The story
Over Winter Break, I finally got my hands on the full version of Kontakt 6. After countless Kontakt videos and tutorials, I recorded my Kalimba. The result? Kalimba Klusters. Kalimba Klusters is a collection of Kalimba notes, spaced out over time. Sparkling textures and pitches create a nostalgic sound. The instrument contains 4 dynamic layers with 3, slightly different undulating patterns. Control the instrument with a Cutoff, Reso, Delay, Flutter and Reverb knob. At the core, Kalimba Klusters is an experiment. A new approach to a common instrument. A new tool for your collection. I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave feedback that will be used to fix current and future instruments.
Interface
Reviews for Kalimba Kluster
- Sound
- Character
- Playability
- Inspiration
- GUI
Leave a review to let others know what you thought of the instrument!
A sweet, swarmish Kalimba
If you are looking for some very quick atmosphere with the sound signature of a Kalimba, this might be the deal. This insturment offers the Kalimba sound we all love, but with a bouncing delay and a pitch-shifting flutter option. Unfortunately you can't separate the delay from the samples, but at least you can adjust the timing via the provided knob. All the options combined offer a very dreamy and chaotic sound that might be the thing you were looking for.
Note: The samples are included twice in the download pack, so you can delete the ones outside the Instrument folder.
Ethereal pad sounds
Much more pad-like than I was expecting, the instrument for me evokes the feeling of floating around aimlessly in space (especially with the flutter). The background probably helped seed that feeling as well. It doesn't actually sound much like a kalimba, but there are dozens of those elsewhere on pianobook if you want them! This one has its own sound; a nice one; and all the basic toggles you'd want to modulate it are built into the UI. Cool instrument!
The name got it right
It really does sound like a cluster of kalimba notes, on each pluck.
It can get a bit unwieldy, since you can't control the delay-ish quality of the cluster (aside from adding more delay). Though it seems this type of instrument encourages you to take a particular approach to writing using the kalimba.Shifting and ethereal
I grabbed this library a while ago and had a play with it but forgot to review it! Such a slacker!
You need to be careful not to overload things as it can very quickly get muddy due to the chaotic nature of the pack, but when used with care it's a really great sound, particularly pushed back in the mix a little to give a bubbly undertone.
