$29 $49 *ex.tax
VST / AU / Standalone (now works without Kontakt)
$58 $108*
Click here to learn more about Destruktor+Preparist
Preparist: Piano Percussion
Forget lifeless, overused samples. Preparist brings you something entirely different – a percussive library created from a vintage Gustav Rosler upright piano, modified, prepared, and played with everything we could find: hammers, chains, magnets, sticks, fists, elbows… you name it. The result? A massive, modern-sounding, organic percussion plugin that breathes character. Inspirations? John Cage, Krzysztof Penderecki, George Crumb, sonorists, minimialists and avant-gardists.
🎹 Sonic extension of the Avant-Gardist
If you’re a fan of prepared piano, don’t miss our first library in the Prepared Piano series: Avant-Gardist: Tonally Prepared Cinematic Piano. It’s a much larger instrument that lets you play beautiful, organic, and originally sounding melodies, harmonies and textures. It’s our best seller – and to be honest it is our best instrument so far. It’s truly unique and inspiring.
Originally, we intended Preparist to be an extension of Avant-Gardist. So, we recorded new samples and also redesigned selected samples from Avant-Gardist to serve as top quality percussive sounds (e.g. layering, shortening attacks, selecting proper round robins, adding compression, etc.).
In the end, however, we realized Preparist was too good to be just an extension… That’s why we released it as a separate new library – this time focused on percussion (as said, Avant-Gardist is for unique melodies, harmonies and textures). The result: both libraries now share a beautiful, organic and consistent sonic character, but they do different jobs, not replace each other. You can find their comparison at the bottom of the page.
🔨 We had to beat our piano badly
We recorded them all: hits, clusters, knocks, strums, slams, plucks, bowings, mutings, scratches, strikes, taps, flicks, rubs, clunks – performed using fingers, hands, forearms, elbows, fists, fingernails… And let’s not forget about plastic, wooden, and metal tools like nails, textiles, sticks, forks, hammers, magnets, strainers, chains, etc… Played on EVERY part of our old upright piano. Every.
It gave us a wide palette of sounds, moods & emotions (not only for horror & thriller!). To learn more about our techniques – performance, recording, microphones, and the story behind our old upright piano – read the detailed story on the Avant-Gardist page. The technical aspects are more or less the same for both libraries in the Prepared Piano series. And they’re pretty interesting, we’ve been told.
💡Inspirations?
● John Cage
● Krzysztof Penderecki
● George Crumb
● sonorists
● minimialists
● avant-gardists
🎬 Who is it for:
● Game, Film & TV composers
● Beatmakers and music producers
● Sound designers looking for a fresh palette
● Anyone tired of generic percussion samples
🎛️ Update 1.6 (new features!)
Update 1.6 brings a change we’re genuinely proud of: Preparist is now available also as a VST, AU and standalone app (now it works without Kontakt too). On top of that come new features: per-sample pitch control, articulation randomisation, preset saving, a new WOW effect and plenty of smaller improvements. A real milestone for Pssst!
A few words about round robins: Preparist isn’t a single static kit. Each of the 88 keys holds 5 round robins, and you can shape how they behave through several playing modes – from strict, repeatable hits to a quasi-random, evolving feel where repeating a note never sounds quite the same twice. It’s the difference between a sample and a living instrument, and it keeps your rhythms from ever sounding mechanical.
And when you want to break out of your habits entirely, hit the dice: one click shuffles the sounds across the keyboard into a brand-new layout. Roll until something surprises you – it’s the fastest way to stumble onto a groove you’d never have played on purpose.
Oh, did I mentioned single note pitch shift? It’s our newest feature which multiplies the possibilities of Destruktor. Create your own sound palette and save it. That’s really inspiring!
⁉️ What’s included:
One massive percussion kit with:
● Clusters – Played on keys using elbows, fists, forearms, wooden boards, and directly on strings with sticks and various tools. Covers the full range from deep booms and classic stabs to swipes and shimmering highs. Try layering them and/or use pitch knob – this multiplies the colors and makes the cluster kit incredibly handy and versatile. Seriously, you will use it in countless tracks.
