Toontrack EZkeys Reviews

4.2/5.0 based on 37 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

Robby Resnick

Simply an amazing piece of software. Now anyone can generate or expound upon musical ideas with ease. It will become you best friend for songwriting.

Dave Brow

This is the best tool for songwriters I have ever seen. It is much more than just a virtual piano. It really makes it easy to take an idea to a finished song quickly, and it
sounds great too! Buy this, and you will no longer have any excuses for not getting your ideas heard!

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Customer Reviews

David Skoglund
from United States
March 22, 2013Music Background:
Pro musician turned hobbyist.

EZKeys - fantastic!

I was a guitar player in need of a keyboard player until I bought EZKeys. I can now easily try a new part from simple chord comping to complex rhythmic themes. I have the grand piano and the classic keys. The sound quality is spot on and the included midi performances are excellent. This is a 'must have' for anyone in need of piano parts in their music.

T. Super
from Phoenix, Arizona
January 11, 2013Music Background:
Recording Engineer, Producer, Songwriter/SuperSong Productions

NOT EASILY BLOWN AWAY!

EZ Keys totally took me by surprise. I have followed and reviewed lots of Virtual Instrument products for some time now, with Toontrack added to that list. I overlooked there products in the past, until now. I use lot of virtual piano instruments and was not looking to add another one to my batch. I wanted to try EZ Keys songwriting tools interface to see how intuitive and practical its use was. I WAS BLOWN AWAY! The sound ot the sampled Grand Piano was excellent. The interface as advertized is fantastic and EZ to use. If you want to quickly experiment with chord progressions, song structure, and get a great sounding piano EZ Keys will not disappoint. Toontrack EZ Keys rock.

jerry thomas
from quitman la
October 19, 2012Music Background:
hobbyist

ezkeys

this is a fantastic product. it works great and is simple to use. fun to just play around with or build a song around it,great too; for songwriters..i`m looking forward for more midi paks for this.thanks jerry

Derek
from New Hampshire
October 18, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician, Guitarist, Songwriter, Engineer

One of the best purchases I've ever made

As a guitarist, it can be challenging to record great piano tracks for a song. EZ Keys has been a godsend and one of the most effective tools that I've ever tried. It's easy to use and sounds great!

One thing that I love is that with all the performances being midi, I can easily edit parts, notes, manually write parts in, and do just about anything that I can think of. This allows me to have completely custom parts that fit my song specifically and no longer sound like the patterns. This saves me so much time and as a studio owner, time is money.

I highly recommend this product!

David Ghostlaw
from New Windsor NY.
September 21, 2012Music Background:
Musician, Engineer, Producer

EZ Keys! I songwriter's friend

I have used EZ Keys on many of my new songs. Toontrack products are musician friendly! The beauty of the program is how quickly I was able to incorporate it into my songs and projects. I've had a few folks ask me who was playing piano on my cuts. This is a wonderful song creation tool. It is so easy to transpose keys, change chords(and voicings) and import to my host program. I love this program!

Van Coffey
from Nashville, TN
August 1, 2012Music Background:
Musician/Home Recording

EZ Keys Is an awesome program!

Been using EZ Keys for about a month now and love it!
To be able to change keys anywhere in the song patterns is so nice.
The sounds are incredible !
A must have for all song writers and musicians!

Hal Haynes
from Charlotte, NC
May 26, 2012Music Background:
Musician songwriter

A song writers dream

I have written piano parts in midi for years but I was never very good with writing rhythm parts. I mean stone cold piano, drums and bass as a solud rhythm section. Setting a grove with real dynamics. This product is amazing for being able to do that. You are able to write a song with a strong piano rhythm and use/edit almost any chord you would ever want or need to use and if the chord isn't there, just go into the midi file a add it your self. You can instantly change keys and tempo. Go from major to Minor and the browser selection of material is extremely versital. You get four rhythm patterns per style. Add soul verse here to a gospel chorus or a rock bridge and you are unharnessed in expression with out every being able to play a piano. What Ezdrummer or Superior drummer is drumming, this is to the piano playing. I know of nothing like it. The piano tones are worth the price of addmission alone. This product is one more blade in your Swiss army knife of songwriting tools.

