Tonehammer has introduced Laundronium, a virtual instrument for Native Instruments Kontakt based on sounds sampled from a washing machine:
The idea of the washing machine as a piece of musical equipment, while not unheard of, has been fairly limited in its scope. Generally you’ll see the white cube playing a rudimentary spin cycle beat behind a mediocre guitarist who is only vaguely aware of the naturally occurring music which is constantly present in our modern human environment. The washing machine will play this beat dutifully, knowing that it isn’t respected for musical talent like its ancestor the washboard.
We spend so much less time with the modern washing machine, than the folks of previous generations did with the washboard, that we’ve become coldly detached from it. The washing machine happily does all the work, never complaining, and still we complain about laundry day. If we just took a little time to talk to our washing machines we may find out that they are quite into music. And not just Zydeco, either. As it happens, the washing machine is as far beyond the washboard in musical capabilities as it is in laundering talent.
Tonehammer has built a reputation for creating unique virtual instruments, and Laundronium is no exception.
Give the demo and walk-through audio files a listen and let us know what you think of Laundronium!
Features:
- 47 kontakt .nki files (open format).
- 1045 samples.
- 1.22 GB installed.
- 44.1 kHz stereo PCM wav format (24 bit).
- Custom Convolution Reverb Impulses.
- Bowed and Plucked, stringed articulations.
- Finger and Mallet Tuned and Untuned Percussion Articulations.
- Powerful Custom Performance, legato, FX, and arpeggiator controls.
Laundronium is $35, but is available through June 5th for US $29.
… or maybe in Ableton Sampler format?
On the other hand one can understand that it's probably the easiest way to make a usable sample based instrument. Kontakt offers far more features for the sound designer than other products (like Logic's EXS24)
Anyway. It's a great and inspiring piece of sample library! To he honest though, it makes me want to create my own from an old washing machine, more than buying this one. 🙂
I'm glad to see somebody that's doing virtual instruments that are actually something new.
I don't have time to choose between 30 piano libraries so why make another?
Lovely.
Also, done before: [youtube zdaniOFF7bQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdaniOFF7bQ youtube] [youtube adpaCSR60lI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adpaCSR60lI youtube]
I hear you and I understand that there is a cost/benefit curve in deciding how many formats you can cover, but I must be missing some vital central point. NI gear has proven to be stable overall and I would not begrudge them decent pay for their work. It just seems odd to lock out anyone who hasn't bought the full version of Kontakt. When they license their *player* all OVER the place, why do people even bother to make sounds for a semi-closed box? Isn't it losing them money with people like me who WOULD otherwise buy the sound sets themselves? Doesn't NI want the money they can still make that way from people who just don't need or want the $400 version of Kontakt? How is that helping NI? Doesn't that keep sales lower for some very creative programmers? It seems like a mental disconnect. I can understand passing on Logic, but even on the hugely-popular Ableton? Huh??
I can simply buy elsewhere, as with the great sets for Alchemy Player. Camel Audio is making more from selling me those than a full version of Alchemy would cost! That seems like a smarter, win-win deal.
Didn't want to contradict you, in fact I fully agree with your point. The only reason I can see why tonehammer didn't make the libraries for the player version of Kontakt is because it would have involved higher licence costs… but still, providing an alternative format (like others do) would make the product a lot more interesting for many people.