Hopkin Instrumentarium

Lamellophones includes all of our unique Hopkin Instrumentarium plucked idiophone libraries, plus two new exclusive instruments: Cat's Face and CÍque. It offers everything you need to compose your best work ever, with over 100 custom FX presets for instant inspiration.

Hopkin Weighted Strings is a set of two amazing custom creations from the mind of master instrument inventor Bart Hopkin: The Weighted Lyre and Weighted Zither. These handcrafted experimental instruments use small weights on the strings to alter overtone relationships and create unusual, beautiful sounds.

Aquaalt is an experimental creation from the mind of master instrument inventor Bart Hopkin: A unique Lute with a steel bowl resonator. The bridge delivers string vibrations directly to the bowl’s flat bottom. As the strings sound, water moves in the bowl, creating unusual, dreamy sounds. 

Handsome Dan is a creation from master instrument inventor Bart Hopkin: A stringed Zither with a unique twist. This flat wooden sound box has 14 strings, with a center bridge dividing them into two segments. A magnetic pickup is placed on one side, but the strings are played primarily on the other side, usually with a slide or plectrum. The tone is dreamy and ethereal, with a floating, swelling presence.

Alt Alt is a creation from the mind of musical inventor Bart Hopkin: A board zither with 16 strings, 12 of them tuned to the same pitch and 4 tuned to the octave above. The idea is to sound all 16 strings at once to produce a single grand resonance. The tone is chorusy and lush, with a full, swelling presence.

Squiggly-Amejewar is a custom wooden instrument with four strings and a buzzing bridge. This buzz effect works best with very long strings, and the strings on Squiggly are about seven feet long. They’re played with a flat-sided slide, making for a complex, varied and evolving sound.

2+2+1 is a 14-string zither featuring multiple bridges that divide each string into three segments. Two of these segments are longer, producing a lower-octave tone, while the shorter segment, half the length of the others, resonates in the octave above. These vibrations create a warm, woody, and resonant acoustic timbre.

Icicles & Pop Ice are a pair of distinct string instruments that deliver a bright, crystalline tone, thanks to their short, highly tensioned strings and a rigid stainless-steel sheet soundboard. Suspended directly from the strings, the sheet creates a long, shimmering tail of reverberation, enriching each note with depth and complexity.

Chordophones is a fascinating collection of 10 experimental stringed instruments from the mind of master instrument inventor Bart Hopkin. We’ve included all of our unique Hopkin strings released so far, plus a brand new instrument: The Stroked Zither. Each custom creation has its own organic tonal flavor, multiple microphone positions, and hundreds of ambient soundscapes created from the source content.