If you follow the Crow Hill YouTube channel, you may have heard Christian mention that his old sample packs would soon be reuploaded to the Pianobook website. All 29 of them!
So, we though, rather than just dump them all back on at once, we would re-publish one every day for the next 29 days. A sort of post-Christmas advent calendar perfect for chasing away the January blues, starting today with…
The Ice Choir
Hard to believe that it’s 6 years since Christian recorded the sound of ice smashing on a frozen loch to create this unique and inspiring sample pack.
4 Likes
Next up is…
Lyra-8 Sextet
Previously know as Lyra Sextet Swarm, this pack was made using 6 Lyra-8 desktop analogue synthesizers. EXS and Kontakt versions available.
1 Like
Day 3: Christian Henson’s first ever Pianobook sample pack is back!
Winter Piano
A frosty piano that cuts through dialogue like a dream.
Day 4: Sounds boring? It isn’t.
Mixing Bowl
The least interesting sounding objects can make for the most engaging sampled instruments.
Day 5: A true ‘Adventure In Sound’ this one…
The 9,000ft Piano
In Sep 2019, Christian travelled to the Colorado Rockies to sample Ross Lara’s piano for Pianobook.
1 Like
Day 6:
Tunnel Bodhran
A murky tunnel that burrows under Edinburgh’s Arthur’s Seat volcanic complex. A perfect place to bang a small unpronounceable celtic drum.
Day 7: The natural successor to the Winter Piano…
Spring Piano
Christian takes a fresh look at sampling his Schimmel piano with some new techniques.
Day 8:
Spanky Loops
Some loops make from Spanky, a self oscillating eurorack drum module that creates a kind of imperfect drum sound.
Day 9: Loud proud and short! A piano sculpted to create systems music with.
Systems Grand
It’s all about the bite, the round robins and agility playing the thing so get your quantise buttons ready!
Day 10: A knackered old Dulcitone rescued from a life sitting unloved as a sideboard in Bristol.
Warty Dulcitone
Sampled warts and all.
Day 11: Part 1 (of 2) of Christian’s Schimmel’s Summer Season
Summer Piano
Yet another version of one of the most extensively sampled pianos out there!
Day 12: One of the rarest electric keyboard instruments in the world.
Electric Sparkles
Christian spent a small fortune on an ultra-rare electric celeste, sent it to ‘sparkleford’, sampled it…
…now you can have it FREE for Kontakt and Decent Sampler!
Day 13: Part 2 of the Schimmel’s Summer Season… time for a felting.
Summer Felt
A tasty hand-made German Schimmel that records so so well for TV & Film.
Day 14: Time for another road trip.
Max’s Bentley
Christian travelled to Manchester to sample a piano with a hidden secret.
Day 15: Can You Hear It Drumming In The Air Tonight?
Posh Drum Machine
A classic vintage drum machine, precursor to the 808 impeccably captured.
Day 16: Vocal tracking applied to piano sampling?
Tracked Piano
Every single key, recorded twice and panned extreme left and right. Does this work as a piano ideal for drama because its extreme perspective clears it well away from the dialogue channel?
Day 17: A knackered Knight piano record on an Inner Hebrides just north of Oban, Scotland.
Hebridean Knight
The seasons, humidity and lack of piano tuner on the island has left this noble instrument in a bit of a “family” tuning state.
Day 18:
12 Oscillator Doom Drone
The Colossus is a thing to behold: part synth, whole telephone exchange.
It also has 12 oscillators, so we thought we’d tune them up and let them rub!
Day 19: A nearly dead upright piano before we made it actually dead.
The Gimp
Preserved forevermore in all it’s totally messed up glory… before being dropped from a crane in the middle of nowhere in Aberdeenshire!
Day 20:
Flannel Piano
An ancient and very poorly Broadwood & Sons piano treated to some soft textile-love before its horrific execution.
We played about with it and the harshness of it’s old age leant to a real smothering of its strings with a fluffy flannel.
