Monday 12 March 2012

Sunrise Reed Organ - Ableton Live Sampler/Simpler Instrument


The Sunrise Reed Organ is a two and a bit octave plastic reed organ from Japan. It is battery operated and the reeds are driven by an inbuilt fan, the volume being controlled by the speed of the fan. The organ itself has a true, clear reed sound for a toy instrument but what is so nice about this toy is that the fan is quite loud and a distinctive part of the overall character of the sound.

The Ableton Instrument I have created from it includes a sample of each key and a separate sample of the fan drone that has it's own volume control. The reason for a separate sample of the fan is to make it possible for the fan noise to continue when notes aren't being played. I've also added a couple of simple macro assingments - one for the spread of the note samples to thicken the sound and a wet/dry control for a Simple Delay and a Reverb. There is also a control to select Glide - when in glide mode the instrument suddenly transforms into a pretty nice lo-fi portmanteau synth.

Let me know if you find it fun or useful - I'll be posting some more of my instruments in the coming weeks so check back.

Demo of the sound with various settings. Played on the rack not the original instrument.



Download Sunrise Reed Organ

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