Bob Stephen
from Fort Pierce, Florida
May 3, 2012Music Background:
Pro musician, engineer

This is a really great writing tool

I'm a guitarist and I don't play piano to save my life. I write my own tunes and am always wishing I had a piano part to go in this or that song. Ezkeys really fit the bill. The first day I loaded it up it worked perfectly. Within an hour I was plugging in piano parts to my existing music. This was definitely one of my better plugin investments. Worth every penny.

Leslie E Johnson Sr.
from Chicago Ill.
April 13, 2012Music Background:
Singer/Songwriter, Producer, Bass Player

Toontrack EZ Keys, The Best

This product is the best thing on the market today. I write songs and i was blown away with EZ Keys. There is NOTHING like it out there. Easy to use and it gives you professional quality sound production every time. I'm hooked on this product. Now you don't need to wait for your key board player to show up. EZ Keys is here. Thanks Toontracks.
Leslie E Johnson Sr.

Rodney Kofler
from Plover, Wisconsin
April 10, 2012Music Background:
Musician, Recording Hobbyist

sweet !!

EZ KEYS is a God send for me as a musician who loves to write and record. It changes my whole world as far as song structure and writing on the fly! EZ Keys is a must for every musician who doesn't play keyboards, but hears the keyboard parts in his head! Now, there's a way to drag & drop those ideas right into your DAW !
I'm already looking forward to whatever comes next in EZ Keys!
Hey Toontrack, how about adding string & synth patches within EZ Keys?

Jerry Boutot
from Spring Hill, FL
April 10, 2012Music Background:
artist, composer, producer, and all around lover of all things programmed and musical.

Just do it

I'm not a piano player either. I'm a guitar player that uses a lot of programmed VST instruments in my one man op. I can handle everything from drums to bass to even guitar programmed in Vir2 Electri6ity. But Piano? Unless you have the skills to actually play, it's nearly impossible to just program piano parts that don't sound like (sorry Phil) Philip Glass.

Just get it. You won't be sorry. Read the manual because there are some tremendous capabilities in this VST, like splitting up measures and changing keys, even the left hand note can be altered to give the chords a more dramatic and moving effect. What we started with on our first attempt (my writing partner and I) was tweaked and modified to fit a totally different chord structure and key than it originally stared out with from the library. After dragging the entire part into Cubase 6, I was then able to go into the MIDI and tweak even further. The end result sounds like we had Billy Joel in the studio with us.

Like ALL of Toontrack's products, this is a very powerful tool to add to your VST toolchest and with just a moderate amount of technical understanding of MIDI and VST instruments, you'll have a real virtual piano player at your disposal, not just a great sounding sampled piano.

Mike Morgan
from Illinois
March 21, 2012Music Background:
Weekend warrior.

Piano players are gonna hate this.

You're gonna have that feeling you got when you bought your very first drum machine. Then you'll feel like you did when you got EZDrummer and threw that machine away.

There are better piano samplers out there, but you can tweek the included piano velocity curves inside this program to amazing effect. Includes the nice Breverb from Overloud. Haven't figured out if the sample parameters are midi controllable yet.

The included midi library is ok, but just like EZ Drummer, you can inport your own midi files into folders, or just drag them into the program. Unlike EZDrummer, you can build all of your keyboard parts right inside the program. Hit play inside your DAW to hear how it will sound before you commit anything to a track. Building my library right now of awesome piano jazz riffs. Brubeck anyone?

This software can be incredibly creative as is, and lends itself to opening up a whole new can of worms inside programs like Ableton Live.
One of the stronger points of this software is having the ability to transpose "anything midi" at will, prior to going to DAW. Try importing some bass lines, chop them into measures, and transpose to your heart's content. Or import some midi tracks and let EZKeys figure out and display the chords for you.

This is the whole package, good sounding piano, a nifty way to drive it, and extended tweakability. Sell your old Casio, buy this!

Brent
from Alabama
February 4, 2013Music Background:
Studio Musician, Worship Leader

Great Songwriting Tool

This has some really nice sounds and can really take your Piano VI to a different place than one you would find packaged with a DAW.

Where it stands out, though, is as a songwriting tool. I was on the fence on whether or not I needed this; I have pretty in depth Music Theory training, so I know about relative chording and stuff.... What I didn't consider however is how it organizes your thoughts and allows a different workflow.......it really is worth it.

