Bolder Sounds has released Handbells, a sample library featuring a set of handbells.
For this sample library a beautiful 3 octave set of handbells were recorded in 9 different articulations totalling 1.2 gigabytes. The samples are 24 bit stereo and most articulations are presented with 2 round-robins per bell.
Handbells articulations
- Handbell Clapper — samples are created with the traditional technique of holding it against the shoulder, bell-upwards, and then swinging the bell through an elliptical shape to cause the clapper to strike the casting of the bell.
- Suspended Handbell with a soft rubber malle — samples were recorded with the bells suspended from the ceiling of the room while being struck with a soft rubber mallet.
- Suspended Handbell with a hard rubber mallet — samples were recorded with the bells suspended from the ceiling of the room while being struck with a hard rubber mallet.
- Suspended Handbell with a plastic chopstick — samples were recorded with the bells suspended from the ceiling of the room while being struck with a plastic chopstick. This creates a great deal of high frequency content.
- Singing Handbells — The Singing Handbells sound is created by running a wood dowel along the rim of the handbell, similar to the way you can run a wet finger along the edge of a crystal glass and make it sing.
- Plucked Handbells — is accomplished by using the thumb and forefinger to force the clapper head into the casting while the bell is on the table, producing a staccato note.
- Malleted Handbells on a padded table — samples are created by striking the bell with a rubber mallet while the bell is resting on the foam of a padded table. This produces a tone brighter and more percussive than the plucked samples.
- Handbell Shakes — is accomplished by quickly ringing the bell back and forth so that the clapper strikes both the front and back of the bell casting in rapid succession. This creates a continuous tone, as opposed to normal ringing in which the tone decays rapidly after being rung.
- Handbell table hit endings — samples are typically used for the end of a piece of music or at a cadence. Before this sound is heard the bell is already ringing, so you hear just a small portion of the pitch of the bell followed by the percussive hit on the foam table.
Handbells is available for Kontakt 2 or higher (EXS24 coming soon) for the introductory price of $69 USD until January 1, 2010.
More information: Bolder Sounds / Handbells
