4.6/5 stars (597 reviews) • Instruments > Kontakt Instrument

PRIPYAT Pianos

Product Summary

PRIPYAT Pianos isn’t just another sampled instrument—it’s a sonic time capsule from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Strix Instruments spent seven years making over 25 trips to Pripyat, carefully recording 20 abandoned pianos in varying states of decay. The result is a Kontakt library that captures both the haunting degradation caused by decades of radiation and harsh weather, and the surprisingly pure tonal character that remains when you dial back the “Age Knob.”

What sets this library apart is its dual nature. You can access nearly untouched piano tones from 1986 for traditional composition work, or push the Age Knob toward 2019 to unlock weathered, artefact-rich textures perfect for atmospheric sound design. Every preset includes a photo of the exact Pripyat location where its impulse response was captured, along with a brief description and the current gamma radiation reading—adding a layer of historical context that deepens the creative experience.

The convolution reverb system is particularly compelling. Strix Instruments recorded impulse responses inside actual Pripyat structures, including spaces near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant itself. This means your piano doesn’t just sound old—it sounds like it’s playing inside the abandoned city. Combined with detailed controls for sympathetic resonance, damper noise, and keystroke mechanics (all sampled from the 20 original instruments), you get authentic playability alongside unparalleled atmospheric potential.

Key Features

Visual

• Beautifully animated, inspiring GUI with location photography for each of the 23 presets
• Visual gamma radiation readouts and brief historical descriptions for every impulse response location
• Three mic positions (close, medium, far) clearly displayed for quick tonal shaping

Control

• Age Knob slider lets you morph the instrument’s character from pristine 1986 tones to fully degraded 2019 textures
• Dedicated volume sliders for Release, Keystrokes, Pedal, Damper, and Sympathetic Resonance layers
• Adjustable instrument lid position and sample-start trimming for subtle tonal softening
• Convolution reverb control with 23 unique Pripyat-sourced impulse responses

Processing

• 20 authentic Pripyat pianos condensed into a single, performance-ready Kontakt instrument
• Up to 9 velocity layers and 4–16 round robins per note for dynamic, human-like expression
• 2,900+ samples in Kontakt Lossless format (48 kHz, 24-bit) totaling 11 GB of compressed content
• NKS-mapped for seamless integration with Native Instruments hardware controllers

Workflow

• 14 curated Snapshots provide instant access to inspiring starting points
• Simple dropdown preset selector loads location-specific IRs with contextual metadata
• Efficient 2.62 GB download size (expands to 3.62 GB uncompressed) for manageable installation
• Drag-and-drop .nki loading directly into Kontakt’s main window

System Compatibility

• Kontakt 5.8.1 Full and higher (Free Kontakt Player is NOT supported)
• 2.62 GB (3.62 GB uncompressed / lossless / .wav equivalent 11 GB) free storage space