Rafael Mesa
from Los Angeles , Ca
June 9, 2012Music Background:
music production/remixer

Very intuitive and easy to operate!

This program is great! Within 15 minutes I was able to figure it out and in another 10 had an 8 bar melody going. Being able to pitch the keys with a click and not have to wonder if its in the right key is awsum! I noticed they have aPop/Rock MIDI EZkeys that you can purchase. Hope the people at Toontrack will have some Dance/Electronica MIDI EZkeys soon.

K C Richards
from Lawndale CA USA
May 11, 2012Music Background:
Singer Songwriter

GREAT!

Great for song writing!!

Randolph
from Middleton, TN USA
April 19, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist

EZKeys is awesome.

I haven't been able to take full advantage of EZKeys, however, I tested it out and this it is really professional. I believe that I will be using EZKeys a whole lot.

Adrian M. Mitchell
from Central New York
March 19, 2012Music Background:
Home Recording Artist

Incredible Songwriting Tool!!!

This program is absolutely amazing. As soon as I installed it, I had a song fully written from beginning to end within 2 hours!!! I'm not a piano player at all. I'm a guitar player who writes his own music, but enjoys the ability to incorporate other instruments in his productions. I was worried about making the investment at first, because it is a brand new product, and I had no reviews to rely on or guide me. Therefore, I will attempt to make your decision a bit easier.

PROS:

* The interface is incredibly easy to use and virtually self- explanatory.

* The ability to use the MIDI files included, and drastically change them to your own taste or leave them as they came is a nice feature.

* The Circle of Fifths diagram implemented in the process of changing chord voices is very educational.

* The actual sound of this virtual instrument is on par with other "large & popular" virtual piano creators such as Native Instruments "which I own!"

* Stand-Alone operation is always a great feature to have. Who wants to be tied to their DAW all the time!!!!?

CONS:

* The midi content included in the purchase seemed a bit thin on material, which was probably Toontracks intent to get you to invest in future expansions.

* When transferring MIDI files over to a different Virtual Instrument for example: NI Vienna Concert Grand, the performance appears to lose it's sparkle. This might be due to the use of 3 different sustain pedals that EZ Keys has utilizes.

CONCLUSION

I rated this product 4.5 out of 5 stars, because I feel nothing is ever perfect, and their is always room for improvement. Aside from that, this product is INSPIRING, EDUCATIONAL, and SOUNDS AMAZING!!!

I have no regrets whatsoever!!! Great product Toontrack, and Thank You Sweetwater for delivering the best products on a highly consistent basis!!!

Guy
from
January 23, 2013Music Background:
Guitarist and writer

EZ Keys

Incredible writing tool and surprised how cheap this was!
Just drag any midi file in the browser and it separates the Drum Horns
Whatever instruments are in the file that you drag in and then you can put them in a folder and then drag them in to what ever sequencer you are using so it really is more than one tool and also motivates you to start composing great arrangements!
BUY IT! You won't be disappointed..

Rob Gabbard
from Cincinnati, OH USA
December 13, 2012Music Background:
Church Music Minister, Studio Musician

Good Value, Easy to Use

Very easy to use, easy install, above average sounds for a plug in.

Domingos Rodrigues
from New Jersey, USA
October 17, 2012Music Background:
Music lover

Toontrack EZ Keys

I Love the way the piano sounds. Very responsive and natural and the amazing features and functionality on creating your own sounds is a bonus to me. It is very easy to learn also.
Well, I love this software; thanks to the engineers at ToonTrack.

Paul
from Tahlequah, OK
July 13, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician

Great Software!

I bought this software only about a month ago and am very impressed! I play guitar, bass and drums and can't play piano to save my life. I also do a lot of writing and recording of simple demo's. The EZKeys software allows me to add a new dimension to my demo's when I don't have access to a piano player to come in and record tracks for me. for that purpose its simply a huge money saver! sure, if I were recording a full blown and produced project I would go with hiring a real player of course, but for my demo purposes, a HUGE money saver, not to mention time saver!

Nick Saunders
from USA
June 8, 2012Music Background:
Singer songwriter

Excellent

I didn't take long to get into using EZkeys at all. Since I am not a piano player I wanted to spruce up my original track, but wound up just deleting the original, and using the EZkeys track. Anyone hearing the song will think I contracted a professional piano player.

