The Whale Drum is a modern incarnation one of the world’s oldest known instruments: the tongue or slit drum. A member of the idiophone family, variations of these tuned percussion instruments are found around the globe, spanning many cultures from Africa to Asia and the Americas. They were originally carved from hollow logs or wooden blocks and struck to produce percussive musical tones. It is one of the few instruments considered to possibly predate language itself. Modern slit drums have been substantially refined and typically feature 6 or more wooden tongues, offering a marimba-like warmth, with a dreamy tone, gentle softly-rounded note attack and subtly undulating ring. The lower notes have an especially deep richness to them.
We primarily sampled our 14” 8-tongued vermilion tongue drum in a dry studio environment with mallets, wooden sticks and brushes. We recorded each mallet struck note at both tongue center and edge positions, with an average of 10 dynamic velocity layers and 10 round-robin variations per note. The stick and brush articulations were played over various edges and surfaces around the drum. We also recorded a second session with the instrument out in a large tile and stone hall from a medium distance with mallets and sticks, to provide the option of more naturally ambient acoustics. In addition, we also recorded a smaller 3-note slit drum and a small toy xylophone. There is also a great bonus selection of delicate atmospheric pads and evolving ambiences sculpted from original acoustic source material. This library was originally released by Tonehammer in 2008.
- Full 10×10 Round Robin
- Tuned Whale Drum
- Untuned Whale Drum
- Whale Drum Sticks
- Baby Whale Drum
- Ambiences
- Toy Xylophone
- Effects
