The sample manufacturers over at realsamples in Germany announce the release of a collection of eight antique instruments based off of the historical keyboard instrument collection of Professor Andreas E. Beurmann. Eight libraries of instruments built between the 16th and 20th centuries include three grand pianos, three harpsichords, a dulcitone celesta, and a spinet. Collectively, this super team of instruments is known as "Edition Beurmann."

• English Spinet by Thomas Hitchcock, London 1718
• Italian Harpsichord by Pierluigi, Livorno 1579
• Dutch Harpsichord by Andreas Ruckers, Antwerpen 1628
• English Harpsichord by Jacob Kirckman, London 1766
• Grand Piano (Pianoforte) by Pierre Erard, London 1835
• Grand Piano (Pianoforte) by Johann Andreas Stein, Augsburg 1791
• Dulcitone Celesta by Dyson & Sons, London 1910
• Grand Piano (Pianoforte) by Traugott Berndt, Breslau 1848

These antique instruments each are featured with several gigabytes of authentic samples. The pianos were all multisampled with 32 velocity layers on every note whereas harpsichords and spinets were captured with eight velocity layers on each note.

And a word from head of realsamples, Nicolay Ketterer:

"We feel privileged to offer these unique instruments to musicians worldwide. Besides the fact that everyone can play these fantastic historical instruments now in their own sampler, it is simply hard to believe how timeless, musical and inspiring they sound. They rival and surpass anything made today. It is rare to capture both a zeitgeist and contemporary history at once."

Samples were recorded in 192khz/24-bit resolution with tube-driven Royer ribbon mics and classic Neumanns. Lower sample rates will be available soon, and instruments will be available in all of the current sample formats.