The complete gold standard piano
Introducing the BBCSO Piano — an exciting addition to the BBCSO line. Our most detailed and versatile piano to date, the BBCSO Piano faithfully captures the live concert sound of a pristine Steinway Model D grand, at the iconic home of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Maida Vale Studios — also host to The Beatles, Hendrix, Bowie, and countless film scores.
Recorded in concerto position in Studio One, this highly expressive piano has been captured with the same expertly curated microphone positions, designed to blend seamlessly with the orchestra. A range of specific close mics are available for cinematic and pop contexts, as well as pedal and hammers volume control, for stunning realism. The Professional edition is unmatched in its versatility, featuring 15 signals for endless sound sculpting possibilities. Whether paired with the BBC Symphony Orchestra or played as a standalone instrument, BBCSO Piano promises to provide a rich, authentic piano sound suited to any genre.
BBCSO Piano is also available in Discover and Core editions.
- You can buy now and download any time
- Students & educators save 50%
- Download user manual
- Compatible with NKS
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Spitfire Audio App required
Listen to BBC Symphony Orchestra Piano Professional
Gravitational Waves - Andy Blaney
Clair de Lune - Debussy
Ephemeral Light - Oliver Patrice Weder
7th Piano Sonata - Prokofiev
See Right Through - Homay Schmitz
Deborah Theme (Once Upon A Time In America) - Ennio Morricone
Writing for Piano and Orchestra with BBCSO
'Gravitational Waves' by Andy Blaney ft. BBC Symphony Orchestra & Piano
A universal instrument
Since its release in 2019, the BBCSO Orchestra library has become a core staple in the musical journey of thousands of composers, producers and musicians worldwide. With this new grand piano, we’re enabling users at any level to further expand on their virtual orchestra — with a path to upgrade to new features and sonic possibilities when you’re ready, through Spitfire’s innovative mode switching technology. This feature also makes it easier than ever to share and collaborate with fellow composers, regardless of which edition they own.
The BBCSO plugin
The library opens in the existing BBCSO plugin, allowing for seamless integration with the rest of the BBCSO line and proving incredibly useful when writing for the piano and orchestra together. In the Professional edition, the majority of mic signals are recorded in the same configuration as the original BBCSO library, while the close mics get you straight to the heart of the instrument. The piano has been expertly played by BBCSO concert pianist Elizabeth Burley — an exceptional player with a consistent touch.
Award-winning technology
With a beautiful, modern design by ustwo (Monument Valley, DICE), BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBCSO Piano are housed in our award-winning dedicated plugin (VST2, VST3, AU, AAX & NKS ready) developed primarily for composers, by composers — easy-to-use, intuitive and inspiring.
Like all my favourite Spitfire products, it just sounds so good from the first note you play! I always like to personalise the sounds I use so the extra control and mic positions in BBC Symphony Orchestra Piano Professional go a long way to making this possible.
Segun Akinola - Doctor Who, 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room, Stephen
One piano, three editions
A universal starting point for composers and music creators of every level, BBCSO Piano comes in three editions: Professional, Core and our trial version — Discover.
Discover: Get to know the BBCSO Piano with our lite version, integrated into the BBCSO Discover orchestral plugin — featuring limited sampling depth and one signal
Core: Full sampling depth and controls, with one curated Mix signal
Professional: Full sampling depth, two mixes and the full range of signal options (15 in total), including hammer and pedal volume control
The Professional edition
The Professional edition is the definitive tool for writing professional, world-class music. Its 15 signals and controls offer all the options you could possibly need to curate your own bespoke mix to match the exact sound you’re looking for. It’s also ready to play straight out of the box, with two expertly curated professional mixes to choose from — Mix One offering your standard orchestral mix, and Mix Two offering a wider, more vibrant cinematic sound.
Key features
- ~35GB
- 15 signal options – including two bespoke mixes
- 4 Round Robins
- 6 dynamic layers
- Reverb, tightness, hammers & pedal volume control
- Velocity curves
Well, I think I’ve found my new go-to piano! It's gorgeous, warm, and cinematic right from the start, with a fantastic dynamic range and plenty of tweakable features that I’ve come to expect from Spitfire.
Matt Novack - Miracle Workers, Murderville
Mode Switching
It’s now easier than ever to share and collaborate with fellow composers, collaborators and directors — whatever edition of BBCSO Piano you own. Our groundbreaking mode switching technology makes each edition of BBCSO Piano and BBC Symphony Orchestra interchangeable, so you can mock up your scores quickly and with ease.
For composers on the go or with a limited technical setup, start writing a piece of music using Discover, and finish it in the Core or Professional edition, with a fuller range of signals, controls and versatility. It also works the other way around: write a piece in the Professional edition and a collaborator can open it in Discover, play what you’ve written (with the sounds intelligently substituted), and add to it. When you reopen their edited version, you will hear their additions alongside your original composition – with your full selection of signals.
What's Included
Piano
A pristine Steinway Model D grand, recorded at the iconic home of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Maida Vale Studios by BBCSO concert pianist Elizabeth Burley.
Signals (15)
Mixes
- Mix 1 — An all-purpose standard orchestral classical mix.
- Mix 2 — A hyped, wider, more vibrant mix, perfect for cinematic purposes
Mics
- Tree — Situated above the conductor's head, this gives a great representation of the sound.
- Outriggers — A wide set of omnidirectional microphones, designed to be used in conjunction with the Tree to add width
- Ambients — High above the orchestra near the back of the room, these microphones add the most reverberant sound of the room
- Mono — Traditionally what the BBC used to record the orchestra, a single ribbon microphone above the conductor's head
- Piano Hammers — A set of condenser mics placed directly above the piano hammers for a tight, percussive sound
- Piano Ribbons — A set of ribbon mics positioned fairly closely to the strings.
- Piano Mids — A stereo pair at a medium distance from the piano.
- Piano Far — A stereo pair at a further distance from the piano.
- Sides — Super wide omnidirectional microphones. Ideal for adding a unique level of width or for adding into an Atmos mix
- Balcony — As far away from the instrument as possible, these are right at the back on the viewing balcony of the studio
- Atmos Front — A stereo submix specifically for use within the front of a Dolby Atmos mix
- Atmos Rear — A stereo submix specifically for use within the rear of a Dolby Atmos mix
- Spill All — A combination of other section mics covering the rest of the orchestra, use to add an element of realism to the mix
- Velocity Curves — Use a range of controls to fine tune the dynamic response of the Piano. Setting the Dynamics to Compress Velocity High/Low enables the Mod Wheel to alter the sensitivity, while several velocity curve shapes are available
Discover and Core are also included for owners of BBC Piano Professional.
FAQs
Are BBC SO and BBC SO piano two different products?
Yes, these are two different products. They are purchased separately and installed separately. However they do use the same plugin file in your digital audio workstation. The plugin file is the main BBC Symphony Orchestra Plugin.
What is the difference between BBC SO Piano Core and Pro?
The only difference between BBC SO Piano Core and Professional is the number of microphone signals.
BBC Core only has the main MIX 1 signal available.
Why is there not a BBC Piano Discover library?
BBC Discover is an all in one library that contains a smaller version of every instrument that can be used inside the BBC Symphony Orchestra Plugin.
This means when you install "BBC SO Discover" from inside the Spitfire Audio App, the piano version of Discover is also installed directly into this, it is not a stand alone product.