Vertikal

Vertikal gives you Nils Frahm's 4.5-meter (14.7 ft) vertical grand, recorded in his Saal 3 studio at the historic Funkhaus. It captures the piano's size and extraordinary dynamic range, along with the room’s outstanding acoustic character. The instrument comes in two versions: Pure, capturing its natural sound in all its depth and power, and Felt, offering Frahm’s softer, more intimate style of playing.

Alongside the piano itself, Vertikal features the completely reworked Particles 2.0 engine, opening up a whole new world of rhythmic patterns, evolving textures, and creative sound design.

Play an unparalleled piano

Vertikal gives you access to one of the tallest pianos ever built. This is Nils Frahm’s 4.5-meter (14.7 ft) vertical grand recorded in his Saal 3 studio space.

In collaboration with Nils Frahm

Explore a library shaped through direct collaboration with one of the most influential modern piano and ambient-electronic artists. Vertikal channels a unique instrument alongside Frahm’s signature style for you to take in your own direction.

Physical height. Emotional depth.

Designed by a renowned piano builder, this colossal instrument is not about huge sound; in fact, it's at its best when played softly. The 3.9-meter (12.7 ft) strings offer unusually extended resonance and bass response. Simple playing feels larger, deeper, and more emotionally charged.

Deeply resonant sampling

Vertikal was recorded in Saal 3 within the historic Funkaus complex – a room with a special history and acoustic character. The sampling captures complex overtones, sympathetic vibration, and the acoustic scale of this extraordinary space and piano.

Sparse playing made cinematic

Get instant atmosphere and vast sound design options without leaving the instrument. Particles 2.0 is the evolution of the acclaimed generative engine behind Noire. Play and hold a few notes or chords for clouds of rich, evolving musical layers.

Features

Pure and Felt versions

Move between two versions without reaching for another instrument.

• Pure: A rich, warm, clear and expressive sound with a wide dynamic range, deep bass, natural resonance and a defined attack.
• Felt: A softer, slightly muted, intimate and mellow piano sound with a gentler felt attack and a darker, more atmospheric tone.

Particles 2.0 engine

Particles turns your performances into evolving layers of sound. As you play, it adds notes that shift by chance within set ranges of pitch, timing, dynamics, and stereo position, so every performance becomes a continuously changing cloud of notes. It’s the successor to the Noire engine, with a host of new features:

Motion

A new Motion system adds LFOs and performance modulation via mod wheel and polyphonic aftertouch, bringing continuous movement and real-time expression to almost every part of the engine.

Effects engine

Get four assignable slots, a wide selection of presets, and individual parameters. Combined with Motion, effects become an integral part of your evolving sound – from subtle spatial enhancements to complex sonic transformation.

Rhythm and Play Modes

Rhythm Mode introduces reproducible, tempo-synched patterns with an adjustable number of steps and individual step velocities. Play Mode makes the Particles sound sources directly playable from the keyboard, opening up new possibilities for expressive performance and sound design.

Sound sources

Choose from a range of tonal, percussive, and textural sound sources, from delicate piano textures to experimental soundscapes. Each of the two sources now has its own Pan and Timbre controls, so you can place and shape them independently.

Individual particle and cloud envelopes

Shape single particles and the whole cloud with full ADSR envelopes. Modulate the envelope settings to make your sound evolve and respond as you play.

• Free Kontakt Player or Kontakt (Version 8.13.1 or higher) required.