Michael in Montreal
from Montreal, Canada
April 20, 2012

EZ Keys. Great tool!

Sounds great, loads easy. Has a small foot print.

I wish for a touch better integration within the sequencer. When you hit space bar to play back your song in the sequencer, it will not only play the midi that you have in the sequencer, but also what is in the rpeview browser within EzKeys.

As well, the midi supplied is very traditional pop style. It is great for a Beatles/Elton John style pop compostion right out of the box. I would love some other less...obvious (for lack of a better word) progressions and runs.

Keith Janney
from Beckley, WV USA
April 17, 2012Music Background:
Musician, Music Instructor, Songwriter

Toontrack EZ Keys

For those looking for an affordable grand piano vst wait no longer. EZ Keys comes with enough features to fit into any piano recording, be it solo piano or part of a band. The build your own song feature is very usable, but time demanding. If you can play keys already it is a wonderful way to explore different arrangements. If you are not piano savvy the circle of fifths feature will haunt you at night. If I am in a key that uses Gb why do I only get the choose of F#. Yes, they are the same, but you have to know that. I am actually looking forward to some midi packs which will broaden the scope of this unique plug in

Seth
from Dallas, TX USA
April 17, 2012Music Background:
Home Recording Engineer, Hip Hop Artist

EZ KEYS: An Excellent Songwriting Tool

Toontrack EZ Keys is a great songwriting tool for those of us who are not the greatest piano players. I understand basic Music Theory and I know how chords work together but EZ Keys allows me to choose from a variety of chord types (broken, rhythmic, sustained) to create an interesting song structure with a certain "movement" or "energy" to it. From there I can easily plan out the rest of my song. Adding Bass, Brass/Stringed Instruments and Drums is a breeze after you have a general layout of your song. I gave this Virtual Instrument a 4/5 because I would like to have more options with the actual piano sound presets. Overall this is an awesome product and gives me an idea of how to play certain style of music. Get this for yourself and watch your songs progress virtually overnight.

Pro4one
from NC
April 16, 2012Music Background:
Producer/Arranger

Great piano sounds

Easy to setup, you can do a lot with this VI. Great on MAC. I use Pro Tools.
The transposition feature is great for song construction, creating on the fly.

Frank
from Colorado
April 12, 2012Music Background:
Bass hobbyist

EZ Keys

I'm new to the composition arena, but just playing with the software and reading the Music Theory PDF I can see the potential of this program. I look forward to composing using EZ drummer and EZ Keys any laying down a nice smooth bass track.

Jim Covington
from So. California, USA
April 11, 2012Music Background:
47+ years in the recording industry.... with studio ownership, etc.

ok.... interesting twist

experimenting with dropping in my own tunes.... then changing their chord structure for some variety.... will let you know how it goes.... I have been teaching music and having students memorize the chord wheel for over 45 years.... FINALLY someone has incorporated it into a software program. This will help music teachers all over the world...

My hat is off to Toontrack for accomplishing this.

Jeff
from Chicago illinois/Nashville Tennessee
April 10, 2012Music Background:
Working songwriter,

Great piece to keep things moving.

Great piece of software to add a little extra to your songs. It's nice you coul build the midi in ez keys and then move it to your daw and use another piano if you'd like. Hopefully they'll do what they did for ez drummer and create midi packs. I'm really not impressed by any of the midi in the library it comes with. Very bland and I often have to edit a little bit to fit my songs. Hopefully we'll see multiple ez keys midi packs in the future

Robert
from VA USA
April 10, 2012Music Background:
Home Recording musician, Guitarist, Hobbyist

Delivers what it promises

Toontrack makes some of the best virtual instruments out there. I've been a huge fan of their drum samplers for years and when I saw that they were releasing a piano sampler with a similar interface I bought it immediately. Unlike most software that costs an arm and a leg this is affordable and the sound you can get out of it without having a piano background is worth the cost. I use it primarily for writing, but I love to just randomly generate a song by mixing and matching parts and then playing guitar along with the piano accompaniment. It allows me to think in ways I would otherwise not and add diversity to my music, and for that it is invaluable.

from NH, USA
August 16, 2012Music Background:
musician, remixer, Producer

It pretty cool

Love this engine, the piano sounds are good and the included preset piano rhythms are good enough too. However, had i done more research on this product, i would have found out that the one function i assumed this thing would have, it does not. I assumed i would be able to record my OWN piano patterns, riffs, etc, and use the CHORD browser to transpose them easily. As far as i know, and i've only used this product a hand full of times, it can not do. Maybe in a software update later, but not now. as well, it lacks an ARP function of those patterns
If you are like me, you are going to want to buy the other prerecorded piano patterns available.
but over all you should not be disappointed with this product, it is going places.

