sound DUST Cloud Cello KONTAKT

Cloud Cello is the big brother (or sister, if you like) of the Cloud Viola. She's a deeply multisampled hybrid Kontakt sample library created from a ordinary 17th century classical stringed instrument, but played and recorded in an extra-ordinary way.

Cloud Cello opens up new orchestral-ish, cinematic tones and textures that sound both familiar and alien….in a good way. So, you take an unsuspecting cello, remove all the strings except one and place it in a stand. Instead of a conventional bow, use something with a bit more texture and bite - in this case, a ball of coarse garden string sounded best. Stringing a standard bow with garden twine doesnt work, you'd need an impossible 10 metre bow to play a smooth note (I know it's impossible because I tried to make one!).

After many experiments and cups of coffee, a retractable dog lead, an elaborate pulley system and a classic vintage fishing reel came to the rescue. This system can hold long lengths of string under tension and be drawn evenly over the cello string to produce a usable tone. Next step is to rig up some suitable mics. A contact mic near the bridge gave good body, and a large diaphragm condenser near the string picked up the 'grist'. Then using a capo for accurate tuning, thousands of passes were recorded to get enough samples for 5 x round robins per note plus conventionally bowed accents and col legno notes for extra flavour.