance - fill a sonic niche in a way that others do not. It is expressive, rich, and distinct, drawing attention to its compelling tone.

In this context, the Italian Grand might not be the right choice for every arrangement, which is where Ivory’s other grand pianos come in. (Of course presets can make a difference as well). If I had to choose my virtual favorite piano, however, I would have to say the Italian Grand seems to redefine Ivory for the better - if that is possible. Clearly the engineers at Synthogy have been working hard in providing a piano that raises the bar, offering an instrument with a truly distinct personality.

As for presets, these have been carefully designed with some noticeably geared for jazz performances and impressionistic playing. Indicative of the natural sound of an Italian Grand, the tonal quality of this instrument also makes it great for baroque music - particularly with it’s bright, lyrical coloring. My personal favorite is the Modern Jazz preset that fits surprisingly well with a cross-section of styles, and in particular, as a fantastic “studio” piano for an up-front piano mix. This is one preset that I keep returning to over and over for a variety of uses.

Of course not all presets are created equal, and this is a subjective call for the user. As with all of Ivory’s pianos, various sonic aspects of the Italian Grand can be configured to taste, with all of Ivory’s onboard sound-shaping and effects capabilities at your fingertips. I found the low end with a couple of presets to be a tad heavy, and with a slight adjustment to Ivory’s EQ, was able to balance things perfectly. Clearly some presets are just stunning for solo work, while others are intended more for instrumental and ensemble work.

New Goodies

The Italian Grand expansion also includes a lot of new program and effects settings that allow it to be “placed” in a particular sonic environment, be it hall, church, studio, or club. This is a much-desired addition - from my perspective - for getting Ivory to behave in other instrumental and sonic contexts. With a recent update, Ivory integrated a much more practical pull-down browser for making these choices - and this same functionality can be found while using the effects tab or velocity mapping. (For more information on Ivory’s many sound-shaping features, read my review of Ivory 1.0).

System Specifications

Technical considerations include already owning/registering Ivory 1.5, as well as having 20 gigabytes of free drive space After installation, the expansion simply loads via the Ivory interface, its presets available in the same browser with the other pianos. Incidentally, the Italian Grand also has to be installed on the same drive as your original Ivory library - a bit of a hassle if you’ve owned Ivory for some time and already filled up that extra drive space. Synthogy also suggests leaving at least ten percent free on the drive after installation. Like most all sample-based collections of this size, a faster drive is recommended (at least 7200 rpm).

The Ivory 1.6 update must also be downloaded and installed (from the Synthogy website). As of this writing, a 1.6.2 update had been posted with full Universal Binary support for mac users, and some other updates for all users. A separate registration/authorization process is needed for the Italian Grand Expansion Pack, though this is keyed to the user’s original Ivory registration once completed.

As for system performance – I’ve become accustomed leaving Ivory’s settings alone, though I soon discovered that my installed 2.5 gigs - while fine for solo and stand-alone use - was not enough to run several instruments along with the Italian Grand (at least not without compromising buffer size and voice count). While balancing RAM with disk use is fairly straightforward in Ivory, installing more RAM made all the difference (and allowed me to select the highest buffer setting). Anyone planning to use the Italian Grand along with other sampled instruments - and especially when loading more samples into RAM - may need more than the recommended 2 gigs, depending on your system’s overall performance.

Fall In Love Again

This expansion for Ivory has been worth the wait, clearly proving that the best virtual piano only gets better. In reality, the Italian Grand brings a totally different aspect to Ivory. With so many virtual grand pianos out there, it’s great to have a piano that displays a truly different and expressive character, particularly one that fits amazingly well in so many playing environments.

Greg Paxton is director of the mixlab, a Bay Area media arts program for teens. www.mixlab.com

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