Tuned Percussion Bundle

Alto Glockenspiel

The Alto Glockenspiel is a small 25-key alto glockenspiel. This instrument is typically used in student orchestras. We recorded 3 different articulation types (hard mallet, soft mallet, choked), as well as a small toy glockenspiel using a hard mallet. Each articulation has several dynamic layers and plenty of round-robin variation to create a very dynamic and naturally playable virtual instrument. The Alto Glockenspiel was captured at a very close, dry stereo position and also a far, wide position in a large cathedral. The Toy Glockenspiel was recorded close and dry in wide stereo. These distinct instrument sets can be independently loaded and controlled separately, providing you with very distinct tonal and atmospheric flavors to layer and shape. You can use our intuitive UI controls to customize the sound to your needs, with a variety of options including swell, attack, release, tightness, tuning, vibrato, articulation selection, an optional sub-synth waveform underlay module for tonal reinforcement and a complex step-sequencing arpeggiator and auto-roll system.

Circle Bells

The Circle Bells library was recorded with a unique instrument called "Blossom Bells", created by SF Bay Area metal working artisan Pete Engelhart. It features steel conical bells tuned to different keys, spread in a fan arrangement. They have a warm and sonorous tone with long-sustaining crystalline clarity. We recorded them with soft mallets, hard picks and viola bow, with both single-strikes/staccatos and rolls/sustains for each articulation. Its distinctive sound evokes the feel of a steel Marimbaphone or Celeste when played with mallets and a glass armonica when bowed, yet its character and undulating resonance defies any direct comparison to any other instrument.

Each articulation is available in a standalone preset or as part of a powerful dual-layer instrument which allows users to shape and blend any two articulationsm each with completely independent controls. Every preset offers a full DSP effects rack, layer blending, tuning and envelope shaping controls. Our advanced ARP system gives you instant adaptive arpeggiation, step-sequencing, scale/chord constraint and auto-roll functionality, with custom preset saving and loading. You'll also find a great selection of ambient and atmospheric FX presets, created by the Soundiron team and veteran sound designer and instrumentalist Steven Tavaglione.

Cylindrum

The Cylindrum is a massive tuned percussion instrument designed using the principle of open and closed air column resonance. The instrument was constructed by Gregg Stephens with the help some rather involved mathematics, plenty of elbow grease and quite a few bloody fingers. The end result is a massive 20-foot-long tuned percussion instrument with a pitch range spanning a full 4 octaves. Overall, it sounds like a strange organic synthesizer coupled with tuned tom toms. And with deeply nuanced dynamic velocity layering and extensive round-robin variation, this instrument is truly an experimental percussionist's dream come true.

Our Cylindrum library contains three separate variations of the instrument (dry small, dry fat and wet). The small set is made from a series of 1-inch diameter PVC water pipes played by tapping fingers over one end, with a microphone positioned at the far end. The fat version is made from a series of 4-inch ABS corrugated plastic tubes with an open-ended rubber port hole, played with a ping ping paddle. Both sets were recorded in a dry studio room, giving them a full, resonant and fat tonality perfect for arpeggiated melodies and driving bass lines. The wet version is built from 3-inch ABS corrugated plastic tubes with felt mallets on a a 3/8″ heavy rubber cap, recorded in an ultra-wide stereo array in a lush glass and tile hall. This slightly more distant sound and closed port delivers a much more brutal transient impact perfect for dramatic scoring and layer with other traditional percussion.

Imbibaphones

The Imbibaphones library is a unique spin on the classic musical wine glass. The contents typically contained in wine glasses have provided inspiration for musicians since the first time the two were formally introduced. The wine glass became popular as a musical instrument in the 18th century. We decided to interpret this concept in our own particular way. Instead of just using a set of wine goblets, we also sampled tuned percussion and resonant sustains with a martini glass, champagne flute, and after one happy accident, a broken glass. We captured natural sustaining finger rubbed notes and soft mallet strikes for each type of glass. We then applied a variety of effects to create create atmospheres, pads and effects.

Imbibaphones comes complete with a variety of GUI features to allow deep real-time performance shaping. It features selectable tuned/untuned mode, attack, release, swell, pitch-stepping, selectable key-switch stepping and an convolution reverb effect with an array of selectable custom convolutions recorded in a variety of environments, from cathedrals to bunkers. There are also numerous custom sound-designed effects presets for added depth and versatility, with sounds ranging from spacey sci-fi sounds, to gritty sinister drones to ethereal ghostly bells.

Kalimba

The Kalimba is a modernized version of the ancient African Mbira, also often called a thumb piano. It has a humble, melodious percussive plucking sound with a marimba-like warmth and tonal body. It is often used in conjunction with pianos and other tuned percussion instruments to add a sharper attack and playfulness to the sound. Our instruments were made of wood and coconut shell, with hammered steel tines suspended over their sound holes. The notes span about an octave and a half for the smaller of our two instruments and over two octaves for the larger kalimba. We recorded in three environments: Close/Dry in our studio; medium distance in a small chamber; and both close and far in a long bunker hall.

