Volker, A Free Melodica Instrument Library For Native Instruments Kontakt 4

Volker is a free (tradeware) melodica instrument for NI Kontakt 4. It was recorded, programmed, and released by Christoph Hart.

The instrument features a custom GUI and it is optimized for use with the Yamaha Breath Controller.

Welcome on the website of VOLKER – the funky melodica. A lot of brain work and programming effort was put into this instrument. Although you can download the files for free, consider it as TRADEWARE: if you find yourself enjoying this instrument, I would like you to fill out a short POLL about the quality of the instrument and your music production method.

Right now I am working on my bachelor thesis with the (coarse) subject “virtual wind instruments”. Before I begin diggin deep into the reproduction of a much more complex instrument than a melodica, I wanted to check if there is a demand for my approach and maybe get some feedback for further developments. So I chose one of the simplest wind instrument and recreated it based on two guidelines:

1. real time playability: one patch, no articulation key switch and mouse clicking terror while you want to make music.

2. detailed reproduction of noises: although there are some virtual instruments which offer noise samples, I didn’t experience any satisfying reproduction of noises yet. Since wind instrument produce a lot of noises, the careful reproduction of those sounds is essential for a convinving result.

In order to achieve these guidelines, intense programming and scripting as well as detailed sample recording has to be done, but the result is maybe the most complex digital recreation of a melodica ever made. (I admit a melodica is not a violin, so there aren’t that many competitors…)

This was released in 2010 but I’m putting in the news section anyway, since I really liked the library.

Note that Christoph would like the users to provide feedback by  filling out a short poll located on this link.

Audio Demo

Check out the Volker audio demo below. More demo tracks available on this page.

Features

Main features of Volker:

• optimized for usage with Yamaha Breath Controller
• recreation of instrument-specific playing techniques
• AET Filter (3 layers) for dynamic expressibility
• customizable noise reproduction
• complex recreation of imperfect instrument behaviour
• custom flutter sound controllable via CC (puts the funk in the volker!)
• CC-Reconfiguration with “Learn”-button
• custom impulse response of the recording room
• manipulate the recording distance via one knob
• easy to use GUI with exquisitely selected parameters

Links

Download Volker: click here
Volker Audio Demos: click here