How do I install Anthem Pianos?

There are a few steps involved when you download Anthem Pianos: Piano in 162.

You can find all the installation steps here:

Step 2: Download and Install the file extractor “Keka”.
Click here to download Keka

In the next step you’ll download the piano samples that make Anthem Pianos possible. You won’t be able to install them properly without using Keka.

Step 3: Open your MainStage concert, then watch this video:

Troubleshooting:
Problem: “The upper range of the piano sounds off or doesn’t make any sound at all.”

Solution: This issue is caused when the Piano in 162 sample files are extracted by an extractor other than Keka.io

Specifically, using the extractor “Unarchiver” that Ivy Audio themselves recommend is known to cause this issue.

To resolve this, download Keka.io as explained in Step 2 above then repeat Step 3, being sure to use Keka when you extract the Piano in 162 files.

Problem: “When I open up an Anthem Pianos patch I get an error message something like this:”

Solution: This error means that Sforzando has not been told where to look for the P162 sample files. Check out the video in Step 5 above for an explanation of how to do that. If you’ve already done that in the past, make sure that you didn’t forget to save those patches to the original download folder, overwriting the old patches.

Problem: “When I load an Anthem Pianos patch the instrument plugins look like this:”

Solution: This means that the Sforzando plugin has not been properly installed. Make sure you’ve completed Step 1 above and gone through the install process for Sforzando. If you need more help installing the plugin, click here to view Sforzando’s user manual.

If you’ve already installed Sforzando, it may be that MainStage just isn’t recognizing it. Restarting your computer will generally resolve this. If that does not work, use the Plugin Manager in MainStage to point MainStage toward Sforzando.

Problem: “I’m noticing some noise/bumps/sounds when I hold out notes for a long time.”

Solution: These audio artifacts are a part of the original Piano in 162 samples (we believe that to be at least part of the reason they’re available free online). Because they’re built into the samples they’re an inherent part of the audio tails and you’re not able to adjust their prominence directly. We’ve found that they’re not noticeable at all in a live music context.

Problem: “When I play at high velocities I hear a loud hammer/strike sound.”

Solution: As in the answer above, this is an original part of the piano samples themselves, related to the mic’ing techniques that were used when the samples were captured. We’ve adjusted the velocity curves of the various patches included with Anthem Pianos to give you the option to trigger those samples or not. We recommend you experiment with the various presets to find the ones that feel the most natural and responsive to you that also have the tone and character you desire.

Problem: “When I try to download the P162 files I’m being asked about ‘Torrents.’ What does that mean?”

Solution: You’re seeing that info because you clicked one of the BitTorrent download links instead of the “Direct Download- Donationware” link on IvyAudio’s website. Unless you’re already familiar with downloading files via Torrents, we HIGHLY recommend you donate the $1.00 minimum donation to download Piano in 162 directly from IvyAudio.

Check out Step 3 above on the installation page for a link to the download page and a screenshot of which button to click to download via Donationware.

Problem: When I use the sustain pedal, it's muting Anthem Piano patch sounds.

Solution: This issue is usually caused because of errors during unzipping/extraction. Make sure to use Keka when you unzip the sample files from Ivy Audio. If you did, you may try re-downloading and re-extracting.