The Bowed Bucket is a one - of - a - kind instrument crafted from a 5 - gallon plastic bucket, a wooden 4×4 beam, bass tuners, and cello strings. The bucket has tuning lugs and holes for individual strings, with the bottom wall acting as the bridge to project sound outward and down. A 4×4 wooden beam is attached, and the strings are stretched up the heavy wooden neck, roughly nailed and hand - tuned. It's like an upgraded version of the childhood string and paper cup trick. We recorded it in a close, dry setting by bowing, plucking, and striking it with drumsticks to capture tons of tonality. Then, we programmed it into a self - contained bucket band. We also manipulated the raw material to create playable atmospheric pads and ambiences. Bowing the strings produces a clean, rich, and beefy sound with growl, low end, and a clear bite. It's similar to an electric cello but with a unique rawness and body. We captured bowed articulations from both inside and outside the bucket. As a bonus, we've created cool lead, pad, ambient droning, and FX presets. The Kontakt interface offers automation - ready sound - shaping controls like swell, attack, release, etc. There are 22 custom FX presets, an adaptable LFO system, 12 filters, a customizable arpeggiator, a key and scale lock system, and a modular FX rack panel with 18 DSP effect modules. The reverb effect includes 99 convolution reverb impulse responses and 40 custom FX impulses, along with a bank of factory presets. This library is for Native Instruments Kontakt 5.5 or later. It has features like an open - format master NKI instrument bank, 579 stereo samples, 662 MB installed size, 24 bit / 48 kHz uncompressed PCM wav samples, and more.
Using the Bowed Bucket is easy. First, open it in Native Instruments Kontakt 5.5 or later. You can use the Kontakt interface to control different aspects of the sound like the swell, attack, and release. Try out the different presets we've included, like the custom FX and ambient ones, to quickly get a unique sound. When it comes to playing, you can bow the strings to get a rich, beefy sound similar to an electric cello. You can also pluck or strike it with drumsticks for different tones. For percussion, just bang on it. Remember, this library doesn't fully work with the free Kontakt Player and can only run in limited 'demo mode'. But you can use the unlocked sample directories in other wav - compatible software. To maintain it, keep your Kontakt software updated. Since it's a virtual library, there's no physical maintenance, but make sure your computer has enough storage space as it takes up 662 MB when installed. Have fun exploring all the creative possibilities this unique instrument offers!
