HISS and a ROAR has announced the release of its new Daxophone sound library, a collection of sounds that sit somewhere between a badger and a cello.
Suitable for character and creature vocals, the library is also a very rich source for more abstract sound design.
The Daxophone was invented by Hans Reichel (1949-2011) – the first time I heard one was in the context of music and its unique vocal tonality was intriguing, but I was more excited by the potential for use as source material for sound design.
After acquiring a Daxophone and replacing the built-in piezo elements with a Barcus Berry Planar Wave, and a Trance Audio Inducer, I began learning to play the Daxophone. First experimenting with different tongues and techniques, mainly playing legato with continuous pitch variation (rather than quantized by frets) using the three tongues that it came with (two wooden and one plastic.)
Next I had a series of tongues laser cut in wood and plastic, using Reichels published designs. Finally, I began experimenting with unformed tongues – various types of light wood and very thin metal. Since the Daxophone is essentially a highly resonant contact mic instrument, there is no room acoustic and the sounds generated have a raw, powerful nature. Each tongue has a series of sweet spots, which respond uniquely to experimental techniques.
The sound library costs $99 USD. Use coupon code DAX to get 33% off (expires March 29th).
More information: HISS and a ROAR
