The search for a Kurzweil K2000 piano soundalike VST

[Aloysius]

Thanks Grandfather.

[Ex Machina]

There's nothing like a Kurzweil in the software realm, really.

Well, there is on my machine, as I have my MicroPiano sampled into Kontakt instruments (but I can't distribute it, obviously)

Eh, it's not quite the same.

I doubt the K2000 piano sound has more than one or two velocity layers and is almost certainly not sampled chromatically up the keyboard. If you had access to a K2000 for a day, you could easily sample the piano sound and play it back in something like the inexpensive TAL Sampler. On these older synths, the sample split points within the instrument are usually quite noticeable making it easy to pick out the root note of each sample and create an identical multisample map. There's nothing magical about the K2000 filters. It wouldn't be hard to use the filter in TAL Sampler to provide some added dynamics. The resulting instrument might not be a 100% faithful recreation. But it would be so close that you probably wouldn't care.

[rasmusklump]

The UVI key suite digital has sounds from the Micropiano, I believe they are taken from the k2000

[Stagiii3]

I still have my K2000r, I never liked the piano in it. In fact, it was quite the ongoing discussion back in the day about how to get the best piano into 16MB of sample ram. I find it interesting how so many of those old mailing lists and forums are gone now.

The OP mistakenly assumed that the example Floyd track was a sampled piano, perhaps a K2000 that was frequently used by Richard Wright for live performances.

So this topic was titled "The search for a Kurzweil piano soundalike VST".

But the reality is that this was an album only track recorded in a studio, and never performed live, so most likely a real piano was used.

Ironic...

I find the nostalgia for relatively easy to obtain 90s digital sounds weird. K2000s are basically trash today. They're not hard to find if you really want the sound, and they are so simple, compared to samples today, that you literally could create a kontakt or or simpler patch in an afternoon and you would have the sound in your computer.

Samplemania asserts that Children relied heavily on the K2K.

These are basically standard piano, syn bass and string/pad sounds bathed in delay and reverb, but they are particular nonetheless. Italian dj/producer Robert Miles wrote this hit using a Kurzweil K2000 to "calm down" the kids before they drove back home from the discos (he even used the great K2000 "Thunder" patch in this song).

Well if they're 'trash'¿then they're anywhere from $500-$800 worth of it &(so)that's not talkin' any 'trash' either¡ [That's]pretty good(the best)kinda 'trash' I know about & in my book:
-better than any VST, IMHO, IYAME & TOME but TEHO dude[P.S..DigiTech efx are greatly underated -granted it's not KDFX(what IS¿) but they have a certain appeal. The K2k has a dark, almost compressed sound unique tooo it's siblings that I like:-:a mockingbird:-:if u will & if ya MIDI it tooo a K26Cr ur pretty much covering all the bases as far as the Kurz sound goes -add the K27C & your good togo in this world of music we're in; IN this day & age with no argument necessary or pertinent, for that matter the K250 piano still holds up tooo & the K2k's got it on ROM blox. Oh & one more thing SMP-K is worth it's weight in gold; it's the best hardware sampler there is & ever was: IT systematically put a lot of companies out of business & a big reason the big guy's don't really make'm anymore, realizing they couldn't do betterment & now with this thing called ZuluSCSI -has made OSKL hardware sampling non-volatile, not tooo mention viable once again folks¡!]

[DJBenniBoy]

Here is a tiktok explaining how to get that "Robert Miles Sound" Not about the Notes, BUT the closest sounds you can get to Robert Miles here :https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJnmj17S/, it explains a little how to make the bass sound (pause and copy the sound) and the kick used, etc etc, even the strings and piano are explained!

[dlandis]

There's nothing like a Kurzweil in the software realm, really.

Well, there is on my machine, as I have my MicroPiano sampled into Kontakt instruments (but I can't distribute it, obviously)

Eh, it's not quite the same.

Yup. If memory serves, a Steinway D was sampled for the K2000, but by the time the Micropiano came about, Kurzweil had been sold, so they sampled a Young Chang for it instead. Not a bad piano at the time (especially for the money,) but definitely not a Steinway D.

[Stagiii3]

Totally agree - while the K2000 really has a great sound potential otherwise, the Pianos are crap.

Cheers, Björn

... well uh don't tell THAT tooo Robert Miles who did 'Children'..:I'm pretty positive he'd Totally Disagree with ya¿as would alot of people (as do I) ...IT's still {with a bit of tweakin'}better than ANY korg, Nord, Roland or vst IMHO, IYAME & TEHO dude(s)[P.S..only thing that tops the 0rig is IT's Triple Strike sibling]

[surreal]

Cool

[Stagiii3]

...u can never tell him though¿but anyway, it's whatever TEHO dude(s)

[Mike Martin]

Yup. If memory serves, a Steinway D was sampled for the K2000, but by the time the Micropiano came about, Kurzweil had been sold, so they sampled a Young Chang for it instead. Not a bad piano at the time (especially for the money,) but definitely not a Steinway D.

Micropiano is also a Steinway D, as was the famous "Triple Strike" piano that was found in later models PC2, K2600...etc.

[Mike Martin]

If you're looking for "Kurzweil" like pianos in software then IVORY is your choice. The creator of all of the original Kurzweil piano samples is the developer behind IVORY.