The Bowed Bucket is an experimental sound design instrument for Kontakt released by Soundiron.
Overview
This is the Main GUI Interface
Layers, Articulations, & Sound sculpting features
ADVANCED CONTROL WINDOW
Access to LFO, FILTER, & ARP
DSP EFFECTS RACK
18 of Kontakt’s built-in special effects
and dynamic processors
REVIEW
What if I told you there was a Kontakt instrument made from a 5-gallon plastic bucket that sounded cool, would you believe me? Maybe, or maybe not.
However, what if I said there was a 4x4 wooden beam connected to the bucket with cello strings and bass tuners fastened to it to create an actual bowed instrument. You might say, I'd like to hear that. Well naturally, Soundiron decided to create an instrument with experimental sound design in mind.
However, what if I said there was a 4x4 wooden beam connected to the bucket with cello strings and bass tuners fastened to it to create an actual bowed instrument. You might say, I'd like to hear that. Well naturally, Soundiron decided to create an instrument with experimental sound design in mind.
Surprisingly, when I first loaded the instrument and pressed the first note, I was impressed with how robust and vibrant this mock-up instrument sounded. I must admit I was a little worried that this library would fail to deliver much value for serious compositions. Well, I did it again, I attempted to judge a sample library by its cover art and description. A 5-gallon orange bucket with a wooden cello stringed beam attached to it gave me a sense that this thing would be more of a novelty.
Instead of creating a toy instrument, Soundiron delivered another fun tool with unexpected results. It has the characteristics of an electric cello ideal for many types of modern hybrid scoring.
Soundiron included 22 custom sound-designed fx and ambient presets for instant inspiration. There are various articulations like sustains, staccato, and percussion. They also included the unlocked 24-bit wav samples.
One of my favorite parts of Bowed Bucket was the satisfaction I got by manipulating the sounds within the library. The ready-made presets are great starting points, but when you take advantage of the features within the library, the payoff can be fantastic.
There are four sound layers that can be tailor-made with a variety of included elements. I created some striking snapshots in a matter of minutes that rival some of the more costly Kontakt libraries.
The recorded samples within Bowed Bucket are clean and produced with Soundiron's notable standards.
As I worked on my score of Bowed Bucket, I took many things into consideration. I spent five days with the instrument before coming to my final conclusion. I wanted to make sure it deserved the rating I thought it earned.
Bowed Bucket 3.0 is not a large library, but there's a lot underneath the hood. It's original, sounds great, has more than enough features, and is priced right.
It's an experimental instrument with surprising potential.
5 out of 5 Stars !!
Written by Steve Montgomery
(composer for Infinite Mindscape & Darkmood)
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