Plugin Boutique X Sampleson - Stage54
Plug and play electric piano magic!
Stafe54 is a virtual emulation of a rare vintage electric tine piano from the 70s. It is a collaboration of Sampleson and Plugin Boutique and it’s unclear if they are just referring to the classic Fender Rhodes but it definitely sounds like one. And that’s a good thing!
The interface is super simple and looks beautiful and there are just a few controls to shape the sound. When it comes to VST electric pianos, you probably don’t need a ton of options because you just want to get that sweet and mellow Rhodes sound. There are lots of electric piano plugins out there but only a handful are worth your time.
In my opinion, Stage54 is one of them. There are a few alternatives like the Electric 88 Piano by Waves that give you a few more options to dial on the sound but where the Stage54 shines is in its simplicity. Immediately after you open it up, you can play it and have a truly gorgeous sound coming out of it.
For the creation of the plugin, they used Sampleson's Spectral Modeling Engine which It’s capable to create realistic sounds in real-time since it's based on real samples and not the mathematical approaches of typical physical modeling techniques.
It sounds real because it is real: sound is created the same way it’s created in nature (stacking simple sinewaves together). This is why it feels organic and warm.
To add to that, Sampleson used the Infinite Round-Robin technique which is pretty common in sample-based virtual instruments. The Round-Robin technique in plain terms means that there is more than one sample for each key/ note with slight variations each time to make the instrument feel more like an actual instrument. It doesn’t exactly repeat its sound each sound you press a note to sound less repetitive and soulless.
Sampleson took that concept to the next level and created the Infinite Round-Robin. What that means is that Stage54 creates infinite small variations for the same note and velocity, emulating the real instrument in a more natural way. They mapped more than 64 groups of timbre components (releases, bells, key noises, main timbre, resonance, etc) and recreated them via spectral modeling, achieving a realistic sound.
Controls:
Drive - Your regular saturation option. This specific drive is mild and won’t distort too much so you can crank this up as much as you want.
Trem - Tremolo is the most recognizable effect on the Rhodes so it was a must-have. It can also be synced which is a plus.
Comp - Your standard compression
Tone - Just a slight tone variation from dark to brighter sounds
Reverb - Not much to say about it. A soft reverb control
Phaser - Another classic effect for an electric piano.
I really enjoy that all the controls on Stage54 are very subtle and almost every setting is a sweet spot. You can use the range of each knob without destroying your signal.
Conclusion
I absolutely love the Stage54. It does one job and it does it almost perfectly. It sounds soft, lush, and mellow and you can tell that the samples used are top-notch quality. If you are looking for a straightforward electric piano, I highly recommend it. You won’t be dissapointed.
