HAMMERSMITH FREE

• MID MIC CHANNEL ( SCHOEPS MK4 )

The main control panel.  A simple layout.

• PEDAL, KEY-OFF, DAMPERS, ROOM NOISE CONTROL
• SOFT PEDAL CONTROL
• VELOCITY CURVE + RANDOMISE CONTROLS

Fine tune the response and performance of Hammersmith - tweak instrument noise details, fine tune the playing response to your exact touch.

• 4 BAND EQUALISER
• SPACE MODULE WITH CUSTOM REVERBS

Hammersmith Free features a simple effects page, with a 4-band EQ to shape your piano sound. The Space Reverb module features Soniccouture's custom impulse library built up over many years and recording sessions.

TAILOR YOUR TOUCH

You can dramatically change the way a sampled  piano feels by adjusting the velocity response. Adjust the curve to concave, and the softer samples will be emphasised, tweak it more convex and the sound becomes much harder.

Hammersmith also features randomise controls to add human elements to MIDI parts - vary the velocity, add tiny timing variations.

DIAL IN FORENSIC DETAILS

It's the little things that add realism; damplers, pedal thumps, key-off noise.
If you want more of these details, it's easy to turn them up, down or off with Hammersmith.

An engineer sets up the M50 Decca Tree & other room mics.

The Hammersmith sessions were overseen by engineer Peter Henderson, best known for his work with Supertramp and Paul McCartney.

Inside the lid, showing a test setup of AKG D19, C12 stereo pair, Neumann FET 47 Pair, and the Neumann KU100 Binaural Head. The C12 + FET47 were not chosen for the final mic setup.

The placement of the Neumann KU100 head exactly replicates the player position.

The custom Neve console at British Grove. Remote preamps in the recording room are controlled by the desk to reduce cable run noise.

The piano is signed.

The Decca Tree room mics high-up in the roof. Neumann U87s are beyond as a spaced pair.

Inside the Steinway D.

The live room at British Grove.

Control room

Hammersmith was recorded using a rare Steinway Model D with a self-play MIDI system fitted. This meant we could get extremely, accurate reliable velocity samples from it, and we didn't have to use a player. No coughs, no mistakes, no breaks. The piano sat on it's own in a room for 5 days.. playing itself.