Concert Grand Update
Concert Grand, our Steinway D sample library, is nearing completion. It has been an epic journey to get this project even into the Concert Grand Compact for sforzando format, but we are nearing the release of the Kontakt version!
I’ll have more audio demos and videos soon!
I have delivery size numbers at the following, but it may change slightly:
Concert Grand Platinum 24 Bit 96 kHz Approx. 342 GB compressed or 658 GB uncompressed
Concert Grand Gold 24 Bit 44.1 kHz Approx. 157 GB compressed or 299 GB uncompressed
Concert Grand LE 16 Bit 44.1 kHz Approx. 77 GB compressed or 200 GB uncompressed
Concert Grand Full All sample rates Approx. 576 GB
Here is what is complete:
Interface, controls and functions.
Concert Grand LE and Gold samples are already uploaded on our server ready for download.
Left to do:
Keymap minor sample refinements and final adjustments. Concert Grand is very useable in its current state, but there are minor refinements to do.
Upload Concert Grand Platinum samples.
Video demos, marketing materials, audio demos etc.
Factors slowing us down:
Should this be a licensed Kontakt library that includes Kontakt Player and plays nicely with NKS? This process will take an additional two months, is an extra expense and requires a royalty payment for each product sold. My thoughts on the matter are that Concert Grand is so large and represents a higher-end product that the majority of users will already own Kontakt. The flip side of the argument is that licensing Kontakt Player may open it up to a larger audience.
Challenges:
How do you make downloading 576 GB manageable?
One of the biggest concerns that Production Grand 2 users had was downloading 207 GB and only being able to download 3 or less files at a time! We are experimenting with Continuata download manager for Concert Grand. There are challenges such as Windows users having random issues getting the newer version of the software to work based on the version of Windows users have. Hard drives are an option, but for Production Grand, European orders were not reliably delivered. Hard drives have an added expense. What do you pack them in and do customers expect an unboxing moment when the package arrives?
Pricing:
This is all subject to change, but this is likely what we are looking at for pricing without Kontakt Player licensing:
Concert Grand LE: $149
Concert Grand Gold: $229
Concert Grand Full $329
Upgrade pricing from Concert Grand Compact to Concert Grand LE will be available.
Sale pricing: Likely we will launch first to existing customers and offer discounts to Production Grand 2 owners.
Release dates:
Crossing fingers that July 2018 for Concert Grand LE and Gold. Concert Grand Full: August?
Thanks everyone for your understanding as I get the last details of the library prepped.
Kind Regards,
Jason Chapman
Production Voices