Review: e-Instruments Pure Upright – iOS Piano App

Whether it’s a digital piano or a software piano, most are designed to replicate the broad, brilliant sound of a concert grand. However, thanks in part to the rise of the neoclassical wave, the charming sound of an ordinary living room piano has also become increasingly popular. e-Instruments Pure Upright captures this sound beautifully—and offers even more.

And it’s exactly this added versatility that allows for creative sound design with Pure Upright, similar to e-Instruments Pure Piano: A simple swipe across the Morph Pad is all it takes to dynamically change the sound. This is a unique approach among piano apps. It provides intuitive access to the sound while allowing for exciting sonic changes beyond what you might expect from a purely piano-focused instrument.

Piano, Just Piano

For all its sonic flexibility, the first thing you’ll want to do is just play the piano. In this regard, e-Instruments Pure Upright lives up to its name. At its core is a richly sampled upright piano that delivers a voluminous sound with a beautifully detailed stereo image. Naturally, this immersive sound experience is hard to resist—you feel completely enveloped in the sound of the piano.

Lively Sound in Pure Upright

The piano’s sound is clear and transparent, retaining warmth even when played forte. Pure Upright captures the subtle ‘quirks’ that give an acoustic piano its charm: not every note is perfectly intoned, creating gentle variations that bring the sound to life. Yet, it never feels out of tune but rather pleasantly dynamic. This versatility makes it suitable for any style of playing.

Pianissimo in particular benefits from this nuanced palette, as the sound produces beautifully detailed attacks where you can hear the felt hammers delicately striking the strings. It’s perfect for dreamy arpeggios. The playing experience is further enhanced by authentic mechanical pedal and damper sounds. The upright truly shines when you use the damper pedal—the resulting damper resonance adds a spacious, magical quality to the sound.

Flexible and Intuitive Sound Design

While most virtual pianos offer sound variations as presets, e-instruments takes a more dynamic approach. Presets are available, but the real innovation lies in the dynamic Morph Pad, which allows you to seamlessly morph between sounds. This is done intuitively via the touch display.

What sets the Morph Pad apart is the nuanced control it offers over the transitional areas between sound ranges. For instance, you can blend a pad-like sound with subtle reverse effects and a touch of cinematic character, all by simply swiping across the display.

This feature encourages creative sound exploration and makes what would typically require complex sound engineering both accessible and enjoyable. The effects are vivid and multi-layered, delivering a level of detail rarely found in upright piano simulations. Once you’ve created the perfect sound, you can save it as a user preset for easy recall.

Playing e-Instruments Pure Upright

To fully explore the dynamic nuances of Pure Upright, a high-quality piano keyboard is essential. If you’re using the app with a keyboard, be sure to set the dynamic curve settings to an exponential progression for optimal control over pianissimo passages.

For the best playing experience, an 88-key MIDI controller with weighted piano keys is highly recommended. If you’re using a digital piano as a MIDI controller, you can connect the iPad via Bluetooth MIDI (as shown with the GEWA PP-3 in the example above) or via USB MIDI. For a USB connection, you’ll need a Camera Connection Kit.

Related topic: Connecting a Digital Piano to an iPad

Performance and Settings

Real-time morphing via the touch display involves numerous processes running in the background. While you don’t need to manage these yourself, it’s worth noting that this feature requires significant processing power. Not to worry—it runs smoothly on a modern iPad. However, using additional apps simultaneously could push the system to its limits, so if morphing isn’t essential to your performance, you can disable it. This will still allow you to mix sound elements, but without the seamless transitions—a handy compromise.

You can make these adjustments in the Pure Upright settings menu, which also handles configurations for latency, MIDI, and audio connections. In most cases, Pure Upright automatically detects and configures these connections.

Sound-related settings are accessible directly from the control panel. These include a high-quality reverb effect, a delay/echo effect, a 3-band EQ, and adjustments for the dynamic curve, tuning, and mechanical sound components such as key noise and pedal noise.

Conclusion: A Charming Upright and a Sound Design Marvel

e-Instruments Pure Upright appeals to two distinct groups of users. For those who seek the authentic charm of a high-quality upright piano—perhaps to expand the sonic possibilities of their digital piano with a dedicated app—Pure Upright offers an exceptional and characterful sound. At the same time, this app, much like its counterpart Pure Piano, stands out for its intuitive and highly effective sound design capabilities. Above all, the app excels in sound quality and playability, making Pure Upright a top-tier choice in every respect.

e-Instruments Pure Upright – Overview

Release date: June 2022
Specifications: Compatible with iPhone and iPad (iOS 13 or later), AU support, 1.1 GB storage space, 24-bit/44.1 kHz audio quality
Download: Available from the Apple App Store
Price: €14.99
Manufacturer: e-Instruments