The story
I saved this massive tuning fork from going in the skip. It was made by Rudolph Koenig sometime around 1870 and tuned to Ut2 (marked 256Hz but uses an old French tuning system of measuring half cycles so is actually 128Hz thus meaning it is tuned to a scale using 430Hz as middle A) It is about 2 feet high on its resonator and its tines are a good foot long in themselves. It produces, as one would expect, a beautiful pure tone with a sustain in the order of minutes. It’s one of those interesting objects that one cannot let get destroyed but fundamentally has limited use. This has been my first attempt to do something with it.
I sampled it being struck with a Columbia Research Labs 606-3-I accelerometer going into a Kistler 5007 charge amplifier attached to one of the tines. I used a felt (small wool ball on a small steel rod) and steel (just the rod) beater to get 2 different tones. The result is a very electric piano-esk sound when mapped across a keyboard.
I also used a violin bow across the top of one of the tines and recorded the sound with a number of different microphones which creates a much more eerie sound.
Both of these sounds can be mixed together to get a variety of effects.
There is no noise reduction, just the samples re-pitched to work with A=440 tuning.
Reviews for Koenig Electric Fork
- Sound
- Character
- Playability
- Inspiration
- GUI
Leave a review to let others know what you thought of the instrument!
Deep and mysterious bells
This sample pack provides you with a lovely source of bell like sounds which range from deep and subby to high tones reminiscent of FM synthesis. It took me a while to figure out why I got no sound from the "Pro" patch. All of the sources started at 0 when I first opened it. The felt beater is nice. The steel beater adds a strange non-harmonic overtone to the sound which makes it less playable. The bowed sounds are slightly creepy, but add a nice sustain to the tone. The creepiness will vary by context, I suppose. Overall, this is a unique sound, and it's a great way to preserve such a historic piece.
I really love the high end
Ill start by saying that although this is an interesting and unique bell sound, there are many similar sounds i much prefer on pianobook that are very characterful throughout the range. I dont really like the mid range notes on this instrument but i really love the high end. Theres not any annoying overtones or anything. Its just a really pleasing, short and beautiful sound. Adding reverb to this makes it sound pretty special. Im kind of conflicted because i love the high end but dont really like the mid. Anyway its a unique instrument and everyone should try it for themselves.
An interesting low bell-like sound
There are two patches here, the simple and the pro one. Not sure why the simple exists, since you can achieve the same results with the pro one - I guess it's more like a preset? Anyway. The bell is sampled well with little to no big noise issues. It has a deep bell-like sound that also features a bowed noise that I can't say I am a fan of. Fortunately you can control it or just turn it off through the settings in the control tab. It's nice that you are also able to mix the harsh with the smooth sounds too.
Nice Bell Sound: Add FX Though
Not a bad bell sound. Not the best either. I suggest adding reverb, delay, maybe even distortion. Anything to add some character to the sound. Enjoy!
Standard bell like sound
Simple bell like sound created from a tuning fork. Interesting overtones at very low octave. Ok, but easy to find bell sounds exactly like this.
