Dulcitone 1884
December 20, 2008 12:17 PM Subscribe
Pendle Poucher is a UK based composer, sound designer and lover of funny noises who has written, produced and performed soundtracks for every major UK TV station. He has devised large scale public art projects and written chart-topping dance music. However, what I find most interesting, he is also one of relatively few musicians within the UK who owns a dulcitone. Poucher claims that his Dulcitone 1884 is the world's first multi-sampled dulcitone.
A dulcitone is a keyboard instrument in which sound is produced by a range of tuning forks, which vibrate when struck by felt-covered hammers activated by the keyboard. The instrument was designed and manufactured by the firm of Thomas Machell & Sons in Scotland during the late nineteenth century.
A significant feature of the dulcitone was its portability, a product of its lightweight and compact construction and the fact that the tuning forks (unlike, for instance, the strings of a piano) were not prone to going out of tune. However, the volume produced is extremely limited, and the dulcitone's part is frequently substituted by a glockenspiel or other celesta type instruments.
For those electronic musicians out there, Pendle Poucher is selling his sampled libraries. What is offered at Dulcitone 1884 is sampled instruments, built from many megabytes of stereo samples, and split over three velocity layers. It is offered in Kontakt2/3, Ableton Sampler, EXS24, Soundfont, Shortcircuit, SFZ, NN-XT/Reason Combinator, Wusik, and Giga formats.
Poucher's site on Virb.com also has sample libraries for a grand thrift autoharp, a ships piano, a tiny binaural harpsichord, and steel drum percussion. Each library is only £15.00.
A dulcitone is a keyboard instrument in which sound is produced by a range of tuning forks, which vibrate when struck by felt-covered hammers activated by the keyboard. The instrument was designed and manufactured by the firm of Thomas Machell & Sons in Scotland during the late nineteenth century.
A significant feature of the dulcitone was its portability, a product of its lightweight and compact construction and the fact that the tuning forks (unlike, for instance, the strings of a piano) were not prone to going out of tune. However, the volume produced is extremely limited, and the dulcitone's part is frequently substituted by a glockenspiel or other celesta type instruments.
For those electronic musicians out there, Pendle Poucher is selling his sampled libraries. What is offered at Dulcitone 1884 is sampled instruments, built from many megabytes of stereo samples, and split over three velocity layers. It is offered in Kontakt2/3, Ableton Sampler, EXS24, Soundfont, Shortcircuit, SFZ, NN-XT/Reason Combinator, Wusik, and Giga formats.
Poucher's site on Virb.com also has sample libraries for a grand thrift autoharp, a ships piano, a tiny binaural harpsichord, and steel drum percussion. Each library is only £15.00.
Darn it. I hoped nobody else but me would notice.
I really wish him success and global domination. His unobtrusive, "quality-delivers" way of business deserves it, and it is exactly how I would like to conduct all my business with complete strangers around the world.
But simultaneously, his sampled instruments are great peculiarities. I very much would like to keep them to myself...
posted by gmm at 1:03 PM on December 20, 2008
I really wish him success and global domination. His unobtrusive, "quality-delivers" way of business deserves it, and it is exactly how I would like to conduct all my business with complete strangers around the world.
But simultaneously, his sampled instruments are great peculiarities. I very much would like to keep them to myself...
posted by gmm at 1:03 PM on December 20, 2008
Thanks for reminding me of this guy. If I hadn't just picked up True Strike Tension and Alchemy I'd be all over some of these sample sets right now.
Come to think of it, Alchemy can import SFZ format... hmmm.
posted by Foosnark at 12:07 AM on December 21, 2008
Come to think of it, Alchemy can import SFZ format... hmmm.
posted by Foosnark at 12:07 AM on December 21, 2008
If I remember looking under the hood correctly, ins't this the same theory behind the Fender Rhodes?
posted by timsteil at 12:47 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by timsteil at 12:47 PM on December 21, 2008
Thanks! Already ordered the Dulcitone samples and will probably end up ordering the others. I love obscure instruments...
posted by mmoncur at 7:46 PM on December 21, 2008
posted by mmoncur at 7:46 PM on December 21, 2008
I should add two things:
1. His service is top notch and I got what I ordered very quickly.
2. The Ship's Piano is even cooler than the Dulcitone.
posted by mmoncur at 7:02 AM on December 22, 2008
1. His service is top notch and I got what I ordered very quickly.
2. The Ship's Piano is even cooler than the Dulcitone.
posted by mmoncur at 7:02 AM on December 22, 2008
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I'm straining my memory for trivia here, but isn't Pendle Poucher also Carla Bruni's pet name for Nicolas Sarkozy's private parts?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 12:39 PM on December 20, 2008