The story
I made this teardrop-shaped Mountain Dulcimer last year, and making a strummed Kontakt instrument out of it, was also quite a challenge.
My Mountain Dulcimer is tuned in a standard way (D-A-dd) and it is a diatonic instrument (ionian/mixolydian) but the Kontakt instrument is chromatic. The melody is normally played on the double d string accompanied by the two drone strings (D and A). Playing a note on the (melody) double d string (MIDI Note 50-72, purple keys in GUI) will trigger the strumming of both drone strings. The active notes on the D string (MIDI Note 26-32, yellow keys) and A string (MIDI Note 33-49 green keys) are indicated as red keys. For different chords, change the D and A string notes just before playing the double d string notes (easier to program in DAW).
4 round robins were recorded of each fretted note on each string using a Rode NT2-A microphone and the internal piezo. The sound level of each string can be adjusted individually.
The strumming interval between the strings can be adjusted (and automated) and the direction: up, down or alternating.
On sustain pedal up or down (according to preference), the strumming is deactivated, and notes can be played individually on each string.
Demo of the instrument (Molly Malone): https://youtu.be/BoQ4uA4iAyQ
Reviews for Strummed Mountain Dulcimer
- Sound
- Character
- Playability
- Inspiration
- GUI
Leave a review to let others know what you thought of the instrument!
Perfect idea and execution
At first I though this was very limited but after a while I realised I could really do whatever I wanted with it. This is a very well thought, and amazingly well crafted instrument that deserves everyones attention. It sounds very realistic, it is sampled very nicely, and the everything is designed perfectly. The GUI might not be intuitive at first, but once you get used to it you will see its true potential. Absolute perfection. Cheers!
Very clear and straight sound of dulcimer!
I really like the sound of dulcimer!!! Sound quality is very good and playability is excellent. Not sure this is the characteristic of dulcimer but it seems all the keys have two notes playing together. I would like to try this out for many occasions.
The kind of awesome library we've come to expect from Peter!
This is another awesome library from Peter. It has all of the hallmarks of his work: Excellent instruments which are perfectly played, expertly recorded, excellent Kontakt programming, and then killer custom GUIs that are on par with and sometimes better than commercially available libraries. This instrument leaves me wishing for only one thing: I wish Peter had a YouTube channel where he walks us through the process of designing his awesome GUIs. I'd be his first subscriber!
Professional sound...
It's everything that one would want from a dulcimer library. Full controls over the strum speed, style, and strings plus extra controls for reverb. My only complaint is that the GUI isn't very intuitive upon first glance, but the functions of the sliders and buttons are very well documented in the help bar so it doesn't take too long to get up and running. Very authentic and professional sound!
