Chordophones from Soundiron is a collection of 10 experimental stringed instruments from the mind of master instrument inventor Bart Hopkin. This library includes all of the unique Soundiron Hopkin strings released, plus a brand new instrument: The Stroked Zither. Each custom creation has its own organic tonal flavor, multiple microphone positions, and hundreds of ambient soundscapes created from the source content.
This collection includes Alt Alt, Aquaalt, Handsome Dan, Icicles & Pop Ice, Squiggly-Amejewar, Stroked Zither, Weighted Strings, and 2+2+1, and each has a custom sonic character, perfect for blending together or doubling a melody. Chordophones includes an efficient modular four-layer GUI and over 150 custom FX presets for instant inspiration.
Hopkin Instrumentarium: Weighted Strings from Soundiron is a set of two custom creations from the mind of master instrument inventor Bart Hopkin: The Weighted Lyre and Weighted Zither. These handcrafted experimental instruments use small weights on the strings to alter overtone relationships and create unusual beautiful sounds. Made of wood and metal, they have a richly acoustic essence that resounds brightly through each plucked note.
The sounds were recorded with three stereo mic positions: Close, Room, and Contact. There's a wide selection of custom FX presets and plenty of signature sound-designed ambient content crafted from the raw acoustic source to give you complete creative freedom.
Aquaalt from Soundiron is an experimental custom creation from the mind of master instrument inventor Bart Hopkin—a unique Lute with a steel bowl resonator. This handcrafted contraption's bridge delivers the string vibrations directly to the bowl's flat bottom. As the strings sound, a small amount of water moves in the bowl, causing ever-changing resonances and creating unusual, dreamy sounds.
Samples were recorded with two stereo mic positions: close and direct line in, and includes Plucks, Bow Long, Bow Short, Bow Sul Ponticello, and Glisses up and down, available in all four layers to easily mix and match. With up to 8 round-robins and 6 velocity layers per note, you'll be swimming in beautiful timbres in no time.
Hopkin Instrumentarium: Squiggly-Amejewar from Soundiron contains sounds of a custom zither-type wooden instrument with four strings and a buzzing bridge. This buzz effect works best with very long strings, and the strings on Squiggly are about seven feet long. They're played with a flat-sided slide, making for a complex, varied, and evolving sound.
The library features three stereo mic positions: close mics, pickups, and contact mics. Plucks, Glisses, and FX are available in all four layers to easily mix and match. With up to eight round-robins and six velocity layers per note, you'll be swimming in lush timbres in no time. There's a selection of custom FX presets and plenty of signature sound-designed ambient content crafted from the raw acoustic source to give you complete creative freedom.
Hopkin Instrumentarium: Icicles & Pop Ice from Soundiron contains sounds of a pair of distinct string instruments that deliver a bright, crystalline tone thanks to their short, highly tensioned strings and a rigid stainless-steel sheet soundboard. Suspended directly from the strings, the sheet creates a long, shimmering tail of reverberation, enriching each note with depth and complexity.
Icicles features 26 short string segments, each vibrating in unison with the resonant stainless-steel sheet. The result is a pure, shimmering sound that evolves organically with every pluck. This library captures the full sonic spectrum of both instruments. There are three main articulations: pure plucked-string sounds, percussive strikes, and glisses. With two microphone perspectives, up to 8x round-robins, 6 velocity layers per note, 20 custom FX presets, and atmospheric sound design content, the library offers creative freedom.
Hopkin Instrumentarium: Handsome Dan from Soundiron contains sounds from the experimental Zither instrument that isolates the harmonic resonances in unplayed strings. This flat wooden sound box instrument has 14 strings with a center bridge dividing them into two segments. When a frequency sounding on the played side matches any of the harmonics of the same string on the unplayed side, it sets up a sympathetic vibration in the unplayed segment.
The sounds feature two stereo mic positions: contact mics, mixed mics, plucks, slides in a variety of intervals, and glisses up and down are available in all four layers to easily mix and match. With up to eight round-robins and six velocity layers per note, you'll be swimming in beautiful timbres in no time. There's also a wide selection of custom FX presets and plenty of signature sound-designed ambient content, crafted from the raw acoustic source to give you complete creative freedom.
Hopkin Instrumentarium: Alt Alt from Soundiron is a creation from the mind of musical inventor Bart Hopkin: a board zither with 16 strings, 12 of them tuned to the same pitch and 4 tuned to the octave above. The idea is to sound all 16 strings at once to produce a single grand resonance. The tone is chorusy and lush, with a full, swelling presence.
Alt Alt was recorded with two stereo mic positions: close mics, and pickups. Hammer down, fast strums, and slow strums are available in all four layers to easily mix and match. With up to eight round-robins and six velocity layers per note, you'll be swimming in lush timbres in no time. There's also a wide selection of custom FX presets and plenty of sound-designed ambient content crafted from the raw acoustic source to give you complete creative freedom.
Hopkin Instrumentarium: 2+2+1 from Soundiron contains sounds from a 14-string zither featuring multiple bridges that divide each string into three segments. Two of these segments are longer, producing a lower-octave tone, while the shorter segment, half the length of the others, resonates in the octave above. These vibrations create a warm, woody, and resonant acoustic timbre.
The 2+2+1 was recorded in two stereo microphone positions using close miking and contact mics. Upper and Lower plucks (open or damped) and glisses (harmonic or atonal) are available in all four layers of the flexible GUI to easily mix and match. With up to eight round-robins and six velocity layers per note, you'll be swimming in lush timbres in no time. There's also a wide selection of custom FX presets and plenty of sound-designed ambient content, crafted from the raw acoustic source to give you complete creative freedom.