REQ: Soundiron The Drinking Piano 2.0 KONTAKT

The Drinking Piano is a fat-bottomed monster upright with a classic beer hall sound, evoking images of the roaring 20s and pre-war 30s. It's got all of the brutal wear and tear that you'd expect from a hundred-year-old instrument that has been played hard and put away wet, night after night. With a fat, wide and close sound, it puts you right on the bench with the yellow, cracked ivories under your fingers. It was recorded right up against the strings in a small, slightly reflective hall, giving it all the presence of a dry studio recording with just a hint of live ambiance.

The years of alcohol-fueled abuse have been less than kind to this once stately instrument. With worn and rickety key action, unreliable dampers, loose pedal mechanics, wear hardened felts, the occasional misaligned hammer and decades of baked-in dust, every key has all the character and frailty of a hundred-year-old bartender. The strings were far too corroded to be tuned without risking breakage and further internal damage, so the whole thing is a little over a half-step flat. But beneath the beer stains and cigarette burns, this massive aging troubadour has a substantial pedigree. It's an original Ivors and Pond model from the dawn of the 20th century, made of solid mahogany, with expert hand-craftsmanship and detail rarely seen in modern uprights.