Strummed Mountain Dulcimer

A Mountain Dulcimer with controllable strumming options

ByPMEDig

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

  • 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!

    โ€” Alex Raptakis on 31 October 2021
  • Excellent

    Excellent work ! Your creations are very inspiring

    โ€” Spacet on 06 June 2022
  • 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.

    โ€” Asuka Amane on 16 October 2021
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