The story
Welcome to Subtle Clarinet, my first ever sample instrument.
During my time at Falmouth University, it came as a bit of a surprise to me as to just how many of my course mates were interested in, and wanted the sound of a clarinet as part of their projects in some form or another.
Instead of using my clarinet to only play classical pieces which I had done prior, I was able to experiment with it in ways I had never considered before. As I learnt more about DAW and filtering live instruments through software, the idea of using a clarinet’s warm, rustic sound to create interesting soundscapes, experimenting with multiphonic notes, breathing techniques and improvisation really appealed to me. Since graduating, it has left me wanting to continue to utilise this beautiful instrument for everything that it is and has potential to be.
Here, I have created a soft, subtle clarinet sample with an ebb-and-flow dynamic texture. I tried to really highlight its natural, woody sound to add a new and interesting layer to a musician’s work. I recorded this very simply, in my living room, with the only microphone I currently possess: An M-Audio Luna.
I also hope that, from stretching myself creatively and stepping out of my comfort zone, it may encourage more female composers and musicians to explore and utilise this fantastic platform!
Reviews for Subtle Clarinet
- Sound
- Character
- Playability
- Inspiration
- GUI
Leave a review to let others know what you thought of the instrument!
Beautiful Realistic Longs
This is a beautiful patch that i think sounds as good if not better than some longs winds articulations in spitfire libraries. The tone is very mellow and reedy and it sounds extremely realistic to play as a long articulation with evolving chords and slow melodies. The GUI is nicely designed, simple but effective and pleasing to look at. This is a very simple instrument but does extremely well what its meant to do. I don't mind the limited range, i think it sounds more natural this way, maybe a pitch stretched version could have been included as a separate nki but we have enough of those instruments on the site. This is a really great sound, i plan to use this soon. It actually sounds like a winds longs patch as opposed to a pad made from winds which i think is rare on pianobook , not saying the pad instruments are bad, i love them but its really cool to have this as well.
Soothing lows!
What I loved about this one was the lows, as if you were to play an ambient pad. The highs are ok too, but they seem a little too unbalanced compared to the very soothing low range. In general there is juuust a little bit of noise, but that's part of how wind instruments are sampled. I believe that this instrument would sit very well in a calm or sad sequence. Jeez it reminded me of the movie Manchester By The Sea out of nowhere...
ANYWAY, finally a good GUI that matches the nature of the instrument perfectly! You won't find too many options though. I have to admit that the Expression works great with the modwheel and the release trigger, something that many get it wrong and defeat its purpose. Very nice overall!
One of my favourite instruments at pianobook
Super inspiring sound, I have used it in my scores since the first day. Thanks for this amazing library!
Subtle and Intimate Clarinet Goodness
Very few clarinet samples work well at all, even very good ones. As a clarinet player this is especially frustrating to me. This extremely subtle approach is hauntingly magical. It's breathy but without being irritatingly so and it avoids the ugly "honkiness" that clarinet samples can so easily have. The subtly evolving texture makes it even more special. It's like the ghost of a clarinet sound. Gorgeous. Some of the round robins are a bit uneven in execution, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing in this case.
Really wonderful clarinet!
Love this take on the clarinet! It's instantly playable, well recorded, and highly usable. This sample pack makes me want to use clarinet in musical situations that I wouldn't have otherwise considered using it. This is a pretty awesome first offering, with pro-looking photos and documentation. So happy I discovered this pack!
