Belford 1904 Upright

Generations-old, slightly out of tune upright that delivers beautiful soft tones, harsh honky-tonk vibes and everything in between.

Byericbelvin

The story

This upright piano is 119 years old and was made by a now-obsolete manufacturer called the Belford Piano Company. It belongs to my in-laws, and I always enjoyed playing it during visits. You can feel its age under your fingers and it has a smooth, dark tone that’s always just a little out of tune. I decided to sample it over the Christmas holiday. Initially, I thought this would be a quick and simple project, but as I got into it, I found myself really enjoying the piano’s personality and decided to go further. I began scripting a user interface and went all in, tweaking the samples until they were just right.

This instrument has:

– 3 dynamic levels
– Release samples
– Controllable velocity curve (you can get super punchy with it, or dial in the “soft piano” sound)
– Quick reverb and compression controls
– Adjustable pedal and mechanical noises
– A preset system (comes with some of my favorite settings, and you can add your own)

I hope you enjoy playing this as much as I do!

Interface

Reviews

  • This is super beautiful

    Appreciate to you so much

    I can't believe it. It just sound like a real upright piano

    hyunwoobig on 02 March 2023
  • Really lovely!

    It has such a nice character! Thank you for sampling this!
    It would be really cool if you could make it available for Decent Sampler or some other player that is really free ...

    Norbert on 28 March 2023
  • Wonderful character!

    Thank you. The piano has a wonderful atmosphere and character. It's one of the most played lately.

    DeclenCz on 26 January 2025
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