The story
The last shared but first created ”Skimmer” instrument is a Santoor or a hammered dulcimer.
Oddly enough bought from a nearby beauty saloon, don’t ask.
The articulation is tremolo and each note was recorded for roughly 1min 45 seconds.
If you play really short notes and up the release volume you’ll get at more of a classic dulcimer sound.
Recorded with a DPA4011 condenser and a Reslo Beeb ribbon mic.
The recorded range is shown in green,
Modwheel controls the overall volume.
Click the unicorn for a custom Convolution Reverb, great for those low volume tremolos.
A quick walkthrough/demo:
https://youtu.be/fp2a2gVl-2E
This virtual instrument was specifically made for the Swedish TV-show “Festen”.
https://www.svtplay.se/festen
Reviews for ACOUSTIC UNICORN SERIES – SKIMMER STRING
- Sound
- Character
- Playability
- Inspiration
- GUI
Leave a review to let others know what you thought of the instrument!
Tremolo feels
In my opinion, the weakest instrument of the Unicorn series, but that weakest doesn't mean weak at all. This instrument has A LOT of character, with an awesome sound that can only compliment your creations.
It is very limited though, in terms of settings, playability, effects and range. You can only perfom those mult-hammered notes, which are definitely nice, but it would have been cool to have the extra option of single notes, this would probably be a much bigger project.
If you click the unicorn you get one extra setting of a custom impulse response, but again - why do I have to click the unicorn to even see this setting? The GUI could use some work, but it is definitely above averag and it gets the job done.
Sounds like a glass instrument or bells
I love this sound! Such a cute, warm string sound. GUI is very cute too!
Unpredictable Craziness
This is such a unique instrument and doesn't sound like its "coming from a computer" Its extremely organic and the tremolos are random and when you stack multiple notes in a chord you get a swarm effect. Its tone really stands out and is very interesting and unlike anything I've heard on Pianobook so far. It doesn't fit into everything as it is rhythmic and could be at odds with the rest of your track, but in the right context its really cool. The GUI is also pleasing to look at. Maybe more of an extended range would be nice but its still great for what it is.
Shining, shimmering, splendid!
This library clearly takes inspiration from Spitfire's SWARM series, and that's no bad thing. Here, Anders creates a bright lush sound from a Santur played tremolo. There's a great GUI with a selection of controls. I think it would be nice to have a consistent tremolo speed across the keyboard range as opposed to having the low register play slower and the upper register fast. That way users would get the best out of this library in how it would typically be used. However, I've found the limitation can actually be quite inspiring musically. Great job!
Swarms of sound...
I really like the swarm style of sound in this library; it indubitably stands to add some really interesting and deep textures whenever it's used. With a little smoothing out here and there I really enjoyed using it. In general it's pretty limited when compared to some of the other instruments in this series, but it's a nice addition.
