# New Una Corda Piano by NI



## Vin (Dec 14, 2015)

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keys/una-corda/?content=3235&uuh=e9f083069a7b38bd22a9446a1dbaa7c7&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Una+Corda+c=Una_Corda+b=Komplete+t=Release_PD







Sounds beautiful. The first piano after the _Piano in Blue_ release that really appeals to me.


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Dec 14, 2015)

It's going to be really hard to resist...


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## ryanstrong (Dec 14, 2015)

Instant buy for me. Just what I've been looking for.


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## tokatila (Dec 14, 2015)

Ned Bouhalassa said:


> It's going to be really hard to resist...



Must resist...until Ultimate 12.


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Dec 14, 2015)

I just bought 8Dio's new upright a few months ago. Now comes HZ and this - aaaaaargh!


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## musicformedia (Dec 14, 2015)

God dammit. Just bought it :(


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## marklaukkanen (Dec 14, 2015)

Really beautiful sound! And love the clean look of the user interface. This along with the Symphony Series have had great looking interfaces. Of course, sound and playability is the main thing, but still a nice bonus.


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## ag75 (Dec 14, 2015)

I LOVE this tone. Excited by this.


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## germancomponist (Dec 14, 2015)

A special sound, very cool!


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## marcotronic (Dec 14, 2015)

very unique and beautiful sound. Guess I will get that baby


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## marcotronic (Dec 14, 2015)

...and bought...


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## Noam Guterman (Dec 14, 2015)

My god, what a great sound and character this one has.


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## marcotronic (Dec 14, 2015)

Played with it for a few minutes - veeeeery inspiring instrument! Ideal for soft film music, atmospheres etc.


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## Lode_Runner (Dec 14, 2015)

tokatila said:


> Must resist...until Ultimate 12.


Me too. I wasn't planning on buying another Komplete product until K12U at the point that the upgrade goes on sale at 50% off, but that is years away. This is such a stunningly beautiful sound I don't think I can wait. I will hold out until they do a 50% off though... just one more listen to the first demo and then I'm putting it out of mind.


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## Killiard (Dec 14, 2015)

Oooohh. That sounds lovely.


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## ryanstrong (Dec 14, 2015)

marcotronic said:


> Played with it for a few minutes - veeeeery inspiring instrument! Ideal for soft film music, atmospheres etc.


How does it react/playability to it? Feel good?


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## Guffy (Dec 14, 2015)

NI is really good at marketing..


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## ryanstrong (Dec 14, 2015)

Fugdup said:


> NI is really good at marketing..


They should be... I would assume they have the budget to do so!


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## Alatar (Dec 14, 2015)

Ah, its made by the same guys, who also made "The Giant" and the "Galaxy Vintage D". (NI does not record all pianos themselves): http://www.galaxy-instruments.com/
Sounds promising. The Galaxy Vintage D is really nice. So I guess this one is also.


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## ryanstrong (Dec 14, 2015)

Alatar said:


> Ah, its made by the same guys, who also made "The Giant" and the "Galaxy Vintage D". (NI does not record all pianos themselves): http://www.galaxy-instruments.com/
> Sounds promising. The Galaxy Vintage D is really nice. So I guess this one is also.


Interesting call out. I didn't realize Native Instruments did this... but now makes sense now that I recall they sell Damage which is a Heavyocity product.


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## jacobthestupendous (Dec 14, 2015)

Man, that does sound cool.


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## mc_deli (Dec 14, 2015)

Where Is The Crossgrade Pricing
?
:(


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## phil_wc (Dec 14, 2015)

very interesting and unique sound. I hope they will include in KompleteU11


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## marcotronic (Dec 14, 2015)

ryanstrong said:


> How does it react/playability to it? Feel good?



I'm not really a serious piano player but as far as I can judge it the playability is pretty good and it's really great fun to play that baby. You can also adjust the dynamic response very nicely with a knob which has a noticeable effect immediately.

Marco


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## murrthecat (Dec 15, 2015)

Cool sound. Do developers have spies, insiders or moles that they come up with instruments of the same family almost at the same time?


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## tmm (Dec 15, 2015)

murrthecat said:


> Cool sound. Do developers have spies, insiders or moles that they come up with instruments of the same family almost at the same time?



Haha, this happens so often that there must be some kind of competitive reconnaissance happening.


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Dec 15, 2015)

Nah, it's really simple: Piano, Strings, everything else. Repeat, ad infinitum.


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## JPQ (Dec 15, 2015)

Sounds lovely same goes some other NI stuff which is only in Ultimate (another same level nice is Kinetic Metal or something like it sometime magical which i like some soundtracks sounds what clearly knows are sampled but samples are anything normal but something special,and normal for music use) makes me wonder if i try get ultimate version of komplete next time even maybe means i wait it cleary longer even if i dont want ultimate i dont very likely get it soon. Even more i need then bigger hard drive if i get ultimate version.


