The story
Hello again, it has been a while!
This time I’ve got a vintage old alto metallophone — alto glockenspiel?
The etymology I think is a little vague, its not quite the same range as an Orff alto metallophone (which are generally a little bit lower) but the timbre is a little bit different from what I would normally associate with a glockenspiel (this a little bit more like tiny vibes, much more body).
The metal chassis says both “Xylophone” and “Marimba” on it – neither of which it is.
I like “Alto Metallophone”. Sounds cool.
Anyway, I picked this up at a Goodwill just before quarantine and sampled it shortly after (sadly just before I ended up upgrading my interface / pres). I thought it was very charming and fun sounding and therefore severely procrastinated in finishing the construction of the sampler instrument. I really dunno why I’m just now finishing it, but here it is and I have done it!
It’s sampled diatonically (every note that was available) at a variable number of velocities (averaging 16ish) and three round robins. I also recorded some release samples for it (like muting) and some resonatey sounds that the cabinet makes whilst agitated.
This one should have lots of charm I think, during the sample session I tried to make my room as reflective and resonant and responsive to each strike as I could, having put all kinds of guitars and cymbals and strings and pans nearby to make a little extra mojo. The original thing is also a little bit detuned (not sure by age or qc) so I’ve added a knob to adjust the tuning a bit.
I’ve also added a bit of (at least for me) quality of life effects that can always be turned off in the settings, but I felt that some dynamics control, a little eq, and imaging really helped this go from pokey little hits to a nicer smooth patch to play, especially in the advent of basically no tuning of the velocity layers beyond the original gain staging. The imaging maybe felt the most make or break accessibility wise so I made that a little bit easier to tweak on the main panel.
One last thing, there’s a magic knob. I’ll let you try to figure out exactly what it does but the general run down is that it adds a little bit of body and swirl back into the the patch the make it a little more compatible in different contexts and fun sounding in general to my own ears.
I hope you enjoy! Cheers
Reviews for Vintage Alto Metallophone
- Sound
- Character
- Playability
- Inspiration
- GUI
Leave a review to let others know what you thought of the instrument!
Such great effort put into this
Im always so greatful when people on pianobook put this much effort into free instruments and it really pays off. This is so deeply sampled with a huge amount of round robins making it probably the most deeply sampled bell instrument on pianobook. The recording is great and the artifact noises from the instrument give it so much character. I cant think of any way to improve this. Its such a great effort. The GUI is also fairly controllable as well. This instrument is so realistic because of all the effort put into making it. The sample maker could have just done two round robins and two dynamic layers and called it a day. The extra effort is really appreciated
Nicely warm sound of xylophone
I cannot tell the instrument by listening to the sound. It has nicely warm textured sound of xylophone. Lower register has mild and tender sound, and it will give a nice texture to the music.
A super nice metallophone!
I didn't expect this to be THAT good, honestly. But before you start: Turn the patch volume down! By default it has been set to +6.9db, but you should put it at least at 0db, otherwise you are going to peak in high velocities.
And it is VERY dynamic, with many round robbins and a very nice and realistic resonance. Even in extreme cases I didn't notice any white noise, and you probably won't notice either. Sometimes you might get some metallic screeching but it's common for the instrument in reality.
The GUI is very nice, but I can't help but hate the default Kontakt knobs. You will need to play around a bit in order to understand what everything does, but you don't have to tune it too much anyway.
Super recommended!Conner's best instrument...
This is perhaps Conner's best instrument. The GUI gives lots of customizability to create your own sound and the warmer sound of the instrument itself helps it fit in with mixes nicer than some other glockenspiels and similar instruments. Would definitely recommend downloading! Great work here!
Vibey metallophone
There's lots to like about this sample pack. It's not a clean sounding instrument, but that isn't the point. The sound is unique, characterful, and instantly playable. There are multiple round robins and LOTS of velocity layers up to 13 per note!! which ensures that you don't get the machine gun effect. There are a bunch of controls on the GUI, and they seem to have a subtle effect, but it's not immediately obvious what any of them do, and not all of them work in all circumstances. I found myself wishing for just a little longer release time when the sustain pedal was up, but that was easy enough to adjust within the instrument. Even with these minor issues, this is a really unique, really lovely, and really playable instrument.
