The course
Cinematic Piano Course
A beautiful piano sound is just the beginning. Learn to write, arrange and finish emotional piano music for trailers, adverts and television.
View the course →The directory
Free Piano VSTs
Every free piano worth downloading, with the player each one needs, the download size and whether you need an account. Pick a mood below, or jump to the full list.
Soft & Intimate
Close, quiet and a little imperfect. This is the sound of most advertising piano: felt hammers, close microphones, and room to hear the mechanism.
Read the tips: how to make a felt piano sound more intimate
- Keep velocities low and let them vary. Flat, identical velocities are what make MIDI piano sound programmed.
- Pick the closest microphone position the library offers, and pull the room mics down.
- Leave space. One hand often carries the whole idea.
- Go easy on reverb. Intimacy comes from the dry signal, so use a short room rather than a hall.
- Keep some pedal and hammer noise in. A little mechanism tells the listener a person is playing.
Want the full process? Cinematic Piano Course.
Dark & Dramatic
Low octaves, sustained pedal and space between notes. A full grand gives you the weight, and the tension comes from what you leave out.
Read the tips: how to make a piano sound darker
- Write lower. Most of the darkness is in the octaves below middle C.
- Roll off the top end with a gentle low-pass filter rather than boosting the lows.
- Hold the sustain pedal through a phrase so low notes blur into one another.
- Use a longer reverb on the piano only, and keep its pre-delay short so it stays behind the notes.
Want the full process? Cinematic Piano Course.
Epic & Uplifting
Trailer builds and anthemic adverts need a piano that survives strings, drums and synths. Brighter grands with clear attack work best.
Read the tips: how to make a piano cut through a big mix
- Stack two pianos and layer a synth underneath. When composers in Richard's Facebook group compared notes, they agreed EQ alone won't get you there.
- Choose a brighter grand with a strong attack for the lead part.
- Double important lines an octave up.
- Keep the piano's reverb shorter than the orchestra's, so its attack stays clear.
Want the full process? Cinematic Piano Course.
Nostalgic & Reflective
Uprights, detuned pianos and tape-worn tone. Simple harmony on a characterful instrument does most of the work.
Read the tips: how to give a piano an aged, nostalgic tone
- Start with an upright or a deliberately imperfect piano rather than a concert grand.
- Add gentle tape saturation and a touch of wow and flutter.
- Trim the highest frequencies so the tone sounds worn.
- Try an arpeggio in three. It has a whimsical, nostalgic feel.
Want the full process? Cinematic Piano Course.
Ambient & Minimal
A quiet melody over textures that keep moving. Felt pianos with long tails make good raw material for building your own pads.
Read the tips: how to turn a piano into a pad
- Set up two or three send channels, each with a different reverb and delay.
- Send the piano to them at different amounts, and automate the sends so the pad changes over time.
- EQ the sends to remove mud and harshness, and spread them wide in the stereo field.
- Bounce the result and reverse it for a swelling texture.
Want the full process? Ambient Piano.
All free pianos
33 instruments. Looking for opinions rather than facts? Read Richard's personal favourites.
| Instrument | Maker | Type | Player | Size | Account | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 Bechstein Upright | Andrew Ward (Pianobook) | upright | Decent Sampler | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| 1960s Piano | SampleScience | grand | Standalone plugin | 196 MB | — | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Autograph Grand | Spitfire Audio | grand | Splice INSTRUMENT | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Beskhu Upright Piano | SampleScience | upright | Standalone plugin | 158 MB | — | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Claustrophobic Piano | Christian Henson (Pianobook) | upright | Decent Sampler | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Cozy Piano | SampleScience | upright | Standalone plugin | 77 MB (plugin version) | — | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Dusty Felts | Somerville Sounds | felt | Standalone plugin | — | — | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Felt & Fog | Renger Koning (Pianobook) | cinematic | Decent Sampler | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Flannel Piano | Christian Henson (Pianobook) | experimental | Decent Sampler | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| forms:piano | Venus Theory | cinematic | Decent Sampler | 205 MB | — | 4 Nov 2026 |
| FOUNDATIONS | Piano | Heavyocity | cinematic | Kontakt Player | 2.7 GB uncompressed (1.21 GB on disk with NI lossless compression) | — | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Glass Piano | Spitfire Audio | grand | Splice INSTRUMENT | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Headroom Piano | Bengt Nilsson | grand | SFZ player | 156.2 MB | No | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Intimate Grand Piano | Spitfire Audio | grand | Splice INSTRUMENT | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Legacy Knight Piano | Paul James (Pianobook) | cinematic | Decent Sampler | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| LivingRoom Upright Piano (Micro SFZ Edition) | KeyPleezer | upright | SFZ player | 107 MB | No | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Midnight Upright | Nami Audio (Pianobook) | felt | Decent Sampler | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Modular Piano | Spitfire Audio | experimental | Splice INSTRUMENT | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Piano in 162 | Ivy Audio | grand | SFZ player | 4.9 GB | No | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Piano Uno | Native Instruments | grand | Kontakt Player | — | — | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Pleyel Felt | Björn Groos (Pianobook) | felt | Decent Sampler | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Ratio | Orchestral Tools | grand | SINEplayer | 2.8 GB of samples (891 MB SINEarc compressed) | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Room Piano v3 | SampleScience | upright | Standalone plugin | 59.4 MB | — | 4 Nov 2026 |
| S.K.Y. Felt Piano | Skyler Young (Pianobook) | felt | Decent Sampler | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Salamander Grand Piano | Alexander Holm | grand | SFZ player | 394 MB (16-bit/44.1 kHz) or 1.18 GB (24-bit/48 kHz) | No | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Scarypiano | Karoryfer Samples | experimental | SFZ player | 342 MB | No | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Spindle | Orchestral Tools | felt | SINEplayer | 5.7 GB of samples (1.8 GB SINEarc compressed) | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Summer Felt | Christian Henson (Pianobook) | felt | Decent Sampler | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Tape Piano | Spitfire Audio | upright | Splice INSTRUMENT | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| The 9,000ft Piano | Christian Henson (Pianobook) | grand | Decent Sampler | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| The Felt Seiler – Free Edition | Strezov Sampling | felt | Kontakt Player | Approx. 2 GB (about 1 GB download, 1 GB unzipped) | — | 4 Nov 2026 |
| The King's Upright | Dan Keen (Pianobook) | upright | Decent Sampler | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
| Winter Piano | Christian Henson (Pianobook) | felt | Decent Sampler | — | Yes | 4 Nov 2026 |
- Writing for trailers, adverts and TV
- Arpeggio patterns that make plain chords cinematic
- Making MIDI piano sound played
- Light orchestration with strings
- A quick mix and master for each track
Free download
The Piano Pattern Pack
Eight chord progressions with arpeggio patterns in 3, 4 and 6, as MIDI. Drop them onto any free piano on this site and you have a cinematic sketch in minutes. You also get a one-page sheet on the three-step method behind them.
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