Realsamples English Harpsichord KONTAKT (20/06/15)



The English Harpsichord library presents an instrument built by Jacob Kirckman in 1766. Due to its two manuals and many registers, the Kirckman harpsichord offers lots of unqiue sounds, sampled with 6 different register combinations, including the upper 8', lower 8' (principal 8'), both 8' together, the 4' register, the lute stop as well as the nasale stop only available with Kirckman instruments.

Jacob Kirckmans harpsichords are highly sought-after because of their sound quality and their signature sound. This harpsichord is one of seven Kirckman instruments within the Beurmann Collection, impressively showing off its special qualities. It remains in excellent playable condition despite its age.

Like all harpsichords, the Kirckman is not touch-sensitive. However, even if the differences are minuscule, not any given note will sound exactly the same due to different resonances of body and strings.

Until now, many keyboards and samplers represented harpsichords by always triggering off the exact same digital sample, leaving a cold and sterile sounding impression.

In order to improve upon previous recreations and to pay tribute to the liveliness and depth of this antique instrument, we captured every sampled register with up to 8 variations of each note.

To complete the harpsichord experience, we recorded every register with 4 different release samples of each note.

Homepage