Autoharp and Taishogoto

These two instruments have been in the works for quite some time — several years, in fact. We've had an Autoharp in our collection for a while and were thinking of eventually building a library around it. Then we came into possession of the Taishogoto and it occurred to us that it would be a good companion to the Autoharp given their similarities and mechanical nature. So making space between other projects and MODWHEEL releases we eventually arrived at what we're now able to share.

When developing a library it can be tricky to know how best to present the instrument. It's relatively easy to sample an instrument and lay it out across the keyboard so you get the sound right enough but it's obviously quite a different thing to playing the actual instrument. When an instrument is laid out like a standard piano it's natural, as a player, to fall into those habits and patterns that you instinctively play on a keyboard. So our idea was to design the instrument in such a way as to approximate the performance of the real instrument on a keyboard thus encouraging a different approach to music making. Suffice it to say it took some time to figure it out and there will be further explanation later on.

The Autoharp was recorded in the beautiful Stella Maris Chapel, using three microphone positions which can be controlled from the main GUI: Near, Mid, and Far. To conserve CPU, mic positions can be toggled off when not in use, which also unloads the associated samples.

An FX tab gives access to the Rhythm Step-mod and Scatter Box.

The Rhythm step-mod (PULSE) works on volume to create repeating rhythmic patterns. It has 16 steps and can be tempo synced to various note values or set to free time. It can be used to create simple tremolo-like patterns to much more complex rhythms and even envelope-like effects. Clicking on the Sync label will toggle between Free and Sync. In most cases the Depth or Intensity control is assigned to the mod wheel so with the mod wheel down it is effectively off.

All the Autoharp and Taishogoto patches feature Scatter Box. Scatter Box is MODWHEEL's sync'd and experimental convolution IR effects rack which was developed from an original concept by Kirke Godfrey of ShapedNoise.

The Autoharp has 8 patches including different performance articulation/strum key switch modes plus single string plucked and muted as well as a dischord patch.

The Taishogoto has 7 patches with similar performance modes as the Autoharp as well as Bowed and Extended patches.

Library format and contents:

• Audio recording format: stereo, 48 kHz / 24-bit.
• Size of recorded sample pool: ca. 13.47 GB ncw compressed.
• File format of samples: 10741 samples in .ncw / lossless compression format.
• File format of instruments: .nki (built with Kontakt** v. 6.7.1).

Please note Autoharp and Taishogoto requires a full version of Kontakt 6.7.1 or above.