Grand Piano AUv3

What it does

A sampled grand piano that loads as an AUv3 instrument, with one sound set and very little around it. The standalone app offers a key width slider, an octave selector and a volume slider, while the plugin panel adds attack, decay, gain and a stereo pan. External MIDI reaches it only inside a host. The App Store now lists it free as the lite version, pointing anyone wanting more sounds and effects at Grand Piano AUv3 2. It has since gained a new interface and a rebuilt audio engine.

In the demo

Jade plays it from the screen, then loads it into GarageBand beside two Ravenscroft tracks and plays it from a controller with a sustain pedal. She checks what the plugin controls do, several of which stay put, then copies a stock GarageBand piano part onto the track to swap the sound.

Worth knowing

GarageBand shows no sustain lane for it in the MIDI editor, though recorded pedal holds do play back. Anyone needing layers, velocity options or alternate pianos is in the wrong app.