Rick
from Sioux Falls, SD USA
June 28, 2012Music Background:
semi-pro musician

Good for first effort

The grand sounds very good, the variations do as well. The interface, like EZDrummer, is simple and pretty straightforward. The product is good for quickly blocking out ideas - so long as the included MIDI samples are close to what you want to begin with. Those of us who are not keyboard players - and I imagine the product is targeted towards anyone other than a piano/keyboard player - will have to get hold of a MIDI editor or make your modifications in your DAW for anything beyond what is offered. A good first offering in this arena - would have liked to have seen an option for a Rhodes or Wurlitzer as well, but for the money, it is enough to help unlock some ideas in a drag-and-drop way for the solo recordist out there. An odd caveat - I run Windows 7 64 bit, but the only way I could get the product to function in PT MP9 was to install it as a 32 bit app. Your mileage may vary :)

James Harris
from United States
April 29, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist

Spark Inspiration

If you need some additional inspiration during the songwriting process, then Toontrack has certainly come up with another winner. Just like EZ Mix, this tool is quite helpful insofar as song-crafting is concerned. I've used it in combination with EZ Mix, EZ Drummer and Master Writer to come up with some quick ideas. Definately worth a look and inexpensive enough to add to your toolbox.

Reggmail
from Philadelphia
April 11, 2012Music Background:
Producer

EZ Keys

Nice concept, Toontrack dose VST's very well.
The only problem's is not enough keyboard variety sounds
Roads, Organs & Synth sounds would be nice.
This seems like a nice idea quick rushed product from Toontracks.
The main problem is (not enough midi files.)
Hopefully this will get better in the near future.

Glen J
from
December 18, 2012Music Background:
Pro musician/songwriter

EZ Keys

I found ez keys great for certain applications but not for the application I wanted at the time. I wanted a more realistic piano sound. It is very easy to install and the features are great especially for musicians with limited piano skills..

Roberto Détrée
from Munich, Germany
July 15, 2012Music Background:
Composer, musician

Waiting for an update

The sound is very good. The sequencing properties need updating. If you are not into pop or country or blues but need a good bossa nova comping, you are lost. Also, a chord inversion function would improve this plug in a lot.

Stephen
from Greenfield,Ma
April 19, 2012Music Background:
Musician,producer

cheEZy Keys

Honestly, It's cool if your looking to pump out some cheese. EZ Keys feels like it was rushed to market. The platform is very cool, the idea is great. The loop library is very limited, although there are many loops and combos that can be put together (and yes you can change the keys/cords), you still end up sounding genaric. The actual loops have little "feel", not very human. The sounds are ok, to me not worthy of putting on a mix(Pro Tools Grand Piano is much, much better).
The interface is indeed EZ to use, 10 min learning curve. I think the best use of EZ Keys is as a "practice tool". Great for getting your chops together and sketching ideas out. If the folks at Toontrack put more energy into it, it could be good, but not yet. A pricey let-down.

inSync Review

Mitch Gallagher
2-24-2012

For many musicians, the piano is the ultimate instrument for writing songs and composing. But what if you don't have the keyboard chops to really play the parts you want to hear? has the answer with ! Designed for the piano-challenged among us, EZkeys contains a gorgeous sampled grand piano and a huge assortment of MIDI files, played by a real pianist. These are organized into intros, verses, choruses, bridges, endings, and so on, in many musical styles. You pull MIDI parts into the built-in song track. Now you can manipulate them to your heart's content. Try different tempos, new keys, new chords. Rearrange the progression...write a song! When you're done, simply drag the song track out and it becomes a MIDI file you can load into any DAW. Your song is written and your keyboard part is done. This is the piano/songwriting tool we've all been waiting for!

Toontrack EZkeys

Grand Piano Virtual Instrument with MIDI Phrase and Loop Library, Intelligent Transposition Functions, and Streamlined User Interface - RTAS, VST, AU (Mac/PC)