Silence+Other Sounds has announced the release of Zithergeist, a Kontakt instrument library based on unconventional stringed instruments recorded in unconventional ways.

We have meticulously sampled note by note a number of atypical instruments like miniharps, mandolin of unknown origins and even an Apulian zither, known as ‘pasta-cutting guitar’, a guitar-resembling tool from the Southern province of Apulia (Italy), traditionally used to extrude pasta filaments from raw dough.

The recorded instruments feature multiple articulations, from finger plucks to hammered and muted effects, obtained experimenting with a variety of metallic objects applied to the strings. Moreover, each individual note can be mixed with 4 different layers of cinematic sound effects, derived from the same instrument and ‘tuned’ to the corresponding note. The result is an highly detailed, versatile instrument (up to 13 velocity levels per note/articulation and 4 round robins); you can play it as a realistic emulation of acoustic instruments and use it at the same time as a powerful, variegated tool to design your own sound effects.

Zithergeist is a unique instrument for cinematic composition: whether you want to create minimal dark melodies or heavenly arpeggios, piercing high frequency tones or emotional chord progressions, cinematic droning effects, eastern-reminiscent melodies or adrenalinic rhythmical sequences, Zithergeist offers you an arsenal of instruments and editing possibilities.

Zithergeist features

  • Acoustic Mini Harp (3 multi-sampled articulations, 4 layers of tuned sfx, 30 presets).
  • Acoustic Unknown Mandolin (3 multi-sampled articulations, 4 layers of tuned sfx, 24 presets).
  • Acoustic Apulian zither (bowed sound fxs, hammered sound fxs, percussive fxs).
  • 3 synthetic string instruments (2 multi-sampled articulations, 4 layers of tuned sfx, 30+ presets).
  • Up to 13 velocity levels and 4 round robins per note.
  • String editor containing unison effects, note detuning and transient master.
  • SFX editor containing Octave switcher and LFO.
  • Arpeggiator.
  • Convolution Reverb containing 120+ IRs.
  • 8 separate SFX dedicated Kontakt instruments with individual control on each sample.
  • A total of 600+ High Resolution SFX (96kHz/24-bit, royalty-free).
  • 200+ source sound effects (96kHz/24-bit, royalty-free).

Zithergeist is on sale for the intro price of $69 (regular $99 USD). Prices ex. VAT where applicable. Additionally, the Freaktion, Stringache and Transfer cinematic sound libraries are 50% off for a limited time.

More information: Silence+Other Sounds