Harpsimachord
Harpsimachord is a Decent Sampler deep sampling of my 1970s two-manual, three-rank (8/8/4) Douglas Van Dyck Brown harpsichord.
The story
The instrument is a two manual/three rank (8/8/4) design with cabinetry closely styled to resemble a 1750 Kirckman English harpsichord. The sound resembles existing Kirckmans (easily found on recordings), but the mechanics are custom and modern. The long string length of the instrument produces a warm resonant tone with long reverberation.
I captured every note from the F1-F6 61-note range for seven manual/registration combinations:
- Lower Manual- Upper Manual (slightly more nasal quality)
- Upper Manual with the regular and Nasat plectras for a strong nasal quality
- Upper Manual with the Nasat plectra only for a softer nasal quality
- Lower Manual + 4′ Stop
- Lower Manual coupled to the Upper Manual + 4′ Stop (full instrument)
- Lower Manual with Buff stop (leather mutes applied to each string for a lute-like sound)
My goal was to capture all the quirks and mechanical noises that are different for every key press and delightful release, and for every manual/registration combination due to the hand-built design.
Reviews
it has characte
beutiful sound.... and with those noises that fits perfect with what that instrument is about
Insanely Fun
This is now probably my favorite harpsichord library
all of the different ranges / combinations feel really good and the recordings for the samples are very pleasant and thorough.Noisy
The options are great but while I can hear the mechanics of the instrument I can also hear a lot of white noise that slowly fades out after releasing. Unless it gets cleaned up I most likely won’t use it
By dknisely
Engineer by day; father by purpose; terrible pianist and harpsichordist by hobby. Inspired to learn about music production, mixing, and sampling during early...