We sampled up to 11 dynamic velocity layers with up to 10X round-robin variations each to deliver life-like sound and playability. You can also shape tine sustain and room decay time easily with integrated Release control. And in addition to the acoustic instruments, this library also features 62 unique soundscapes, pads, atmospheres and drones to the library, each crafted by manipulating the source recordings. Their shared sonic character makes them an ideal accompaniment to the acoustic portion of the Kalimba library. All of it is wrapped up in a customizable performance control system, with multi-layer blending and sound-set loading and lots of sound-shaping tools, arpeggiation step-sequencing, convolution reverb with dozens of integrated impulses to choose from and a full rack of DSP effects to customize your sound.

The Musique Box

The Musique Box is a complete collection of deeply sampled music boxes with extended content, powerful interface and cutting-edge features. We recorded 11 music boxes in different environments and configurations, from dry studio to lush concert hall, and even submerged underwater. We then manipulated the sound to create a wide range of additional atmospheric sustains, pads and ambient instruments, plus an array of tuned ambient pads, evolving atmospheres and unique dynamic FX to open up a wealth of creative possibilities right out of the box. Our goal wasn't to simply deliver the most comprehensive music box library possible, but to provide a valuable creative resource that turns these humble music boxes into heavy duty compositional power tools.

All of the music boxes can be loaded and shaped within the master preset. Create and blend new instruments instantly in real-time, with full control over each sound layer. The extended full range note scale exposes powerfully rich bass tones and tight, percussive high notes beyond the limits of an ordinary music box. The Effects control panel provides parametric EQ and convolution reverb, with dozens of integrated convolution environmental and FX impulses to choose from. The Uberpeggiator system gives you freestyle and 32-step tempo-synched humanized arp, groove and auto-roll creation, chord, direction and key constraint and custom pattern saving/loading.

Noah Bells

The Noah Bells is a deeply sampled collection of 21 authentic Indian Khadki bells in a wide ascending range of sizes and pitches, from massively resonant deep notes to small, brittle high notes. These hand-crafted, hammered metal bells are smelted from simple iron and copper mixtures, producing a golden or bronze hue. They range in size from over two feet to less than an inch in diameter, with carved wooden clappers. They have a dark, raspy and heavy tone with lots of mid-range body, a rather variable sustain and strong, complex overtones and undertones.

We recorded each bell in multiple velocities with plenty of round-robin variation to create a naturally dynamic and truly playable virtual instrument. They were captured up close and dry in wide stereo and from afar in a large open cathedral sanctuary to give you very distinct tonal and atmospheric flavors to blend and choose from. You can use our intuitive UI controls to customize your sound with a variety of options such as swell, attack, release, tightness, tuning, vibrato, articulation selection, an optional sub-synth waveform module for tonal reinforcement and a complete step-sequencing arpeggiator system.

Water Harp

The Water Harp library explores a famously unconventional instrument called the Waterphone, first conceived by Richard Waters in 1968. The signature ghostly moans and screeches of his strange creation have become a staple of horror and suspense film soundtracks and experimental records over the years since. Today, there are a wide variety of styles and designs available, each with various unique physical shape, structural and and tonal differences by different instrument makers. Still, the basic design generally always remains true to the original: a hollow metal chamber with a tall neck, ringed by a large number of long metal tines or bars pointing upward, cut to various lengths for different pitches. The chamber is meant to be filled with water. However, it can also be played empty or filled with sand, beads or other materials to create interesting results as well. The instrument is played by bowing or striking the tines individually or in a glissando sweep, while tilting and turning the body to shift the water and create strange undulating, bending, warping pitches and harmonic modulations.

The library is divided into two main categories - "Bowed" & "Mallets". A viola bow was used on the tines and body edges, with and without water in the chamber, creating ghostly warbling and growling sustains, sweeps, glissandos, stinger effects and staccatos. The Mallets section offers different types of hard and soft rubber, wood and metal percussion mallets, sticks, steel combs and bare hands, with the water chamber both full and empty. There are also a variety of more experimental sounds, including boiling water at four different high temperature levels, along with internally submerged hydrophone recordings, magnetic experiments and more. The library also includes a bonus collection of our own custom waterharp ambiences and custom FX presets.

Whaledrum

The Whaledrum is a modern incarnation one of the world’s oldest known instruments: the tongue or slit drum. A member of the idiophone family, variations of these tuned percussion instruments are found around the globe, spanning many cultures from Africa to Asia and the Americas. They were originally carved from hollow logs or wooden blocks and struck to produce percussive musical tones. It is one of the few instruments considered to possibly predate language itself. Modern slit drums have been substantially refined and typically feature 6 or more wooden tongues, offering a marimba-like warmth, with a dreamy tone, gentle softly-rounded note attack and subtly undulating ring. The lower notes have an especially deep richness to them.

We primarily sampled our 14” 8-tongued vermilion tongue drum in a dry studio environment with mallets, wooden sticks and brushes. We recorded each mallet struck note at both tongue center and edge positions, with an average of 10 dynamic velocity layers and 10 round-robin variations per note. The stick and brush articulations were played over various edges and surfaces around the drum. We also recorded a second session with the instrument out in a large tile and stone hall from a medium distance with mallets and sticks, to provide the option of more naturally ambient acoustics. In addition, we also recorded a smaller 3-note slit drum and a small toy xylophone. There is also a great bonus selection of delicate atmospheric pads and evolving ambiences sculpted from original acoustic source material.