Addictive Keys: Mark One

Warm and Intimate Tones

Start playing this warm, beautiful instrument and chances are good that you'll find yourself still playing it several hours later.

About Mark One

Our Mark One Instrument is based on a classic electric piano. This king of electric pianos is played through a vintage tube combo amp and captured by rare vintage mics for a sublime sound. The tone can go from a smooth enthralling caress to a searing, crunchy sound that cuts through the densest mix.

The Instrument and its Presets

Classic Mk. 1 Stage Piano:

Our Mark One instrument is based on a classic Mk. 1 has been the most popular electric piano for more than four decades and is heard on countless hit records. These pianos can vary in sound, and this particular instrument was selected for its unmistakable warmth and intimacy. 

While the instrument's line output can be recorded "direct," it is often played through an amplifier to add some crunch and character. For this recording, we used a MusicMan 112 RD Fifty 1x12". Different recording setups can be mixed and matched to give you endless sound design options!

With the tube combo set up in a large recording room, vintage microphones was positioned at both close and far away perspective capturing the amp close-up and with natural ambience. To add variety, three mics were positioned next up to the speaker; a dynamic, a tube condenser and a ribbon microphone. One floor and one room microphone setup were used for the option of adding depth and ambience to the recordings. 

In addition to the acoustical recordings, two line signals were also recorded: One "direct" through high-voltage DI box and another through the classic Roland Dimension D analog stereo chorus.

We Recorded Using the Following:

Music Man 112 RD combo amp (Close Mic): 

• Telefunken U47 Tube Condenser 
• Coles 4038 Ribbon 
• Shure SM57 Dynamic 

Ambient (Room) Recording: 

• Neumann SM69 Stereo Microphone 

Direct Output: 

• Clean Line Output 
• Line Output through Roland Dimension D 

Acoustic Strings: 

• Sela T25 Stereo Microphone

About Galleries and ExploreMaps

Helping you Learn and Discover Sounds:

Our Gallery page (accessed by pressing the "Gallery" button) shows general information about the installed Addictive Keys instruments as well as those available in the online shop. The bottom of the Gallery page shows thumbnails of the available ExploreMaps for the currently selected instrument.

The ExploreMap page (accessed by pressing the "Explore" button) contains a selection of presets that you can easily preview and select with one click. This makes it easy to explore the various possible sounds. Many ExploreMaps also contain convenient macro controllers for fast/easy editing.

Features

• Classic Mk. 1 Stage Piano
• Classic and Intimate Sound
• 7 Different recording perspectives

System Requirements

Mac

• macOS 10.9 or later (M1 Native & macOS 12 Monterey supported) (64-bit only)
• 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended)
• Internet connection (during installation only)

Formats:

• VST, AU, AAX (64-bit only)
• Standalone Application (64-bit only)

Windows

• Windows 7 - 11 (64-bit only)
• 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended)
• Internet connection (during installation only)

Formats:

• VST, AAX (64-bit only)
• Standalone Application (64-bit only)

Hosts:

This product should run on any host supporting 64-bit VST, AU, or AAX plugins. XLN Audio actively tests on the host applications listed below:

• Ableton Live 9 or later
• Apple Logic Pro 9 & 10
• Avid Pro Tools 11 or later (Pro Tools First is not supported)
• Cakewalk by Bandlab
• Propellerhead Reason 10.3 or later
• Reaper 4 & 5
• Steinberg Cubase 8 or later

Please Note: This software is 64-bit only and will not function on 32-bit systems.