Hammersmith Free

2/10 Hammersmith Free is the most detailed free piano available. SonicCouture took its flagship $199 Hammersmith Pro library, a Steinway grand recorded at British Grove Studios in London, and released a free version that keeps all 21 velocity layers of the paid edition. What’s funny is that 21 velocity layers are a spec that even most commercial pianos don’t meet. It makes the transition from a whispered pianissimo to a full-force chord feel very natural and continuous under your fingers.

The sampled instrument itself has an unusual pedigree, combining a Hamburg Steinway action with a New York body. The tone is full, rounded, and detailed, and adjustable mechanical noises (dampers, pedal, key-off) add a level of realism that I haven’t found in many other free pianos. The trade-off against the Pro version is flexibility. You get a single microphone perspective (a stereo pair placed slightly out into the room), so you cannot pull the sound closer or push it further away, and the sustain pedal behavior is programmed rather than sampled.

The free version uses around 2,000 samples against the Pro version’s 30,000. None of that gets in the way of playing it. For solo piano pieces, jazz voicings, and classical writing, this is the free piano I would put in front of an experienced pianist first. 2 or later. Verdict: If realism under your fingers matters more than mixing flexibility, get this one.