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## murrthecat (Dec 15, 2015)

tmm said:


> Haha, this happens so often that there must be some kind of competitive reconnaissance happening.



Or it might also be like a role-playing game: they sit at a table and the master gives you an instrument to sample. Then everybody go away and sample it. And they have to release it in a timeframe always set by the master...


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## windshore (Dec 15, 2015)

Bought this hoping to use for a commercial but once again NI was slow sending the serial number so I had to do the production without it. I've got it running now and think this is a very worthwhile lib for specific uses. 

A few points
*There are only 3 presets. (So 3 instrument patches - and no alt presets within those instruments. - a little disappointing.)
*The fun part is when you get into the controls. Pedaling by itself adds color that is unexpected sometimes. Tweaking the front 3 parameters is worthwhile. The 3 tweak pages are where you can do some real creative things include add harmonics and reverse and FX. You have control over almost all aspects of the sound including mechanical noise.
*Dynamic range is VERY good. You really feel like you can play musically.
The sound is great!

I bought this for a specific project and wasn't able to use it. Of course at some point it will be on sale or included with Komplete. My advice is, wait till you need it for a particular project or till it's on sale. If you need it for a project, get it as far in advance as possible. If you work like I do and often need to crank last minute projects out in a matter of hours or minutes... maybe it's worth jumping on. 

One way or the other, it's pretty fun to play with so might be worth it just for inspiration.


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## marcotronic (Dec 15, 2015)

windshore said:


> Bought this hoping to use for a commercial but once again NI was slow sending the serial number so I had to do the production without it...



Yeah, it's always the same - what I usually do is login once again to my account at NI and look for my serial numbers there. Usually you can see the serials you've just bought within a couple of minutes - way faster than waiting for their slow serial number emails...

Marco


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## Galaxy Instruments (Dec 15, 2015)

windshore said:


> B
> 
> *There are only 3 presets. (So 3 instrument patches - and no alt presets within those instruments. - a little disappointing.)


The library actually features three nkis with different sample recordings (unprepared Una Corda, prepared with felt and with cotton) and total of 100 snapshot presets ...


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## Lemmi (Dec 15, 2015)

Hi all,

thanks for checking out our newest "baby", the UNA CORDA. I came across this thread and thought I should clarify your preset-issue:



windshore said:


> *There are only 3 presets. (So 3 instrument patches - and no alt presets within those instruments. - a little disappointing.)



The patches (presets) are not done via different NKIs, but with the use of Kontakt's snapshots feature (over 100 snapshots are included).
Here is the thing about the different NKIs: The three NKIs of UNA CORDA are *three separate sample-sets*, since we sampled the instrument three times: the Pure version (unaltered Una Corda), the Felt version (with a special felt between the hammers and the strings) and the Cotton version (again, a fabric between the hammers and the strings). Basically, UNA CORDA is three different pianos. The preparations change the tone, behavior and the attack of the sound quite a lot. If you want to look further into it, please check out our video walkthrough here:



Cheers,
Stephan
__________________________
Galaxy Instruments
Galaxy-instruments.com
facebook.com/galaxyinstruments


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Dec 15, 2015)

Terrific walkthrough. Man, is this instrument ever beautiful, irresistible.


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## ryanstrong (Dec 15, 2015)

SHeesh yeah NI was SO slow at the serial. I mean it was 24 hours which isn't terrible but how long does it take to fire off an automated email? Assuming theres some degree of automation happening? Anyway thats beside the point.

The piano is amazing. I love it. The kit itself is beautiful, but all the "preparations" you can change in it is very inspiring.

I kind of wish this thread would disappear so others cannot have this secret ingredient


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## SpeakPianissimoAndCarry.. (Dec 15, 2015)

ryanstrong said:


> SHeesh yeah NI was SO slow at the serial. I mean it was 24 hours which isn't terrible but how long does it take to fire off an automated email?



Those NI serial numbers are handmade by aboriginal pygmies, very rare craftsmen.


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## benmrx (Dec 15, 2015)

REALLY cool sounding instrument!


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## pdub (Dec 15, 2015)

Indeed a great walk though and what a fantastic sound! Will pick this up soon for sure.


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## Lode_Runner (Dec 15, 2015)

Edit : nevermind, just played the walk through and spotted the pedal.

From the photos of the physical instrument it looks like there are no pedals, obviously no una corda pedal is needed, but there's no sustain either. Does the actual piano not use dampeners? How is this represented in the library ie do you get a sustaining sound without use of the pedal, or is dampening simulated?


