realsamples Releases Dutch Harpsichord Sample Library

Following their ongoing Edition Beurmann, German-based sample manufacturer realsamples offers another harpsichord gem: The green 1628-built Ruckers harpsichord of the renowned Beurmann collection.

Like all harpsichords, the Ruckers is not touch-sensitive. However, even if the differences are minuscule, not any given note will sound exactly the same due to different resonances of body and strings.

Until now, many keyboards and samplers represented harpsichords by always triggering off the exact same digital sample, leaving a cold and sterile sounding impression. In order to improve upon previous recreations and to pay tribute to the liveliness and depth of this antique instrument, every sampled register was captured with up to 8 variations of each note.

To complete the harpsichord experience, every register comes with 4 different release samples of each note.

Presets are available for all common sample formats including HAlion®, Kontakt®, EXS24®, Independence®, MachFive®, Reason® NN-XT®, VSampler3® or GigaStudio®.

The sample library contains nearly 3700 single samples. Listen to MP3 sound demos at: http://www.sampling-cds.com/

Recorded in the great sounding rooms of the Hasselburg estate, active tube-driven Royer® R-122V ribbon microphones as well as vintage Neumann™ TLM-170® microphones were used in conjunction with Crane Song™ Flamingo® preamps and Universal Audio™ 2192® digital converters recorded in 192 khz/24 bits resolution. Furthermore, the sample library contains an essay in German from Professor Andreas E. Beurmann himself, explaining both the historical and musical background of the instrument. The Dutch Harpsichord library available in 44.1/48 khz, 96 khz and 192 khz resolution, starting at 139.95 US $. The sounds can be purchased directly on the realsamples website.