What happens when you take a perfectly good instrument - one thats
been around for hundreds of years - and completely rethink it?
Many musicians have dug their hands into the piano, John Cage prepared
it with bolts between the strings, others have strummed it or hit it
with their hands, but one of the most ethereal and unorthodox
techniques is that of bowed piano.
First suggested by the composer Curtis Curtis-Smith in 1972, the
technique uses flexible bows made from monofilament nylon fishing-line
which are then coated in rosin. The nylon is threaded under the
strings, and the performer can coax a sustained tone from the piano.
Bowed piano has since been adopted and expanded upon by various other
composers, including George Crumb and more extensively by Stephen
Scott.
The Soniccouture Bowed Piano instrument was recorded using a 9 foot
Baldwin Grand, a popular model with Bowed practitioners. A matched
pair of Bruel & Kjaer microphones were the only choice to capture such
a sound. Each key has alternate samples to prevent repetition of
attack transients, and there are 3 articulations per key - Normal
bowing, Hard bowing, and short, staccato bows. The Normal and Hard
samples are looped long, for infinite sustain. When playing, you can
crossfade from normal to hard bowing using the mod-wheel, and the
staccato bows are activated via a keyswitch.
The ultimate pad-sound? Organic, shape-shifting, massive, foreboding
yet delicate.. The sound of the Bowed Piano is incredibly versatile,
very musical and completely unique. It seems to strike a middle-ground
somewhere between a synthesiser pad and a stringed instrument and
manages to sound like neither. A sound that adds space and movement to
a composition, also bringing a magical, shimmering high end and
baleful character that evokes so much.

1.6 GB Sampled Instrument
24 bit Stereo 44.1 Recording
9' Baldwin Grand Piano
Multiple Articulations
Alternate Round Robin Layers
Convolution Reverb From Piano Cabinet
Kontakt 2 / 3 or Logic EXS24 Required

http://www.soniccouture.com/pages/bowed-piano.php

Download File Size:1.49 GB

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