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## colony nofi (Dec 15, 2015)

Lode_Runner said:


> Edit : nevermind, just played the walk through and spotted the pedal.
> 
> From the photos of the physical instrument it looks like there are no pedals, obviously no una corda pedal is needed, but there's no sustain either. Does the actual piano not use dampeners? How is this represented in the library ie do you get a sustaining sound without use of the pedal, or is dampening simulated?



Yeah - there's just one pedal. Such a lovely atmospheric instrument... and a unique timbre given the single string per note. I'd love to record on a real instrument like this one day, but until then, NI has my back!


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## windshore (Dec 15, 2015)

Thanks for letting us know about the Snapshots. This is the first Kontakt lib that I have that uses them extensively. For those how haven't used them before, there is a down arrow just below the instrument's name that shows them.


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## jmvideo (Dec 15, 2015)

Wow, this looks and sounds awesome! I love how you can dial in all the noises. Definitely buying.


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## tokatila (Dec 15, 2015)

ryanstrong said:


> Interesting call out. I didn't realize Native Instruments did this... but now makes sense now that I recall they sell Damage which is a Heavyocity product.



New ultimate pianos (in ultimate 10) are also recorded by Galaxy D. And they are soooo much better than the old pianos in Ultimate.


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## EvilDragon (Dec 16, 2015)

Lode_Runner said:


> From the photos of the physical instrument it looks like there are no pedals, obviously no una corda pedal is needed, but there's no sustain either.



Errr...







Look again.


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## Lode_Runner (Dec 16, 2015)

EvilDragon said:


> Errr...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes I can see it clearly now, I don't know how I missed it on that one - maybe because it's so straight and thin I didn't recognise it as a pedal when looking at it on my phone? I also couldn't see it at all in the GUI pic:


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Dec 16, 2015)

Got it. Love it. My mini-review:


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## Monkberry (Dec 17, 2015)

Was mildly interested until I saw the walkthrough video. Now NI has my attention. That is a great interface with a lot of options and it sounds beautiful. It definitely brings something different to the table. On my "to get" list for certain.


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## Guido Negraszus (Dec 17, 2015)

Wow, very impressive. I thought Metropolis Ark I would be my last library for the year but I can't resist this one. I won't bother with K11U since I already bought all the new libraries since K10U.


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## mc_deli (Dec 17, 2015)

It does seem that the new NI releases are raising the bar for interfaces, I'm looking at you Spitfire.
Though the biggest favour NI could do us is to bring Kontakt kicking and screaming into the teenies...


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Dec 17, 2015)

For me, it's not the interface, really - it's the sounds and the playability.


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## Lemmi (Dec 17, 2015)

Hey guys,

we are really stoked that you like the Una Corda as much as we do! The first impressions and reviews are overwhelmingly great  Thank you so much!

Cheers,
Stephan
__________________________
Galaxy Instruments
Galaxy-instruments.com
facebook.com/galaxyinstruments


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## Guido Negraszus (Dec 17, 2015)

What a timing! Just bought Una Corda and 6 hrs later I have a voucher from NI in my inbox. NI really knows how to treat loyal customers!


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## zeng (Dec 21, 2015)

Ned Bouhalassa said:


> Got it. Love it. My mini-review:





Ned Bouhalassa said:


> I just bought 8Dio's new upright a few months ago. Now comes HZ and this - aaaaaargh!


Hey Ned,

What do you think about 8Dio's new Upright and NI Una Conda? I've many piano's including 8Dio 1982, 1969, 1990, Galaxy Vintage D, NI Definitve Pianos Pack etc. but I don't have 8Dio Upright and Una Conda yet. And couldn't decide which one to buy  So what do you think as an owner of both?


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Dec 21, 2015)

They are very, very, very different. 8Dio's is more of a classic-sounding (not Classical!) upright, with a lot of character. The mic options really give you a good choice of colours, and the different articulations are fun to explore. It's one to add to other pianos for extra variety. The Una Corda is a completely different animal, very wide-ranging due to the many options for transformation, as exemplified in the many snapshots (presets) it offers. It can sound like much more than a piano, and I certainly would not jump to it if I was writing/playing traditional piano music. For modern score writing, it's hard to beat, feels very contemporary.


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## zeng (Dec 21, 2015)

Ned Bouhalassa said:


> They are very, very, very different. 8Dio's is more of a classic-sounding (not Classical!) upright, with a lot of character. The mic options really give you a good choice of colours, and the different articulations are fun to explore. It's one to add to other pianos for extra variety. The Una Corda is a completely different animal, very wide-ranging due to the many options for transformation, as exemplified in the many snapshots (presets) it offers. It can sound like much more than a piano, and I certainly would not jump to it if I was writing/playing traditional piano music. For modern score writing, it's hard to beat, feels very contemporary.



