Shakespeare’s Glock

A glockenspiel in the grounds of Stratford-upon-Avon Youth Hostel, recorded on Shakespeare's birthday.

ByJames Peacock

The story

Me and my friends recently visited Stratford-upon-Avon for Shakespeare’s birthday weekend. Unfortunately our car broke down en-route, and we very nearly had to cancel the whole trip. Thanks to the AA, and the generosity of the staff at Stratford Youth Hostel, we still managed to have a good time. One bit of serendipity was that, whilst waiting for a taxi into town, we discovered a glockenspiel
in the grounds of the Youth Hostel and spent a good thirty minutes playing around with it. As something of an afterthought, I decided to get my phone out and record a couple of quick samples. I was pleasantly surprised by the results.

Reviews

  • Bell-like Glock sounds

    This sounds a little like a glock-bell hybrid, with a nice sound in the mid range around the natural pitch of the sample. The major appeal of the instrument is probably the story/character, being a very specific instrument in an iconic location in spacetime. There is understandably noise in the samples due to the outdoor recording - I actually quite like the bird-noise as an atmospheric addition, and would consider artificially adding more ambient birdsong to diversify the sound a bit. However on the higher notes this atmospheric noise becomes something like a sharp rattle / scratching sound alongside the note, which is less appealing.

    It's not every day you get to play a giant glockenspiel in Shakespeare's hometown, but it could be with this instrument.

    EamonCreator on 24 May 2022
  • Playful

    What makes this instrument stand out is how strange and menacing it sounds in the low register. Could definitely be used as a sound effect in cinematic music.

    Per T on 24 May 2022
  • One sample?

    Yes, this is a one sample pack. It's not a glock which I would use personally but that is probably because if you are looking for a glockenspiel you shouldn't use this. Don't get me wrong, this is a cool instrument. But not, in my eyes, cool as a glock. It's more of a toy piano type instrument and if you are looking for a toy piano or something like that you might want to give this one a try.

    Snake on 24 May 2022
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