Vertical Piano

In the brutal chaos of World War II, Steinway & Sons, barred from piano-making by wartime metal restrictions, turned their Queens factory to crafting coffins and glider parts. Then they landed a contract to build over 3,000 "Victory Vertical" pianos—rugged olive, blue, or grey beasts airdropped onto battlefields, complete with tuning kits, to bring solace to American troops. From 1942 to 1953, these G.I. Steinways, often hauled in by Jeep, sparked joy and camaraderie, letting soldiers sing, smile, and remember home, their music a defiant pulse of hope.

Sampled at Hans Zimmer's "Remote Control Productions" in Santa Monica, this is one of but a handful of remaining victory verticals, and since its recent refurbishment a unique working model where scars of its tumultuous past are borne out in the character of its unique sound.

Our philosophy is: if it's been done before, then it's not worth doing again. We’ve taken a never-before-heard piano and created an all new type of environment to work in, where its effects and features aren’t add-ons, but an intrinsic part of its sound.

1. Tape Reel

Not just any tape machine, a very broken one! With a looping mechanism, speaker emulation control of age and wear of tape and bias.

2. Effects

Your “sploshy” section. Hand picked retro delays, reverbs (with a freeze reverb function) and a granular synth to throw endless hours into.

3. EQ

A remarkably intuitive EQ section along with saturation and compression controls to equip you with the tools of the trade.​

4. Settings

Finally the ability to access how the piano is controlled depending on your keyboard and skill level. With us terminating at all the wonderful noises of a piano that make it so real.