Autoharp v3.5

The Pop Harp for Everyone

Cinematique Instruments have rebuilt the Autoharp from scratch.

Except for a single articulation, all playing shapes are new. They even added some new ones, like for example the very noble and fine Muted version and the organic bowed version.

In addition, Cinematique Instruments have now equipped the Autoharp with some of their own unique special features, Glissando and Tremolo. And last but not least they have equipped a strumming engine with a strumming hand speed slider.

Here we have an absolutely newly designed Autoharp with many new articulations and hugely extensive possibilities. It´s a perfect instrument to give your music a subtle highlighted shape.

Organic Sound

Cinematique Instruments set a high focus on capturing the notes in a very realistic and organic way. All main articulations were recorded with a cool condenser in four times round robins and 3 velocity layers.

Glissando

The given glissando mode is unique and fits perfectly with the sound of an Autoharp.

Tremolo

By activating you can easily play true tremolo triggered by the release

Strumming Engine

A very realistic strumming companion, which provides strumming notes and dead notes. A unique feature is the Strumming Speed Slider, which simulates the speed of the hand.

Many Articulations

To give you a huge spectrum of sound possibilities Cinematique Instruments recorded lots of different and unique articulations. Each of them is useful for a different kind of musical style:

• Hammer: Played with Piano Hammer
• Thumb: Plucking the strings with a thumb
• Rough: This is the plec articulation of the Autoharp v2
• Muted: Muting the string - actually very cool and pizzicato alike
• Bowed: Bowing the Autoharp like a violin bow.
• Strummed/ Dead Notes: Specially recorded in order to get the feel of strumming the Autoharp

Nine Reverb Types

Besides several different sizes, Autoharp 3 includes some special types such as infinite, and deep valley.

What is an Autoharp?

The Autoharp was invented at the end of the 19th century by a German immigrant in Philadelphia. Generally, it is a stringed instrument, but despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp. In fact, it´s a chorded zither with 36 steel strings stretched over a soundbox.

It has a series of chord bars, when depressed, mute all the strings other than those that form the desired chord. by doing so, you can easily play chords.

It´s a perfect instrument to give your music a subtle highlighted shape.

Version 3

The latest version of Autoharp version 3 is more than just an update of the old version. Rather, Cinematique Instruments have re-recorded almost everything, replaced old sounds, and implemented a whole host of new features in Autoharp 3. So now you can sound even more realistic and you can achieve more complex results.

Each of the Autoharp's 36 strings has been recorded in five different articulations. There are four plucked articulations (Muted, thumb, hammer, rough) and for even more variety they bowed the autoharp with a violin bow. Especially this last articulation creates a unique sound. This gives a huge variety of different sound combinations. For example, you can add the muted sounds to the bowed one.

A major goal was to simulate the typical strumming of the autoharp. For this, Cinematique Instruments have specially developed a new strumming engine. In a step sequencer, you can decide per step if you want to play a note or not or if you want to play the autoharp with dead notes. Of course, all this can be programmed dynamically.

To achieve this typical autoharp strumming feeling, Cinematique Instruments included a strumming speed control that decides at what tempo the individual strummings should occur: From fully quantized to almost glissando. And this is exactly what creates a very realistic impression of an autoharp accompaniment.

Furthermore, Cinematique Instruments have also applied the unique glissando function of their Grand Harp, as well as the tremolo known to Cinematique Instruments. There is also a pad function, which allows you to play pad sounds with a long attack and a short function that will shorten your sounds.

Update Note

Update 3.5 has only a few changes. Cinematique Instruments kept all essential features, removed a few bugs, and optimized the design.

Features

• Approximately 900 samples
• 700 MB of compressed data
• Articulations such as Muted, Bowed, and Thumb
• Strumming engine, Glissando & Tremolo

System Requirements

• The FULL Version of Kontakt 5.8.1 or higher is required.

Important Notes:

• The FULL Version of Kontakt 5.8.1+ is required in order to use this instrument.
• You will be stuck in DEMO MODE if trying to use this instrument in the FREE Kontakt Player.