The story
Name: James Blunsdon
Sample instrument name: Harpsichord
I had some real fun recording this with the help of three film music friends. We found this gem hidden away in the college after one of our tutors told us about it. With the help of Ross, El and Emma, we each took turns to sample the notes in 5ths. I initially used an LDC but this picked up too much noise from a fan we couldn’t turn off and someone playing a trumpet next door so we resorted to an old dented SM58.
1x velocity layer, 6xRR
I’ve tried to tune the samples as best as I can but they’re still slightly off. I recommend using a low-cut to reduce rumble that was picked up from the soundboard and adding reverb (as per usual!) I owe my thanks to Dave Hilowitz’s fantastic YouTube channel that I used to learn how to sample with Kontakt. My next challenge is to make use of the script editor.
If this get’s featured in a video my only request is that Christian wears a baroque wig.
Enjoy! 🙂
Kontakt Version: 5.8.1
Reviews for Harpsichord
- Sound
- Character
- Playability
- Inspiration
- GUI
Leave a review to let others know what you thought of the instrument!
Just a simple harpsichord.
If you are looking for a free, simple, plug-n-play harpsichord, this is it. Even if there is really nothing very special about it, it gets the job done nice and smooth. Some samples have some little noises here and there, but barely noticeable. It also has a kind of limited range but they say that limitations stimulate creativity. The dry sound is nice because it can be easily manipulated. If you are in search for a harpsichord, give it a try for sure!
The sound seems a little washy and unclear
Ill preface this review by saying that im not really a fan of harpsichord so even if this library was amazingly sampled and recorded i still probably wouldn't be that into it. Theres a really good amount of round robins here but no dynamic layers. i see sam says that you cant play dynamically on a harpsichord. i wasn't aware of this so if thats the case i cant fault you for no dynamic layers. My biggest issue is, ive seen walkthrough videos of the spitfire harpsichord and it sounds very dry, punchy and clear. Of course it would be ridiculous to expect you to match the quality of a premium spitfire instrument but this instrument feels like it maybe has a lot of room tone or something? it just sounds a little washy, lacking in clarity and not very dry. As i said im not really a big fan or harpsichords to begin with but i hope people that are really enjoy this instrument.
A Good Effort
This is a reasonable recording of a fairly out of tune harpsichord. It still has the unmissable tone of the instrument but the tuning means it's probably only usable for a very specific project. Given that a harpsichord is already quite a specific use instrument, this sample pack may not find a lot of work. Still, thanks for the time and effort!
A Harpsichord
One of the toughest things about sampling is coming up with a good instrument to sample. You can have all of the fanciest recording gear, but you can't make a sub par instrument sound better with it. You'll just get a very high quality recording of a poor instrument. That's sort of what's happened here. The harpsichord in question is so badly out of tune that it is mostly unusable. Because the notes on single keys aren't in tune with each other, trying to tune them in sampling software isn't going to work. It might be possible in Melodyne, but the results would be sub par. You really have to start with a great instrument that's in tune. While out of tune pianos seem to be a thing, out of tune harpsichords are antithetical to the Baroque ethos. Even when used in pop music, harpsichords seem always to be in tune. Other reviewers have commented that there is only one velocity layer here, but Harpsichords aren't velocity sensitive instruments. You can't play different dynamics with them. They're always just one volume, so there really isn't any need for multiple velocity layers. Sadly absent from this library are release triggers to capture the sound of the jacks returning. It's also unfortunate that the multiple stops on this instrument weren't captured. As a first effort, this is really good. However, with every sample pack we each create, we learn new things. I've chalked up several failed sampling attempts to 'learning lessons.' I guess that's how it goes.
