LEKKO
1970S SUPER-SOFT
CHARACTER PIANO
THE MOST fragile PIANO
This is not your standard, polished piano plugin. Discover a small Scandinavian upright, sampled as quietly as possible with an all-tube signal path. Get charmed by a warm and intimate tone, full of little noises and imperfections that make it sound so human. If you loved Nils Frahm’s Felt, you’ll love Lekko, too.
overview
The acoustic side is just half of the story. Get inspired by the Afterglow patches - an atmospheric collection of multi-layered cinematic textures created entirely in the analogue domain.
the video shows an old version of the interface
Pianos are personal. It took me three months to find one that would resonate with me deeply. Made for the domestic market sometime in the 1970s, this small Scandinavian upright covering a range of C1-C6 somehow sounds… right. Especially with a thin layer of cotton placed between the hammers and strings. It’s the soft piano phenomenon pushed to the extreme.
the story
Lekko is designed to do one thing: the softest, most fragile side of the upright possible with mechanical noises and human imperfections maxed out. And it does that like no other piano out there. Place your hands on the keyboard, close your eyes and enjoy the sound of a well-loved piano that’s as fragile as it gets.
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Click to pick an articulation to explore.
INTERFACE
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Find the sweet-spot between realism and perfect timing. Or cut way too far into the sample for creative effects.
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Adjust the volume of key release noises.
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Introduce subtle performance noises for even more realism.
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Choose an articulation from the list of available patches. The first row is for acoustic playing techniques. The bottom row is all about experimental processed sounds.
ARTICULATIONS
AFTERGLOW
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Adjust the volume of additional layers introduced by the Mod Wheel or controller selected at the bottom of the interface.
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Select a controller to play the patch.
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All patches come with a little helping text to let you know what to expect.
Everything tastes better when you slow down a little
Lekko is not only about fragile beauty. Go slow-mo thanks to a set of samples recorded to worn analogue tape and captured at half speed for a dirty, unstable mood.
WOLNO AKA The HALF-SPEED PIANO
When you record things at half-speed, the transients stretch out, the sound darkens, and a bit of distortion creeps in. Whether you’re into ambient, cinematic music, or hip-hop, trust me when I say this: you will love it.
ACOUSTIC ARTICULATIONS
The piano was deeply sampled, focusing on maintaining human expression and natural imperfections. Enjoy the organic, hyper-real feel, thanks to multiple round robins and mechanical noises.
Create an organic swirl of notes based on the chords you play with improvised, irregular tremolos. Give your track a rhythmic backdrop with characterful shorts, going from a hand-muted sound to full ringing.
The piano performed as softly as possible. And since all notes were sampled with five round-robin repetitions, you’ll get a subtly different sound every time you hit a key - just like in real life.
Constantly evolving swirls of notes. Simply put: hold a chord and enjoy the beauty that unfolds. This patch was sampled with two improvisation intensities, controlled by the velocity of your playing.
Dynamically sampled short notes, created by finger-muting the strings. As you play harder, the strings are released, and the notes are free to ring out. Use this to create interesting variations in texture and rhythm.
* all acoustic articulations cover the note range between C1 and C6
AFTERGLOW ARTICULATIONS
The Afterglow collection fuses experimental playing styles with analogue tape, vintage synths, vocals, and musique concrète techniques to create a MPE-ready collection of multi-layered, cinematic textures.
Inspired by Hildur Guðnadóttir’s soundtrack to Chernobyl, each of the Afterglow patches is an instrument in its own right. Get inspired by unexpected sound combinations, and help your music to stand out from the crowd. Boldly.
Tremolos recorded to cassette tape over and over again until there was nothing left. And if that wasn’t enough, I’ve added multiple layers of dirt you can introduce using the mod wheel.
A soft pad created by pushing a fast succession of notes through modular filters and granular hardware.
The sound of a piano modulated by rain. The mod wheel controls the intensity of the rainfall and introduces some lo-fi vocal textures.
A dirty texture that moves boldly across the stereo field. It works equally well as a pad, as well as a dynamic keys sound when you shorten the attack and release.
Slow-motion sustains, crafted by sampling the sound of the piano off the analogue tape at half-speed. Lo-fi goodness.
…and if half-speed is not dirty enough, I’ve got you covered: the tape gets even slower. And nastier.
* compatible with MPE and Expressive E Touché
MY GO-TO PIANO. IT SOUNDS EXACTLY AS MY OWN UPRIGHT PIANO I USE IN MY STUDIO, BUT I NEVER SUCCEEDED IN RECORDING IT AS NICE.
- Trentemøller
unique and unlike other soft or felt pianos on the market.
- Sample Library Review
Bundle Deal
Kick-start your inspiration with a unique collection of vintage keys, at the best price.
TRY IT OUT
Download the free trial and experience Lekko at your own studio.
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Lekko is a VST3 / AU / AAX plugin.
You’re going to need 7.13GB for the samples. Twice as much required for setup.
Windows (10 or newer) and Mac (10.11 or newer). 8GB of RAM and an i5 or better CPU required. 64-bit only. MPE requires a compatible DAW. The download and setup are handled by Pulse, which makes it easy to manage all your Felt Instruments. The fiels are watermarked to you.
The plugin works in every major DAW that supports VST3, Audio Unit or AAX plugins, like Ableton Live 10 or newer, Logic, Pro Tools, Cubase, FL Studio, Studio One, Reason 12, Reaper etc.
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Lekko is sampled from a small Scandinavian upright. On most acoustic articulations, the note range is C1 to C6 with 5 round robins per sampled note.
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Select Afterglow patches in Lekko are MPE-ready. You can use a controller such as the Roli Seaboard, Ableton Push 3, Haken Continuum, or Expressive E Osmose to control the Afterglow patches using polyphonic per-not expression.
To use this feature, assign CC74 to the Slide axis on your controller, flick on the MPE switch on the interface, and make sure that your DAW is compatible with MPE.
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There are no sales at Felt because I don’t think they’re fair to people who got the plugins earlier on. And those are the people who I want to support the most, which is why I offer loyalty pricing.
In a nutshell, purchasing the plugins gives you access to bundle upgrades and sweet discounts on new releases.
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I offer a 25% edu discount on individual products to students and educators. The discount will be valid for a year since it’s issued and will not work on the bundles as they’re already discounted. If you’re interested in edu pricing, please, send me a copy of your Student or Staff ID or a different proof of your enrolment and I’ll set you up.
Please, allow a few days for a response - Felt is a one-man company and support needs to get the priority treatment.