● Atonal percussion – Played on prepared strings. Every note is tonal or quasi-tonal. However, each round robin has a slightly different sound. What does that mean? It means that when you repeat a note, you get a quasi-random, atonal rhythmic feel. Rare and unique!
● Long & short hits – Long hits instantly add cinematic atmosphere. Short hits are great for accents and impacts.
● Nontonal percussion – A classic alternative drum kit made from wood and metal sounds; played on every part of the piano except the strings.
● FX – Includes mechanism noises, creaks, and long room/player ambiences to add organic depth to your track.
● Bonus: 30 loops
Formats included:
1. Plugin – VST / AU + Standalone
● Runs in any modern DAW (PC/MAC)
● Also as standalone – no DAW needed
● 88 keys, 5 round robins each in a single ready-to-play preset
● Built-in effects: randomiser, pitch shift, compressor, distortion, lo-fi, wow, bitcrusher, rotary, ASR, filters, stereo mode, tempo-synced delay and reverb
● update (v1.6) brings new features like randomization, single note tuning, save/load preset etc.
2. Sample pack (bonus)
● 440 WAV files (88 one-shots x 5 variations each)
● No additional software required
● Just drag and drop into your DAW or sampler
3. Kontakt (legacy version 1.1)
● The original full Kontakt library
● May lack some of the newest plugin features
● Requires the full version of Kontakt 6.8+ (not Kontakt Player)
⚙️ Specs & requirements
- Windows: VST3, Standalone – Windows 10 or later (64-bit)
- macOS: VST3, AU, Standalone – macOS 10.13 or later
- works without Kontakt
- Disk space: about 250 MB (plugin)
- Sample pack: 1,9 GB | WAV 44.1 kHz / 24 bit
A quick comparison of our two instruments from the Destrtuktor + Preparist pack
Destruktor:
Prepared Cello Percussion
$29 $59 ex.tax
● prepared cello
● close, chamber sound
● brutal, aggressive
● includes more tonal elements
● extremely close recordings
● VST / AU / Standalone + sample pack
Preparist:
Piano Percussion
$29 $49 ex.tax
● prepared piano percussion
● big, massive sound
● organic, complex, resonant
● includes signature cluster kit
● extremely close recordings
● VST / AU / Standalone + sample pack
Preparist+Destruktor
pack
$58 $108 ex.tax
● 2 prepared instruments
● 2 unsual sound palletes
● piano goes big, cello cuts close
● same studio, same mics, same obsession
● both VST / AU / Standalone + 2 sample packs
They say about us:
“I just had to post on VI-Control — I haven’t enjoyed a new plug in this much for a long, long time!”
“Just wanted to say that Avant Gardist really is something special (…). Somehow I get the impression that you’d manage to conjure up new, & completely unique sounds unlike anything else available „
“I really love the hard work you put into your libraries and I will also be a fan. I have Sticks and this piano and I’m looking forward to getting Shhh the next time it’s on sale”
“This is the most fun I’ve had with a piano in years…”
“I really love the hard work you put into your libraries and I will also be a fan. I have Sticks and this piano and I’m looking forward to getting Shhh the next time it’s on sale.”
“We did a quick run thru and it’s just fantastic! So cool, so dramatic, just perfect for our music. Thanks for your great sounds! Look forward to hearing your future creations!”
“Hi, I usually don’t write to sample library companies but I had to contact you to say that your Avant-Gardist prepared piano library is simply exquisite!!! I have most prepared piano libraries that are available and yours is uniquely beautiful and playable. Bravo! Thanks and merci! Judith Gruber-Stitzer”
“Incredible library indeed! Very unique, fills the spot between edgy and experimental / musical and aesthetic. Most libraries are heavily on the one of the other side”
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