top of page
CLOUD CELLO.png

Cloud cello

£35

Cello+ twine × reverb = Cloud Cello

Two instrument variations - solo & ensemble versions

1.6GB download

50 themed instrument presets (.nki's) each with mod wheel patch morphing for variation

38 extra patches for Omnisphere 2 using Cloud Cello samples

for FULL version of Kontakt 5.5.1 or above.

Cloud Cello?

Cloud Cello is the big brother (or sister, if you like) of the Cloud Viola. She's a deeply multi sampled hybrid Kontakt sample library created from an ordinary 17th century classical stringed instrument, but played and recorded in an extra-ordinary way.

Cloud Cello opens up new orchestral-ish, cinematic tones and textures that sound both familiar and alien....in a good way.

There are also 38 free Cloud Cello patches for Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2 included with the Kontakt version.

mid
How t mak a Cloud Cello

How?

So, you take an unsuspecting cello, remove all the strings except one and place it in a stand. Instead of a conventional bow, use something with a bit more texture and bite - in this case, a ball of coarse garden string sounded best. Stringing a standard bow with garden twine doesn't work, you'd need an impossible 10-metre bow to play a smooth note (I know it's impossible because I tried to make one!).

After many experiments and cups of coffee, a retractable dog lead, an elaborate pulley system and a classic vintage fishing reel came to the rescue. This system can hold long lengths of string under tension and be drawn evenly over the cello string to produce a usable tone.

Next step is to rig up some suitable mics. A contact mic near the bridge gave good body, and a large diaphragm condenser near the string picked up the 'grist'. Then using a capo for accurate tuning, thousands of passes were recorded to get enough samples for 5 x round robins per note plus conventionally bowed accents and col legno notes for extra flavour.

The final step is to form the Clouds by pushing each note 100% wet through a bespoke swirly setting on my Strymon Big Sky reverb pedal, and then do the same thing all over again with a different setting for 200% wetness.

What's Inside?
  • Two instrument variations - solo & ensemble versions.

  • 2GB of 24bit samples (uncompressed).

  • 50 themed instrument presets (.nki's) each with mod wheel patch morphing for variation.

  • 38 extra patches for Omnisphere 2 using Cloud Cello samples.

  • Three octave key range - C1 to C4

  • Seven deeply sampled articulations through eight 'oscillators'.

  • Accented bow: short bowed note with conventional bow. 5 x round-robin per note. Two mic positions- valve condenser and contact mic.

  • Col legno: Latin for 'gently thwacked with the back of the bow'. 5 x round-robin per note. Two mic positions- valve condenser and contact mic.

  • Twine: bowed with 5 meters of green garden string. 5 x round-robin per note, minimum 20 seconds per sample. Two mic positions- valve condenser and contact mic. Hard-wired to CC11 for expression pedal or midi controllers.

  • Dark Cloud: Twine recorded 100% wet reverb-ed through Strymon Big Sky hardware reverb. Playback through Kontakt grain oscillator.

  • Pale Cloud: the Dark Cloud recorded 100% wet reverb-ed through Strymon Big Sky hardware reverb unit, so basically 200% wet!

  • Sub Bass: (ensemble only) Moog Voyager sine bass.

  • Effects per oscillator: tremolo, vibrato, saturation, pitch selection, pan, low-pass filter, high pass filter, reverb and delay.

  • Master output effects: low pass filter, high-pass filter, rotor effect, delay, cabinet modelling and EQ.

  • Master unison control for up to eight voices per note.

  • Velocity to volume amount control.

  • Aftertouch to pitch bend amount control.

  • Aftertouch to filter light/dark control.

  • Advanced architecture with automatable midi control of everything on the interface.

  • 74 specially created convolution reverb impulses recorded from real spaces, expensive hardware, and some less obvious sources including a Roland Space Echo, Strymon Big Sky and the stage of Glyndebourne Opera House.

  • Built in instruction manual in RTFM tab.

FULL version of Kontakt 4 or above needed.

Cloud Cello will load into Player but time out after 10 minutes, so please don't buy this if you are using the free Kontakt Player.

£35/$53/50€ (inc VAT) for Cloud Cello instant download

Cloud Bundle

Cloud Cello + Cloud Viola + Cloud Bass (full price £110)

£90(inc VAT) for Cloud Bundle instant download

end
you might like these...
bottom of page