This flute came from the same trove as the Saw U and Nepali Sarangi which have also become sample instruments. A bit of investigation suggests it is probably a bansuri flute of the Newari people of Nepal, available in various places online and probably also in Nepali tourist stores. It has a breathy sound due partly to fairly poor air-efficiency, making it an ideal candidate for sampling rather than playing!

The bansuri is an ancient transverse flute. The name originates from the words for ‘bamboo’ and ‘melody’, though this particular flute appears to be made from teak or similar wood.

I’m continually trying to expand the features of my instruments – this one includes the WIPS features of
previous winds, but also finger noises and breathing on release, both adjustable via volume knobs along with the regular flute volume. The WIPS features can be accessed via tabs at the bottom of the UI. These are removed in the ‘Polyphonic’ patch which allows you to play chords or use the instrument for pad sounds.

Keyswitches allow you to swap from standard long notes (C2) to trills (D2); both have 3 velocity layers
and 3-4 round robins per note, with the flute sampled roughly diatonically with some extension of range at the bottom and top ends.

WIPS scripts by Robert D. Villwock.

Contributors

Eamon

Sampling, editing, building.