Great! Thanks for the info Ned. I think I'll get both of them too


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## pdub (Dec 21, 2015)

What a unique and inspiring instrument this is! I'm really enjoying it so far.


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## zeng (Dec 21, 2015)

Hello again,

I bought it!  and loved it. Just want to ask a quesiton if it is only me or not;

Sound of this piano is wonderful but is it a little bit muffled? I loaded pure patch and played for a while and found myself playing with EQ settings. Do you also need to edit EQ parameters for this piano? When I cut off bass and mids a little and increase highs, I got a better sound. What about you?


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## Monkberry (Dec 22, 2015)

It may be the fabric that you choose causing the impression that it's muffled. They stress the word "smooth" in repetition in the walkthrough video. To me, it just sounds like a softer attack, which I like. I have not purchased yet but I will before the end of the year. I'm guessing that this would be best suited for a solo piece or something sparse.


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## marklaukkanen (Jan 27, 2016)

Thought I might wait for Komplete 11 to be released, but eventually changed my mind and bought this. Here's a track I made to test it out:


I love the tone, but what really makes it great is the interface that allows for a lot of customization without being cluttered. Definitely a very useful tool.


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## jmvideo (Jan 27, 2016)

cenk said:


> Hello again,
> 
> I bought it!  and loved it. Just want to ask a quesiton if it is only me or not;
> 
> Sound of this piano is wonderful but is it a little bit muffled? I loaded pure patch and played for a while and found myself playing with EQ settings. Do you also need to edit EQ parameters for this piano? When I cut off bass and mids a little and increase highs, I got a better sound. What about you?



Cenk.... you may need to tweak the velocity settings on your keyboard. I've found Una Corda definitely responds well to higher velocities. If you hit it hard enough you'll find it's not muffled!


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## synthpunk (Jan 27, 2016)

I love it as well. Fits in the mix without being figity, Great playability, and like you the customization is great. Got it to $124 with the Xmas coupon. Are you getting the eno pad from the library or something else ?



marklaukkanen said:


> Thought I might wait for Komplete 11 to be released, but eventually changed my mind and bought this. Here's a track I made to test it out:
> 
> 
> I love the tone, but what really makes it great is the interface that allows for a lot of customization without being cluttered. Definitely a very useful tool.


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## marklaukkanen (Jan 27, 2016)

aesthete said:


> I love it as well. Fits in the mix without being figity, Great playability, and like you you the customization is great. Got if to $124 with the Xmas coupon. Are you getting the eno pad from the library or something else ?



I also used a voucher to get it down to $124. Funny thing is that I used the voucher I received when buying Komplete in 2014. The email said it would expire in three months, but I decided to give it a shot despite it being two years old. Turns out, it was worth it 

Some of the pads are from Una Corda, but the more prominent ones are from Omnisphere as well as some from Albion ONE.


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## musicman61554 (Jan 27, 2016)

marklaukkanen said:


> Thought I might wait for Komplete 11 to be released, but eventually changed my mind and bought this. Here's a track I made to test it out:
> 
> 
> I love the tone, but what really makes it great is the interface that allows for a lot of customization without being cluttered. Definitely a very useful tool.




Awesome track Mark. Loving the sound.


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## marklaukkanen (Jan 28, 2016)

musicman61554 said:


> Awesome track Mark. Loving the sound.



Thanks Musicman! Appreciate it


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## zeng (Jan 28, 2016)

aesthete said:


> I love it as well. Fits in the mix without being figity, Great playability, and like you the customization is great. Got it to $124 with the Xmas coupon. Are you getting the eno pad from the library or something else ?


Hey great piece!  Which reverb did you use for this?


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## marklaukkanen (Jan 28, 2016)

cenk said:


> Hey great piece!  Which reverb did you use for this?


I'm assuming you mean my piece, despite quoting aesthete (I don't think he posted a piece). Correct me if I misunderstood 

I used the built-in reverb in Una Corda for the piano parts (can't remember the specific settings/IR's) and Valhalla Room (on the dense room setting) for the Omnisphere pads.


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## synthpunk (Jan 28, 2016)

Here is a new video from NI about the real Una Corda.


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## zeng (Feb 3, 2016)

marklaukkanen said:


> I'm assuming you mean my piece, despite quoting aesthete (I don't think he posted a piece). Correct me if I misunderstood
> 
> I used the built-in reverb in Una Corda for the piano parts (can't remember the specific settings/IR's) and Valhalla Room (on the dense room setting) for the Omnisphere pads.


Wrong quote, sorry!  and thanks for the answer. Una Corda has also wonderful reverb presets then.


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