
The story
This particular hammered dulcimer means quite a lot to me. It has a focused warmth that surprises me every time I drop it into a mix (I’ve remarked to anyone who will listen that, every time I track it, I never bother processing it—it always just sits).
So I’ve stood by that ideology and left these samples entirely untouched, but please please mix them to your liking!
I spent a great deal of time capturing multiple layers and RR’s for the standard articulations, but the real magic lies in the swaths of aleatoric playing which I hoped would evoke the natural world as this dulcimer often does for me when I’m playing it. The aim, while recording, was to capture textures that would be impossible to program with MIDI.
To boot, I’ve crafted some custom IR’s for those aleatoric patches using the sounds of wind, rain, and rustling leaves that, when blended to taste, can create something really special without ever leaving the GUI.
Each patch makes use of 3 mixable mic positions. A close XY pair of small condenser microphones, a stereo room signal, and a mono mic signal from far off at the end of a hallway.
To start off, I’m putting about half of the patches here on Pianobook. These include:
Hammered
Tremolo
Electromagnetic Mahogany
Ten-Billion Butterflies
Dripping Branches
The Wildmother's Dulcimer | Sample Library Walkthrough
Interface

Reviews for The Wildmother’s Dulcimer
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Honesty the best free Dulcimer for Kontakt
5 stars all around, because there's nothing quite like this out there at this quality for free. I love the range of sounds. What more can I say, I've done a full review and walkthrough on youtube:The Best FREE Dulcimer
https://youtu.be/M6Td5svW6n0Another Gem
Hunter is on a roll with his sampled instruments, each and every one is a gem.
If you need a Dulcimer this is a great place to start and I doubt you will be disappointed.
The hunter strikes again!
I so much wanted to see the hunter himself at creating something other than percussion instruments. And damn he does not disappoint. This is an incredibly well made instrument, that comes with many extras for the user to play around. All patches are bundled in one of the most beautiful GUI designs I've seen in general, even outside Pianobook.
I would just recommend bringing the volume a little bit down from within Kontakt, because if you go hard on it, you might get some clipping going on. Nevertheless, this is absolutely stunning work!
Inspiring
Sounds awesome can not wait to put it to good use I owe it to Mr Rogerson
Truly Mystical instrument
I have several projects going that this instrument will fit into perfectly. Only just started playing it and it's already one of my favorite Pianobook downloads. Thanks for you thoughtful and musical contribution.