2007
Got a copy of the Hang Drum library Soniccouture released a few days ago. For those of you not in the know, the hang drum is an instrument made by some Swiss hippies, sort of a cross between a steel drum and a tabla made of brass. YouTube has tons of grainy videos of people using hang drums. Aside from apparently being a fairly expedient way to earn money while sitting on a street corner in Amsterdam, the hang drum is a complex and sophisticated instrument, with a broad sonic palette, yet is basically quite simple to play.
Like a harmonica, hang drums come tuned for specific keys; they have a bass (base?) note made by whacking the central nub, and 7 or 8 harmonics, depending on the model. Watch one of the YouTube videos and you'll quickly get the idea. Since it is essentially impossible to buy one, a sample set like this is pretty much the only way you're gonna get the sound of the hang drum in to your music, unless you want to get out the brazing torch and go to work on your wife's cooking gear.
Soniccouture's library comes in two flavors, the Hang Mk1 (the 8-dimple variety), and the newer Hang Mk2, with 7 dimples. I'm loath to go in to great detail about what's provided, as we'll be here all day, and that's not really the purpose of this website. Suffice to say that if it's possible to make a particular sound with a hang drum, Soniccouture sampled it, at multiple velocity layers, and three samples of each. Literally every single possible sound has a round-robin layer, so you don't get the typical "I'm whackin' this key over and over again" vibe. At all. This is definitely the most sophisticated sample set I own, of any instrument.
Where Soniccouture really shines, as usual, is in the Kontakt skripts. The way they've set the initial patch up, you can literally make your settings (root key, note speed, and how much randomization you're in the mood for) and mash down a bunch of keys on your keyboard, and you have Cool Shit. It is so easy to get something interesting out of this, I'm a little worried that someone like me may be completely obviated. They'll come out with a "Chris Randall Programs Your Shit" script, and I'll be done for.
Anywho, there are several samples on the Soniccouture site, and you can read all about it here. I made a little ditty just fooling around with the automagic script stuff, which you can hear here. The drums are from Konkrete V2, and the bass is from Abstrakt Bass, so it's an all-Soniccouture demo. Effects used are Replicant, Reverence, and Dubstation, and Sonalksis TKB3 (my lil' one-knob buddy) on the drums and hang and SV-315 on the 2-buss.
posted September 30, 2007 by Gibbon
I guess I'll just have to settle with the Soniccouture lib though, already listened to the "official" demos earlier and some of them rocked. Thanks for the mini-review.
posted September 30, 2007 by vae
Haven't installed my Hang Drums yet - but twice now SC has sorted out small ordering issues I've had almost as quickly as I've contacted them. And Konkrete2 is great not just because of the sounds but the great programming of the script. So I'm excited about this.
And I finally got Fluid the other day. Holy Crap, guys. I threw it on a synth pad for a remix I have been tinkering with and it sounded 10 times better. A chorus. Who knew?
posted October 1, 2007 by puffer
After buying Fluid, I've been pretty much using Logic's ES1 as my "string synth" (the analog one has been at a friend's place for weeks / months)... Just feed a slightly filtered raw saw wave patch through a nice wide Fluid patch. Apparently, sometimes you CAN make a diamond out of a turd.
posted October 1, 2007 by vae
I guess the sounds of Hang Drum will become more mainstream soon enough...
posted October 1, 2007 by loops
Yeah, the only thing better than chorus on a pad synth is another chorus. I've piles four choruses on a synth and never got to the point where it sounded awful. (To me, in 1992.)
posted October 1, 2007 by synthetic
posted October 2, 2007 by replicant
link [www.instructables.com]
posted June 26, 2009 by chelfyn
not since the first time i played with the arpeggiator and chord memory on my korg poly six, have i been so engaged just sitting and playing and interacting with what the machine is doing. it's evocative, organic, ancient and strikingly futuristic all at the same time. the kontakt scripts are so well written you never end up with a machine gun repetition of notes, but instead a rhythmic, musical flow that is just mesmerizing. bravo!
posted September 30, 2007 by tngregory