Piano Audio

The sound in The Ultimate Piano comes from a real grand piano, recorded at several playing strengths. Play gently on a MIDI keyboard and it answers gently — which is exactly what lets you hear when your left hand is covering the melody. Hold the sustain pedal and the notes keep ringing after your hands leave the keys.

The Ultimate Piano runs entirely on the browser's Web Audio API, so the piano sound is low-latency and needs no plugins, downloads, or installs.

On this page

How Piano Audio Playback Works

Piano audio plays instantly because the samples are loaded and cached in your browser before you play. When you press a key on the virtual keyboard or send a note from a MIDI device, the matching piano sample fires with no perceptible delay. The sound is designed to capture the natural dynamics and warmth of an acoustic piano.

The audio engine supports:

• Polyphonic playback – Play many notes at once for chords and dense passages, across the full 88-key range
• Natural release – Notes fade out naturally when you release the keys, just like a real piano
• Sustain pedal – Full sustain pedal support (MIDI CC64) when you connect a MIDI keyboard with a pedal
• Progressive loading – A lightweight set of 30 samples (~5 MB, 1 velocity layer) loads first for instant playability, then upgrades automatically to 8 velocity layers (~40 MB) in the background on a computer for the full dynamic range; an iPad stops at 3 layers to stay within the tablet's memory

Velocity Sensitivity with a MIDI Keyboard

Velocity sensitivity means the volume and tone of each note respond to how hard you press the key, and it works when you connect a MIDI keyboard. Press softly for a quiet, mellow tone; strike firmly for a louder, brighter one. Behind the scenes the engine loads up to 8 velocity layers, so hard and soft notes use different recorded samples instead of just changing the volume of one recording. Mouse and touch input play at a fixed velocity, because a mouse click carries no pressure information.

Mute Option

Click the speaker icon in the header to open the Audio Mixer. It has three rows, each with a volume slider and a mute button:

• Master — all audio: your piano, the song players, metronome clicks and drum rhythms
• Piano — only the notes you play yourself
• Player — playback in the song players and the chord playback of the Progression Generator and Leadsheet Editor

Muting keeps the slider where it is, so your level is back when you unmute. Pulling the Master slider to 0% mutes it as well. While Piano or Player is muted, a small dot on the speaker icon reminds you.

Use Cases for Muting

• Practice silently while still seeing visual feedback on the keys
• Demonstrate scales or chords visually during lessons
• Combine with the Learning Mode to show note relationships without sound
• Reactivate audio for expressive playing or live demonstrations

Piano DAW Integration with VST Instruments

Mute the built-in piano audio when a VST instrument in your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) produces the sound while The Ultimate Piano shows what you play. The sound then comes from the plugin, not from The Ultimate Piano, so leaving the internal samples enabled would make you hear each note twice — once from the VST and once from the built-in engine.

How to mute:

1. Click the speaker icon in the header and mute the Piano row in the Audio Mixer
2. Your MIDI input is still processed and displayed on the virtual keyboard
3. The VST plugin in your DAW produces the sound

This setup gives you the best of both worlds: the visual feedback of The Ultimate Piano combined with the high-quality sounds of your favorite VST instruments.

Sustain Pedal Display

A visual indicator shows the pedal state when you use a MIDI keyboard with a sustain pedal. Configure the display in Settings → Display:

• Show/Hide the pedal indicator
• Position: Above, Below, or Overlay at the top of the keyboard
• Alignment: Left, Center, or Right

The display shows all three pedals: Soft (left, CC67), Sostenuto (center, CC66), and Sustain (right, CC64). The sound itself responds to the sustain pedal; the soft and sostenuto pedals are shown, not played.

Sustain Pedal Support Details

Sustain pedal support reads standard MIDI CC64 messages, so any pedal that sends CC64 works out of the box. Held notes ring on until you release the pedal, and the keys you have released stay lit while they sound — switch this off with Display Sustained Notes/Chords in Settings → Display → Pedal if you only want to see the keys under your fingers. Pedal presses are also captured by the Recorder.

Technical Notes

• Sound source: recordings of an acoustic grand piano covering MIDI notes 21 to 108 (all 88 keys)
• Audio uses latencyHint: 'interactive' for responsive, low-latency playing
• Every browser that supports the Web Audio API is compatible

Tip: Even when muted, all interactions are still recorded and processed internally — so features like Score Display, Recording, and Learning Mode keep working normally.

Related: Reduce latency with the Optimizing Audio Latency guide. Record your playing with the Recorder. See Troubleshooting for audio problems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does The Ultimate Piano have realistic piano audio?

Yes. The piano audio engine uses recordings of an acoustic grand piano covering MIDI notes 21 to 108, with polyphonic playback, natural release, and up to 8 velocity layers. The sound is optimized for low-latency playback in the browser.

What is velocity sensitivity and does it work here?

Yes, velocity sensitivity works when you connect a MIDI keyboard: the volume and tone respond to how hard you press each key, using up to 8 recorded velocity layers. Mouse and touch clicks play at a fixed velocity because they carry no pressure information.

Does the sustain pedal work?

Yes. Sustain pedal support reads standard MIDI CC64 messages from a connected MIDI keyboard, so notes ring on while the pedal is held. A visual pedal indicator shows the state of the Soft, Sostenuto, and Sustain pedals; the sound responds to the sustain pedal.

Can I use The Ultimate Piano with a DAW or VST plugin?

Yes. Mute the Piano channel in the Audio Mixer and connect your MIDI keyboard. The Ultimate Piano provides the visual display (key highlights, notation, chord detection) while your DAW or VST plugin produces the sound, which avoids hearing each note twice.

Does the piano work without sound?

Yes. You can mute the audio at any time, and all visual features keep working — key highlights, score display, chord detection, recording, and Learning Mode all function normally without sound.

Ready to try it?

Open The Ultimate Piano in your browser — no download needed.