Helsinki 1967 Pro

If you downloaded the original 200mb library I did in October 2025, I highly recommend updating to this version (also free) since I re-recorded all the samples with a lot more care. This version feels so nice to play I’ve actually used it when performing live.

The sampled piano was originally built in Nurmijärvi, Finland in 1967. The name “Helsinki 1967” refers to the text inside the piano: Helsinki No 9962 (serial number). Although the factory was originally located in Helsinki, it moved to Nurmijärvi in 1951; thus it is very likely that this particular piano was not actually built in Helsinki.

My grandparents bought the piano from a shop then called Piano Jylhä (nowadays Soitin Jylhä). My mother started piano lessons the same year but ended up quitting six years later.
One of my very first conscious memories was when the piano was moved to my childhood home in 1994. It was located there until around 2012. There wasn’t enough room in my apartment for an acoustic piano back then, so the piano was borrowed to a local jazz musician who kept it in tune for practising.
In the summer 2023 the piano was moved to my rehearsal space and that’s where this sample library was recorded.

Equipment used for recording the samples:
2 x SM57 behind the piano
2 x OM1 omnidirectional pointed at hammers
1 x 47jr in omni mode as room mic
Focusrite 18i20 2nd gen audio interface

Includes four velocity layers for each sampled key, release samples and pedal noise (Kontakt and DecentSampler).

2025-11-12 New in v. 1.4 (DecentSampler and Logic)
– Multi Out versions for DecentSampler and Logic Pro sampler!
Now you can record each microphone perspective to separate audio
channels. So if you like this piano enough to use it in an actual production, you can now send separate 57, OM, Room, Release, and Pedalnoise tracks to your mixing engineer for individual processing.
I included Logic and Reaper project templates where everything is routed and ready to go!

– For people with continuous sustain pedals that allow half-pedalling (Yamaha FC4 etc.), the sustain pedal sample will cause DecentSampler to glitch a lot, since the PEDALDOWN.wav will be triggered repeatedly while holding the pedal down. If your pedal doesn’t allow switching to ”normal” sustain pedal mode (like Roland DP-10, my personal favorite damper pedal!), you may use the NOPEDAL.dspreset files for omitting the pedal noise samples altogether.

2025-11-10 New in v. 1.31
– Added ”Round Robin simulation” to Kontakt version, which brings subtle random variations to subsequently played notes. There’s also a toggle switch for turning the effect off.
– Pedal samples in DecentSampler version are now finally audible and their level can be adjusted.

2025-11-08 New in v. 1.3: much more realistic stereo image, a lot less noise especially on 57 wavs, leaked sound erased from C4 samples.

DecentSampler version also includes a small selection of impulse responses for adding reverb.

Impulse Response credits and licensing information
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Lady Chapel, St Albans Cathedral
www.openairlib.net
Audiolab, University of York
Marcin Gorzel
Gavin Kearney
Aglaia Foteinou
Sorrel Hoare
Simon Shelley

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Usina del Arte Symphony Hall
www.untref.edu.ar
Leandro Rodiño
Alejandro Bidondo
Nahuel Cacavelos

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Small Room, Plate and School Hall by Mikko Patama
School Hall IR captured from West Helsinki Music Institution, Helsinki, Finland (45 sec sine sweep, two OM1 mics in spaced pair configuration).