Pssst Instruments Preparist: Piano Percussion KONTAKT
Forget lifeless, overused samples. Preparist delivers something entirely different — a bold percussive library created from a vintage Gustav Rosler upright piano, heavily modified, prepared, and performed with everything we could get our hands on: hammers, chains, magnets, sticks, fists, elbows… you name it.
The result is a massive, modern-sounding, organic percussion library bursting with character and attitude. Inspired by John Cage, Krzysztof Penderecki, George Crumb, as well as sonorists, minimalists, and avant-gardists, Preparist pushes prepared piano far beyond tradition.
Preparist is available in two formats:
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a one-shot sample pack (440 WAV files)
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a full Kontakt instrument
Sonic extension of the Avant-Gardist
If you love prepared piano, don’t miss the first library in our Prepared Piano series: Avant-Gardist – Tonally Prepared Cinematic Piano. It’s a much larger instrument focused on expressive, organic melodies, harmonies, and textures. It’s our best seller — and honestly, our best instrument so far. Truly unique and endlessly inspiring.
Originally, Preparist was intended as an expansion of Avant-Gardist. We recorded new material and redesigned selected samples from Avant-Gardist to function as high-quality percussion sounds — refining layers, tightening attacks, choosing proper round robins, and applying compression where needed.
But in the end, Preparist proved too strong to be just an add-on. That’s why we released it as a standalone library, focused entirely on percussion. While both libraries share a cohesive, organic sonic identity, they serve different purposes and complement rather than replace each other.
We had to beat our piano badly
We captured everything: hits, clusters, knocks, strums, slams, plucks, bowings, mutings, scratches, strikes, taps, flicks, rubs, clunks — performed with fingers, hands, forearms, elbows, fists, fingernails, and more.
We also used plastic, wooden, and metal tools such as nails, textiles, sticks, forks, hammers, magnets, strainers, chains, and other found objects — played on every single part of our old upright piano. Every one.
The result is a wide palette of sounds, moods, and emotions — not just for horror or thriller scoring. To learn more about our techniques, recording process, microphones, and the story behind this piano, check out the detailed Avant-Gardist story page. The technical approach is largely the same across both libraries — and surprisingly fascinating, we’ve been told.
What’s included
One massive percussion kit featuring:
Clusters
Played on keys with elbows, fists, forearms, wooden boards, and directly on the strings using sticks and various tools. Covers the full spectrum from deep booms and plastic stabs to swipes and shimmering highs. Try layering them or adjusting pitch — it multiplies the color palette and makes this kit incredibly versatile. You’ll use it everywhere.
Atonal percussion
Performed on prepared strings. Each note is tonal or quasi-tonal, but every round robin sounds slightly different. Repeating a note produces a quasi-random, atonal rhythmic feel — rare and truly unique.
Long & short hits
Long hits instantly add cinematic weight and atmosphere, while short hits are perfect for accents and impacts.
Non-tonal percussion
A plastic, alternative drum kit made from wood and metal sounds, played on every part of the piano except the strings.
FX
Mechanism noises, creaks, and long room/player ambiences to add organic depth to your tracks.
Bonus
30 bonus loops included.
Two formats included
1. Sample Pack
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440 WAV files (88 one-shots × 5 variations each)
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No additional software required
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Drag and drop into any DAW or sampler
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1.58 GB, 44.1 kHz / 24-bit
2. Kontakt Instrument
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Requires full Kontakt 6.8 or higher
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One kit patch with 88 articulations and round robins
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All sounds and variations grouped and color-coded
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Built-in effects: Reverb & Delay, Low/High Filters, Tone, Attack/Release, Pitch, Stereo Width, Compressor, Distortion, Lo-Fi, Bitcrusher, Decimator
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390 MB disk space required (compressed from 1.58 GB)
