So now it's time to load some pianos and start playing. Your first step may be turning down the damper pedal sound, since it defaults to '11'. Tabs along the bottom of the main window open different parameter groups: EQ, Ambience, Control and Options. Each piano (except the CP80) is offered in both close (near the keyboard) and player (near the strings with more ambience) miking modes. You can choose your instrument by clicking on the picture box or by selecting a preset from the drop‑down menu. The Grand 3 interface is simple, elegant and well laid out. Installation was very straightforward, but be forewarned: if you're new to Steinberg products you're going to need their USB key. The Grand 3 runs in stand‑alone mode and also as a VST or Audio Units plug‑in. well, think of it as a gift from your friends at Yamaha. Any upright is a welcome addition to a piano library and the CP80. These two aren't grand pianos, but let's not get caught up in semantics. To round out the sonic palette, The Grand 3 adds a Nordiska Pianofabriken upright and Yamaha CP80 Electric. For the composer/producer who doesn't know his Steinway from a fish fillet, think of these as your Stratocaster, Les Paul and Telecaster of grands. These offerings represent the very best in grand pianos and are the same models used in Ivory, QL Pianos, and two of the models in NI's Akoustik Piano. Three of the five pianos modelled in The Grand 3 are the Yamaha C7, the Bosendorfer 290 and the Steinway D. That's not a face‑lift that's a major reconstruction. The improvements to The Grand 3 are apparent even at a cursory glance: there are now five piano models instead of two, and the library has swollen from 3.4GB to a hefty 32GB. In the stand‑alone instance, as you can see here, there are additional controls for the metronome, MIDI scratch pad and easy I/O access. Rather, they've been hard at work on an overhaul that sends a clear message to the other virtual piano builders: they're still a contender, and they're making a run for the title. It turns out that Steinberg have in no way abandoned their flagship virtual piano suite. But now, seemingly out of nowhere, Steinberg have released The Grand 3, debunking my theory. I personally assumed that Steinberg might have given up the fight altogether and put their piano resources into one of their other top‑selling products, such as Cubase, HALion or Nuendo. The primary players in the field - Synthogy's Ivory, Native Instruments' Akoustik Piano and Quantum Leap Pianos - have been leap‑frogging one another for dominance, while The Grand seemed to have fallen off the radar. In the four years since Steinberg released The Grand 2, the virtual piano landscape has been quietly evolving. Steinberg's one‑stop piano shop gets an overhaul from the ground up.
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