An experimental zither by instrument inventor Bart Hopkin that makes the sympathetic harmonics of unplayed string segments audible, with a dreamy, floating sound.

Handsome Dan is a flat wooden sound box with 14 strings, divided into two segments by a centre bridge. It is played with a slide or plectrum on one side, while a magnetic pickup on the other side captures the sympathetic harmonics that build up in the unplayed string segments, giving a dreamy, ethereal tone with a floating, swelling presence. Soundiron recorded plucks, slides in a variety of intervals and glissandos up and down with up to 8 round robins and 6 velocity layers per note, using contact mics and a mixed microphone setup. Custom FX presets and ambient sounds created from the source material extend the possibilities.

Features

• Plucks, slides in various intervals and glissandos
• Two microphone positions: contact and mixed
• Up to 8 round robins and 6 velocity layers per note
• 20 ambient pads and drones created from the source material
• 21 Kontakt instrument presets with 6,838 stereo samples in unlocked WAV format

Technical details

• Type: Virtual instrument for Kontakt
• Operating systems: Windows, macOS
• Plug-in formats: VST2, VST3, Audio Unit (macOS only), AAX, Standalone (via Kontakt)
• Requirement: Full version of Native Instruments Kontakt (version 6.2.2 or higher); Kontakt Player is not sufficient
• Content: 17.1 GB, 6,838 samples, 21 Kontakt presets

System requirements

• Mac OS X 10.12 or higher
• Windows 7 or higher
• RAM: 2 GB
• Disk space: 17 GB
• Full version of Native Instruments Kontakt (version 6.2.2 or higher); Kontakt Player is not sufficient

The licence is registered with the manufacturer at https://activate.soundiron.com/. You will receive your serial number and the download link by e-mail immediately after purchase.