Karniszbass is a sample library of an acoustic 2-string bass built around a curtain rod (in Polish, „karnisz”). The two strings are tuned to D (a whole step below a standard bass's low E) and G (a fourth above that D). Though tuned low, this instrument can produce some very high pitches via harmonics, and this library is more about textures than a normal bass playing normal bass parts. The instrument was originally built by Peter Lyczkowski for a production of Hamlet, where it was used mainly to bow drones and harmonics. See https://www.peterlyczkowski.com/music/ for a short video about that Hamlet, and a list of the awards it won.
Walkthrough video below. Please see the Media section to the left for demo tracks.
Over 1 GB of sample material.
- Techniques sampled: long bowed, short bowed, long sul ponticello, short sul ponticello, harmonics with and without rebows, spectral scrubs, pluck with ghost notes, slap with ghost notes, various noises.
- Harmonics blend and texture blend patches.
- Release noises.
- Acoustic sound produced using a cajon for resonance, and recorded with two separate microphones.
No Polonius was stabbed while hiding behind a curtain hanging from this curtain rod.
Requires the free Plogue sforzando sampler version 1.980 or newer, which works on 64-bit Windows and Mac systems, 4 GB RAM, and an SSD.