MODWHEEL
Autoharp and TAISHOGOTO
Two idiosyncratic folk harps
8 patches of Autoharp
7 patches of Taishogoto
​
Strums - full, long, low, mid and high,
Major, minor and dominant 7th chords, Keyswitch performance options
Plucked - open and muted
Dischord, Drones, Miscellaneous and Extended sounds
​
15 Kontakt patches in total
10741 24bit 48kHz Multisamples
13.47 GB core library using NI lossless compression
Note: requires Full Version Kontakt 6.7 or higher
Not compatible with free Kontakt Player
The Autoharp, is a 36 string folk harp with buttons or keys you press for chords. You can strum anywhere across the strings (low to high) to play different inversions of the chords. So the trick for us has been figuring out how to present those strumming options. Of course when you perform on an autoharp you want the ability to play anywhere across the strings, from a full strum to just a few of the high notes in a chord, as well as strumming up and down.
​
The strumming options we eventually settled on are Full, Long, Low, Medium, and High with both up and down strum options. We’ve assigned these to performance keyswitches which gives you a very authentic-feeling instrument to play.
​
The Autoharp Sample Library for Kontakt 6.7 or above has an octave each of major, minor and dominant seventh chords, enabling you to select the chords with the left hand, while playing the keyswitch strum options with your right.
Of course we also sampled all 33 strings as single notes both open and muted.
​
Why are there two versions? Over time we recorded 2 complete performances by 2 different players. They sound different but both have merits so we decided to include both in this sample library. We go into this in the tutorial. You can watch it here.
The Autoharp patches have three separate mic positions (Near, Mid and Far) with separate
level controls. Filters for each mic can be switched on or off. Each patch features Scatter Box, MODWHEEL’S own sync’d IRs as well as a Pulse step-mod allowing for a huge range of rhythmic options.
​
The Autoharp Patches
​
1 Autoharp V1
standard keyswitches for the different articulations
​
​2 Autoharp V1 Perf Keyswitch
performance keyswitches
3 Autoharp V1 Perf KS + Speed
performance keyswitches plus a Speed knob which changes the speed of the strum
Default has only one mic position loaded to save memory. This mode uses TM Pro which needs all samples to be loaded. Load the other two mic positions as required.
​
4 Autoharp V2
standard keyswitches for the different articulations
5 Autoharp V2 Perf KS
performance keyswitches
6 Autoharp V2 Perf Ks + Speed
performance keyswitches plus a Speed knob which changes the speed of the strum
Default has only one mic position loaded to save memory. This mode uses TM Pro which needs all samples to be loaded. Load the other two mic positions as required.
7 Autoharp Plucked + Mute
five octaves with Blend control for level of open or muted articulations, Arpeggiator Tab
8 Autoharp Dischord
strums across the open strings with performance keyswitches​
Performance Articulation Keyswitching Explained
The FX Tab has the Pulse Step-mod and Scatter Box.​
The Pulse Step-mod works on volume and can be used to create effects ranging from a simple tremolo though to more complex rhythms.
SCATTER BOX
All the Autoharp and Taishogoto patches feature Scatter Box, MODWHEEL’s sync’d and curated convolution IR effects rack which was developed from an original concept by
Kirke Godfrey of Shaped Noise.
​
There are 5 sub sections
-
Non sync
19 handcrafted IRs with some featuring pitched notes (named, Cmin, Cmaj etc) -
Sync
40 handcrafted tempo sync'd convolution IRs which will sync to your DAW's tempo -
Reverse
15 handcrafted reversed, tempo sync’d convolution IRs -
Atmos
25 handcrafted atmospheric IRs. These are longer events created using feedback and lesley cabinets etc, which give the instruments more of a cinematic, atmospheric quality -
Phantoms
24 handcrafted tonal IRs where each IR will sound the particular chord selected
The Taishogoto, also known as the Nagoya Harp is an even stranger instrument. It has what look like typewriter keys to play the notes. Our original Taishogoto has five strings:
a drone string, a tenor string playing one octave above the drone, then three strings playing in unison above that. These can be played separately or strummed together. We’ve laid this out so it can be played in an authentic way. And we've enabled it to play any drone key you might want, as opposed to the G note the instrument usually defaults to.
The Taishogoto had a small moment of popularity in 70s psychedelic bands, often played through distortion pedals. We liked this idea and so recorded every note back through a Hotcake boost/overdrive pedal and a Fender Twin Reverb. This gives quite a different sound than the default distortions found within Kontakt.​​​
The 7 patches that make up the Taishogoto library have line and mic options each with separate controls including pitching up or down an octave. There's also a Distortion level control.
​
The Taishogoto Patches
​1 Taishogoto Polyphonic
Blue Keys main melodic notes, Green Keys select a drone, Black Key deactivates the drone. Arpeggiator Tab.
2 Taishogoto Monophonic
as above but monophonic
3 Taishogoto Perf KS Latch
Blue Keys main melodic notes on latch, Green Keys select a drone, Black Key deactivates the drone. Purple keys are the performance keyswitches
4 Taishogoto Perf Keyswitch
Blue Keys main melodic notes, no latch, Green Keys select a drone, Black Key deactivates the drone. Purple keys are performance keyswitches
5 Taishogoto Bowed
a simple bowed patch
6 Taishogoto Misc
miscellaneous sounds from the instrument
7 Taishogoto Extended
an extended range of sounds with standard keyswitches
Autoharp and Taishogoto requires a full version of Kontakt v6.7 or above.
Installation instructions are included in the manual. After purchase you will be directed to
a page on this Modwheel site with a video showing how to unrar and install the library.