While you can, of course, play EZKeys like any other virtual instrument, clicking on the large Browser button opens the MIDI performance browser in the upper half of the window. They are automatable from within your DAW but, aside from adjusting their levels, the user doesn't get access to the effects engine to pick their own combination of effects. These last four are 'smart' controls, in that their function changes with each preset, so, for instance, you might get reverb, tone, detail and compression with one preset and space, filter and time with another. The lower half of the window contains the Song Track, transport buttons, key/tempo controls, master volume knob and four effects controls. My humble sustain pedal worked just fine via my master MIDI keyboard. Three footpedals are supported, namely Sustain, Sostenuto and Soft, for those with a full complement. These allow you to adjust the instrument's response to MIDI velocity, to suit your MIDI keyboard or playing style, and to adjust the global tuning. The graphics of both piano surfaces feature flip-top sections to access dynamics and tuning controls. Aside from conventional piano sounds, the presets also include a few more weird and wonderful variants, courtesy of the built-in effects, so, for example, the Upright's 'Filter Sweep' preset is almost synth-like, demonstrating that the instrument is capable of more than just conventional piano sounds. You can pick which library/preset combination you require from the drop-down menus located at the top of the window and, if required, audition notes from the graphical keyboard (at different velocities depending upon where on the key you click). While the graphics change to reflect whether a Grand or Upright sound is selected, the key elements of the user interface remain the same.
I installed both from downloads (each at just over 420MB), and the online authorisation was very straightforward. I suspect that Toontrack will add to these possibilities over time.
For the purposes of the review, I was supplied with the two options currently available: a Grand piano and an Upright. Like SD 2.0, you can purchase the EZKeys engine with one set of sounds and then add further sounds as expansion packs at a reduced price. All the usual plug-in formats are supported, and a stand-alone version is also provided. The basic concept of EZKeys will be familiar to anyone who has experienced Superior Drummer: the sample-based playback engine partners a set of MIDI performances that can be sequenced within the application and, if required, exported to a host DAW. Does it hit the right note? Grand Entrance Given just how good SD 2.0 is, EZKeys has a lot to live up to.
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More recently, Toontrack have been branching out from their drum-based roots, and the latest offering is EZKeys, a virtual piano instrument for both Mac and PC. If you can afford the price of entry, you have all the tools you need to create first-class drum tracks.
When it comes to top-notch virtual drum instruments, Toontrack's Superior Drummer 2.0 is right up there, and offers a wide variety of both drum-kit expansion packs and MIDI performance packs in a range of different musical styles. Does their EZKeys virtual piano reach an equally high note? Toontrack's Superior Drummer has proved a big hit.
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