We had already talked about Audio Thing and a review of the Jen SX1000 emulation for Kontakt. This time we are talking about a library always for the Native Instrument sampler but of a totally different type: Pong Glockenspiel
Why use sticks when you can use ping pong balls? thus begins the description of this library. In a nutshell, a toy glockenspiel sampled using ping pong balls instead of special plastic sticks. Pong Glockenspiel is available for Kontakt 3.5 or higher but with a little effort you can still take advantage of individual samples by hand loading them into other samplers.
Once installed, Pong Glockenspiel will kill 108MB on the hard drive. The samples were recorded at a sampling frequency of 44.1kHz with a resolution of 24Bit, sufficient quality but which avoids an unnecessary waste of space (and resources).
Two levels of velocity (dynamics) with three repetitions for each, which through cross-fade create the timbre of the main instrument.
Inside the library there are six single instruments, the names with a brief description below:
As we have seen, in addition to the main tool there is another one called Main_Double. In practice, it's like having two sounds at the same time, one of which has been transposed an octave down, creating a much more interesting filler effect than the single instrument that can be poor in a mix with many instruments. In support of these two main patches there are four patches derived from the original samples but of a completely different nature. Two instruments dedicated to ethereal ambient sounds and two instruments dedicated to particular synthetic pads.
The interface of the individual patches allows you to change a delay (synchronized to time) and the envelope on the amplifier (volume) on the fly, using various potentiometers. Although the two parameters of the envelope (Attack and Release) may seem few, it is important to remember that for such an instrument the natural envelope profile would not allow to fully manage the decay and sustain parameters (Decay, Sustain).
The idea of this library, as explained in the product page arises after the creation of a videosong (to learn more about this topic click on the link) entirely done by playing common instruments with ping pong balls.
Considerations
The library is suitable for creative musical use, it is not to be conceived as a classic library, but lends itself to multiple uses especially in the field of soundtracks for films / shorts and jingles or even for composers of soundtracks for videogames.
Pro: A good library with alternative sounds to the classic instruments we are used to. Excellent quality / price ratio.
Cons: Lacks a nice effects section
Extra: Try putting a slight phaser or delay in time and you'll see what you can create. Maybe just a little bit of hard compression could be useful to get it into a rich synth pad mix.
Demo
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Useful Information
Producer: Audio Thing
Model: Pong Glockenspiel
Website: http://www.audiothing.net/instruments/pong-glockenspiel/
Cost: $ 8 ~ 5 €
Antonio Campeglia
