Midnight Grand vs Allure Modern Upright
The fundamental distinction between Midnight Grand and Allure Modern Upright lies in their core piano type and recording approach. Midnight Grand meticulously samples a Steinway Model D grand piano, specifically prepared with cotton on the strings to achieve a muted sound, focusing on producing a warm, intimate, and atmospheric tone from a concert hall recording. Conversely, Allure Modern Upright samples a Kawai K-800 upright piano, capturing its natural sound along with felted keys and a variety of prepared articulations using brushes, twine, and mallets, offering a broader textural palette.
Midnight Grand distinguishes itself through its "Atmosphere Layers," which are sound-designed pads derived from the piano samples and other sources, complementing the main piano tone for layered compositions. Its sound profile is characterized by the unique muted directness of a grand piano. Allure Modern Upright, with its significantly larger library size and sample count, provides two mic positions and a wider range of expressive sampled performances and creative extended techniques, hinting at greater sonic versatility beyond a singular muted character.
Choose Midnight Grand if your primary need is an instantly production-ready, intimate, and atmospheric grande piano sound with integrated textural pads, ideal for film scoring and ambient tracks that require a refined, muted grand piano aesthetic. Choose Allure Modern Upright if you seek a more versatile upright piano with a larger sonic footprint, extensive articulation options, and multiple microphone perspectives, allowing for broader sound design and expression within film scoring, ambient, and sound design contexts.
Products Compared
Insights from Real-World Use
Midnight Grand
- Midnight Grand's Steinway base provides a unique, warm felt piano sound.
- Midnight Grand's felt-modified Steinway creates beautiful atmospheres and emotions.
- Midnight Grand is a 'gentle giant,' sounding huge yet tame and very playable.
- Midnight Grand has stunning character and flexible response.
- Both pianos are solid, affordable, and playable, making them must-haves for scoring.
Allure Modern Upright
- Allure is a fantastic piano for cinematic scoring.
- Surprisingly prefer the vulnerable and balanced natural sound of Allure Modern Upright.
- Five out of five stars, beautiful upright with amazing sound design, warm and melodic.
- Likely the best natural upright sound heard.
- It is my pleasure, this one is definitely a keeper!