The story
My name: Martin Kotatko
Instrument name: Forgotten Kalimba
Friend of mine needed help with moving between apartments. Right in the middle of that, I noticed small old kalimba lying on the floor. He was just about to throw it into a garbage bin. The nerd in me saw a little Kontakt exercise in it so I asked him if I can have it. That poor thing went through a lot. Bought originally for a little girl, who probably abused it for hours in a very cute manner. ๐ Then it was forgotten, peacefully collecting dust in the corner for years.
I did straight little recording through Audiotechnica AT4040. Four velocity layers, no round robin. ..but with (rather pointless) release samples and some little percussive “knocks”! ๐ I’ve recorded it quite close to the mic, so the noise wasn’t much of a problem I think. (But might be wrong.) I could definitely use some help with tuning it. It has nasty body resonances that I have no idea how to work with. I really liked the snappy top end, though, so I scripted a little mode that cuts off the fundamental and replaces it with a sine-wave synth. ๐ Off by default, but activated in the demo track.
Also made a little 3D model for the interface. Just for fun. ๐
Reviews for Forgotten Kalimba
- Sound
- Character
- Playability
- Inspiration
- GUI
Leave a review to let others know what you thought of the instrument!
The Kalimba Veteran!
This Kalimba is indeed old and it has been through a lot. You notice it instantly as soon as you touch one key. It's not your everyday kalimba, so don't expect it to act like the others. It can't, and it shouldn't. It's not cute, it's not perfect. But it's those imperfections that make it full of character. I noticed that there are I'm pretty sure it can fit well in many scenarios, especially more on the horror side. A big plus that you have nice dynamics between velocities. You also get to have some percussive samples which is a nice addition - but man don't beat it up anymore, give it a break!
A solid library...
In the sea of Kalimba libraries that are out there. This one plays really well. The overtones are a little difficult to work with when the instrument is by itself. But within the context of a larger group of instruments this sounds nice!
Nice Kalimba with bonus tiny percussion sounds
This kalimba can cover a rather wide range of sounds from something quite simple to something with lots of harmonics and maybe inharmonics! it's a nice bonus that the creator thought to sample some percussive sounds too! That's a really nice touch that makes this sample pack even more useful. Really good stuff!
Bright but organic
There are a few kalimbas on pianobook i prefer to this one, i just find them to be warmer, more mellow and rounder. This is just what i like personally, some people might like this brighter edgier sound. With that being said though this kalimba definitely sounds old which adds alot of character. It also has nice mechanical noise and artifacts which add realism. Its fairly dynamic too which is always a plus. Its not my favorite on the site but definitely a worthy kalimba all the same.
