Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.5/5 Stars
To anyone familiar with the Sound Dust product archive, the one thing we know we can depend upon is a beautifully unexpected approach to organic sound creation. Their latest creation approaches stringed instruments in a typically different way: it’s a library of solo viola, cello and bass, not played with conventional bows, but with industrial‑grade garden twine, with a sustain that would be equivalent to a bow five metres in length!
Conceived by sonic creative Pendle Poucher, an appropriate mechanism for bowing was created, employing a fishing reel and a retractable dog lead, with the latter performing the heavy pulling/bowing. There are 22 x 2 different articulations, combined into a sizeable 9GB of sample data, fully multisampled with velocity and pitch layering. There are also some useful synthesized waveforms to bolster the string content, and even the sound of silence and crackles.
The result is predictably unique, in the form of a Kontakt instrument which offers two partials for each snapshot (patch). These are represented on the instrument itself as an upper ‘Cloud’ layer and lower ‘Shadow’ layer. The Cloud layer is described as the ‘meat and potatoes’ of the instrument, hosting a greatest number of controls and tools. These include an ADSR envelope, the ability to switch between polyphonic and paraphonic operation, and an inviting EQ knob that applies 100 different static EQ settings, and can affect individual layers or the whole snapshot.
The Cloud layer also plays host to an extensive effects section, with five different keyswitchable elements that can usefully be brought into performance. While the same samples are available in the Shadow layer, this is more simplistic, equipped with ADSR envelope and a looping operation. The modulation wheel is hard‑wired to act as a balance control between the layers, and becomes a superb performance tool for creating movement.
‘Drift’ offers varying forms and degrees of modulation, although not with the usual predictability of LFOs, but by means of the Wandering Engine. This eschews conventional LFO orthodoxy in favour of wonky waves that ebb, flow and slew, often reaching a near halt before starting back up again. It’s a rather beautiful concept! In a not dissimilar manner, the Portal page is portrayed as a ‘happy drunk in control of your parameters’. It’s effectively a form of modulation matrix, but one that thrives on the element of surprise.
The result is a wonderful mixture of full control and happy accidents, which begins with the selection of beautifully crafted samples.
The interface admirably invites experimentation, but there can be moments of head‑scratching as you try to fathom exactly how on‑screen icons interact and behave with the instrument’s output. The result is a wonderful mixture of full control and happy accidents, which begins with the selection of beautifully crafted samples. A healthy contingent of snapshots are included, which offer useful and simple starting points, as well as some drift‑based inspiration. As a sonic collection, it’s a superbly crafted compendium of often gritty, grainy and beguiling string sounds, brought further to life through modulation and performance controls.