The story
I have this friend called Tom. His father Jean is a stringed instrument maker. One day, Jean found this bouzouki in a flea market. The poor instrument was in a very bad shape: it needed a new soundboard, the body had holes in it, the neck was twisted… Jean has a good heart, so he bought it and restored it. Few months later, Tom saw this bouzouki in his father’s workshop.
– What is that instrument? He asked.
– A bouzouki. I fixed it, but I have no use of it, Jean responded.
– Well, I have this friend who is a musician and likes weird sounds…
– It will need a new set of strings, but you can gave it to him!
And that’s how I got this instrument, thanks to Jean’s generosity!
« Ideal » is the name of the built-in microphone, but the sound of it was too noisy to be used. Recorded with a RE320 and a pair of small condensers microphones, this bouzouki is sampled in minor thirds, 4 dynamics layers, 2 round robins. I recorded the instrument both fingered and plucked. These two articulations go together well, so I created an additional patch with both.
Two other patches ‘Ensemble’ are created with 3 layers of samples: one normal version, the other two at -4 and +4 semitones then transposed back at original pitch. This way, the sound is richer and wider thanks to the individual panning knobs.
One last thing: I couldn’t resist to create some pads with these freshly recorded samples, so I cooked up a ‘Pad Designer’ with 6 different pads you can mix and pan as you like!
Interface
Reviews for Ideal Bouzouki
- Sound
- Character
- Playability
- Inspiration
- GUI
Leave a review to let others know what you thought of the instrument!
Bazooka Bouzouki
Wow, what a great instrument. So much work gone into this - with instruments like this I almost feel guilty downloading them. As I'm not someone necessarily after a 100% authentic experience I really appreciate the extras like the fingered sounds in addition to the plucks and I'm completely with Fred - they work really well together to give both the depth and attack which can then be EQ'd however you want. The ensembles are a great idea and overall all the different versions work really well and provide a complete cross section depending what sort of sound you're after. The addition of a well thought out GUI is really great. The icing on the cake, of course, is the PAD instrument, which is so good it could be a release on it's own. Outstanding work. LABS worth, surely?
A beautiful instrument
Simply awesome..this instrument has been recorded very well , the attention to details and above all different playing styles make it (for me) one of the best and perhaps one of the instrument with the most features and controls ever seen on the Pianobook , the pads too is stunning. Thank you so much Fred for your wonderful job!!
Fred's done it again!
Whoa! Another stunningly great library from Fred! This bouzouki is indeed ideal! It's perfectly recorded, sublimely edited, super playable, and totally inspiring. The pad designer preset is a standout, as it gives you the ability to mix and match a whole bunch of completely awesome pads, but the packed and fingered patches along with their ensemble counterparts are all truly awesome. Fred's sampling work is truly professional. Thanks for this awesome sample library!
very acoustic, very fun
This pack has lots of variety in it, the samples sound great, and are a lot of fun to play with. There's a very nice amount of detune and space to the notes that work well in a bunch of combinations, thanks for sharing fred!
Have I found the "missing" samples?
Bonjour Frederic,
first of all, I have to note that I really admire your efforts for the DecentSampler .... keep up the good work ...
The Bouzuki is really well done and I like its lively sound, but just like some commenters above, I missed a sample every now and then.
And I think I figured out what the problem is. In some .dspreset files the value for hiVel is "45" (e.g. the Fingered Ensemble.dspreset line 74, 82, 90, 98 etc.), but in the next line the "loVel value" starts with "56". Therefore, if the velocity is "46 to 55", no sound will be sent to the output. Because there is the same issue in several files I think it is a copy and paste fault.Hopefully this is the crux with the "missing" sounds and to change the value from "45" to "55" will fix it ... ;)
Greetings from Germany
Rockingricky
