The Bösendorfer Concert Grand 290 Imperial represents the apex of the famed Austrian piano manufacturer's precious heritage. Its nine additional sub-bass notes extend the instrument's key range downward to the low C - for a total range of eight octaves. The extra bass strings create additional harmonic resonance with every key you strike, providing warmth, richness and depth across the entire instrument. The massive soundboard projects an unusually broad frequency range, evoking a sonorous, orchestral timbre.
As with all the instruments of our Synchron Pianos series, this Bösendorfer 290 Imperial enjoys permanent, climate-controlled residency at Vienna Synchron Stage, whose main hall is characterized by its particularly warm and natural ambience. The 540 m2 Stage A has lent its acoustic signature to numerous international productions, from classical chamber music to international, large-scale orchestral film scores.
The instrument was originally recorded using 10 microphone positions. The Essentials library features a room mix of the multi-microphone recording set-up, as well as the close microphone samples. The piano is thus not only ready for integration into compositions with other Synchron Libraries, but also offers the intimate sound often desired for solo or chamber pieces.
The included Mixer Presets put typical situations at your fingertips.
The Imperial's magically unfolding tonal character, especially apparent in the pianissimo to mezzoforte range, was meticulously sampled in finely calibrated velocity steps using our proprietary piano robot that we've further developed and perfected. To guarantee a consistent sound over all keys, velocities and note lengths, the total recording production time was scheduled as tightly as possible to minimize even the smallest changes in the instrument's sonic behavior. A sufficient block of time was reserved at the Synchron Stage, but after recording nearly 24 hours a day it still took several weeks to finish the Imperial's original recordings.
Legendary Bösendorfer 290 Imperial – 97 keys, 8 octaves
Warm, orchestral tone with powerful bass and rich overtones
Hollywood-proven ambience of Stage A at Vienna Synchron Stage
Mix-ready sound with Room Mix and close mic options
Adjustable sympathetic and body resonance
Upgrade path to Synchron Bösendorfer Imperial
To capture the Bösendorfer Imperial with all its subtleties, our engineers developed a highly precise motion-control system based on a solenoid that controls a noise-free "robot finger". The micro-controller moves the finger with super-human precision, providing flexible curvatures for down-strokes and release movements. The MIDI controlled system delivers more than 100 velocities and various release samples, depending on the preceding note length and various release speeds.
This innovation represents the pinnacle of our long-term sampling robotics development. An earlier version of the robot finger was used for sampling the Celeste found in our Synchron Percussion I Collection.
Our free Vienna Synchron Pianos Software that offers multiple options for shaping your sound and the playing experience. Hosting a high-performance playback engine, the software provides a musician-friendly user interface that allows for quick and easy timbral control. Create your sound intuitively by filtering particular key ranges or even single keys, adjust the body resonance of the instrument or add just a pinch of algorithmic reverb to refine the overall sound.
In the browser window of the Synchron Pianos player you may select from seven pre-configured Character Presets of the Room-Mix category. The "Room Mix" channel contains a mix of all available microphones from the Full Library, while the "Close" channel implements the intimate close microphone position.
Concert:
Character: A grand spatial representation of the Bösendorfer Imperial at the Vienna Synchron Stage.
Perspective: Conductor, Piano on the left.
Recommendation: Piano concertsIntimate:
Character: Close sound with a soft touch of the room. Dampened high frequencies in mixer and reverb.
Perspective: Player, centered
Recommendation: For intimate ballads and low, mighty chords.Player:
Character: Natural, close sound without any additional EQing and a soft touch of the room. Immediate response with the full stereo width of the keyboard and a natural response from the hall.
Perspective: Player, centered
Recommendation: Ideal recording presetPop:
Character: Powerful and assertive. Accentuated low and high frequencies with a short reverb.
Perspective: Player, centered
Recommendation: For live performances and in a band context.Ambience:
Character: A spacious sound with a lot of reverb on all microphones.
Perspective: Conductor, piano on the left.
Recommendation: For film scores, soaring piano melodies and a powerful piano sound in the background.Mighty:
Character: Echoing piano with a distinctive slapback created by the delay times on the microphones.
Perspective: Conductor, piano on the left.
Recommendation: Great for scenes with concrete walls, wide fields, or industry halls. Adjust the runtime delay to your project tempo.Concert Centered:
Character: Modified Concert Mix with the piano in the center of the mix.
Perspective: Conductor, centered.
Recommendation: Ideal for solo performances.