Handcrafted Audio is a Swiss company run by a team of two composers (Matteo Pagamici and Michael Künstle) and sound engineer, Daniel Dettwiler. They have released two fantastic Kontakt-based instruments that are thoughtfully designed and inspired approaches to traditional sound sources—mallets and piano. If you are looking to explore new possibilities derived from standard orchestral samples, read on.
HANDCRAFTED PIANO
This was the first release from the company—a felt piano exquisitely recorded using high-end gear including the Neumann M49, Coles 4038, and Neumann M62 microphones and Lexicon 960, Bricasti M7, and Quantec Yardstick reverbs and mixed on a Cadac console. The three piano instruments included are Piano, Piano Light (a stripped-down CPU-saving version), and Piano Synth.
THE HANDCRAFTED PIANO GUI
The interface features three main windows. The first has just two controls and a well-crafted visualization of the sonic parameters. The top slider controls the perceived distance via a reverb wet/dry parameter, while the bottom slider (available on certain presets) affects the percussiveness of the sound. The two simple controls alone offer a surprising variety of useable sounds.
The second window offers controls for mixing microphone levels and reverb.
The settings window exposes controls for dynamic range, tightness (humanization), resonance, key release behavior, hammers (mechanical sounds), and interferences (note-to-note interactions)
There are 11 presets that draw from defined sample collections including:
- Default
- Intimate
- Presence
- Grand Upright
- Pop Compression
- Grand Warm
- Distant Warm
- More Felt
- Heavy Felt
- Muted Felt
THE HANDCRAFTED PIANO SYNTH GUI
This sample-based synth significantly expands sonic possibilities with over 120 presets, envelope controls, and FX processing, including saturation, vibrato, pulsing effects, warping, and more.
Under the effects section, there is an additional set of controls that use verbal descriptors that sound designers and film and gaming composers will love. A three-column matrix includes Vibe, Module, and Form. While it is unclear exactly what is happening under the hood, I found exploring various combinations of Vibe and Module to be fascinating and a bit of a rabbit hole.
Presets are conveniently organized into nine categories, including bass, pads, leads, pulses, sound design, and plucks (high and low). These will quickly get you close to the sound you’re after so you can tweak and customize to make it your own.
PRODUCT VIDEO
HANDCRAFTED MALLETS
This collection of instruments includes seven iterations, including:
- Marimba
- Vibraphone
- Mallet Synth
- Marimba Mute
- Vibraphone Mute
- Vibraphone Bowed
- Vibraphone Sticks
THE HANDCRAFTED MALLETS GUI
All the instruments mentioned above include an onboard sequencer and arpeggiator, and additional FX controls for reverb, delay, and detuning.
The Mallet Synth instrument adds even more controls like tape saturation, pulse, vibrato, EQ and a verbal descriptor matrix similar to the Handcrafted Piano Synth instrument.
As with the Piano Synth, there are a ton of well-organized and accessible presets here to speed up your workflow. You can find awesome textures and unique soundscapes under the Sound Design category.
One of my favorite sounds—the bowed vibraphone, can be found under the instrument of the same name. This instrument not only offers the traditional sound itself, but some excellent presets that expand the nature of this beautiful ethereal sonority.
PRODUCT VIDEO
CONCLUSIONS
These are fantastic instruments that use pristine samples and are inspired, composer-conceived approaches to traditional piano and mallet sounds. The synth versions allow for an expanded sonic palette not possible with typical orchestral sound libraries. The interface designs are clean and uncluttered, offering just the right amount of parametrical control to get the sound you want. It is clear that great care and attention to detail were put into these instruments from the recording process to programming and final implementation. These are ideal instruments for film and video game composers, sound designers, and music producers alike. I’m happy to have come across the folks at Handcrafted Audio and look forward to the next release!
EXTRAS
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