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Dark Kalimba by Origins of Audio

akox

AlexK
We are more than happy to announce our first Kontakt Sample Library, Dark Kalimba. It is a 9-tine Sansula from which we sampled a full two octaves (from G1 up to F#3). We used three different microphones (Brüel & Kjær, Beyerdynamic Vintage MPC-50 & Schoeps CMC64) in three different positions (tines, drum and up-stereo) on a Neve console.

There are more than 800 24-bit/48KHz samples (approx. 1,3Gb in size) in this library. There are two dynamic velocities, up to seven Round Robins.

There are 7 predefined tunings, such as A-Minor, A-Major, Hijaz, Akebeno, Sweet E, plus the two octaves chromatic scale! Using the envelopes controls you can make beautiful short pads and percussion sounds. We have also included some FXs(tape, cabinet, saturation and Lo-Fi) to experiment further with its sound. It also uses Kontakt's built-in compressor, as well as, Delay and Reverb (amphitheater, concert hall and studio). We've also included an effect that imitates the "Wah" sound of the Sansula's box!
It has the ability to save your presets as .nka files and load them at any time you like.

We've also included 20 of our own presets for quick use and experimentation! We may also use the load/purge group buttons in order to unload any unwanted samples and free memory from your computer.

We've also created a free Demo version of our instrument, in order to try it, before you buy it. It is fully functional but it has limited samples (one per note) and you may only choose the A-Minor scale (the original Sansula tuning). Feel free to download it from our webpage and hear our samples at our soundcloud page.

Finally in our website we offer a free sound bank for U-He Zebra SoftSynth with over 100 patches (including Bass, Arpeggiators, Pads, Carpets, Percussion, Pianoids and other instruments (such as theremin, organ and more). For further information please don't hesitate to ask us!

You can visit our website https://originsofaudio.com/
Follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/originsofaudio
Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/OriginsOfAudio
Or hear us on soundcloud
 
I'm personally a very big fan of Kalimba. I'll buy the library soon.

Why did you name it 'Dark' Kalimba?
 
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I'm personally a very fig gan of Kalimba. I'll buy the library soon.

Why did you name it 'Dark' Kalimba?

Hi T.A.V!

if you listen closely to the audio demo, you will hear certain weird and dark sounds coming out of this sansula. So we named it "Dark" because of this ability to manipulate it's sweet and bright sound in order to acquire a much more weird and dark metallic sound.

Did you download the lite version we have on our website to try it for yourself?
 
Hi T.A.V!

if you listen closely to the audio demo, you will hear certain weird and dark sounds coming out of this sansula. So we named it "Dark" because of this ability to manipulate it's sweet and bright sound in order to acquire a much more weird and dark metallic sound.

Did you download the lite version we have on our website to try it for yourself?

So do we have the knobs to dial in & out the darkness too or thats part of the character of the samples?

I got the link in mail, will download as I get out of bed
 
So do we have the knobs to dial in & out the darkness too or thats part of the character of the samples?

I got the link in mail, will download as I get out of bed

The darkness and weirdness of the kalimba is controlled by the envelopes and the Fxs provided in the corresponded screens, within the instrument. In the full version there are 20 presets which you can load via the "load" button.
Other than that, the instrument that was sampled was a sansula with a wah box. The sounds are crystal clear with the noise signal at -70dB!

Please do try the lite version and read also the manual included in the "Documentation" folder.

Alex
 
Wow! I loved it...I just can't stop playing it. I'm gonna buy it because I want Heavenly A Scale. I just wish it was recorded at 96K.

On your website it says €40,00 - this confuses me. Is it 40 Euros or 4000 Euros (Very unlikely but still that how I read it)?
 
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I'm also having some problem with just A2 notes (comes two times in available scale) - this note doesn't play properly on low velocity as compared to all other notes. Its the only note thats too soft and low in level at low velocity (the pluck sound is missing).
 
I'm also having some problem with just A2 notes (comes two times in available scale) - this note doesn't play properly on low velocity as compared to all other notes. Its the only note thats too soft and low in level at low velocity (the pluck sound is missing).

Hi TAV!

I'm glad you liked it and I'm sorry but it was recorded as you saw at 24-bit/48KHz. Perhaps the next version will be at 96Khz. The difference in the pluck sound in different notes you might find, was recorded on purpose for realistic reasons. In this instrument we thought that it would sound more realistic if certain notes had the pluck sound and others not. I remind you that the lite version contains only one sample per note. In some cases the round robins of the samples reach 7x.
 
Hi TAV!

I'm glad you liked it and I'm sorry but it was recorded as you saw at 24-bit/48KHz. Perhaps the next version will be at 96Khz. The difference in the pluck sound in different notes you might find, was recorded on purpose for realistic reasons. In this instrument we thought that it would sound more realistic if certain notes had the pluck sound and others not. I remind you that the lite version contains only one sample per note. In some cases the round robins of the samples reach 7x.

So some samples of A2 as part of RR will have pluck on low velocity as well?
 
Can I make a suggestion for the next library?
Please do https://thearraymbira.com (The Array Mbira) if you can...
 
Will do our best Tav!
In a few days we will release Pulse, and we're working right now on that tool!
 
Just picked this up last night during the new sale. Sounds really great! Nice job Alex!

Thank you Charles! I hope that you find it useful in your compositions! Give me a feedback when you find the time to experiment more with it! I'd be more than happy to hear your opinion!
 
The second audio demo is an ethnic/African feeling composition by John Konsolakis!
You can listen to the full composition (with other instruments), but also with a version with Dark Kalimba as the sole instrument.

 
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