HAPI Drum - Kontakt Library, Free Download!

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Background Story

I found this little beautiful instrument while shopping for a harmonium in Rishikesh, India. It tuned alright with a very interesting harmonic character. I really liked how it sounds and I thought it was a good buy.

HAPI Drum Kontakt

I always wanted to explore creating musical tools and a Kontakt library is one of this low hanging fruits. I decided to sample this instrument and to try it out. This is my first Kontakt Library ever and it was such a blast to be working on it.

I can think of 100 cool features this library may have, but I can not justify it without some popular demand. So, lets call this an alpha release, while I listen to your feedback. If there will be any interest in this library, I promise to find some time to work on this.

Creation Process

I recorded it with a close mic’ed AKG 404 and cheap MXL as a overhead. I really liked how those two very different mics were complimenting each other - the 404 is pretty dark by nature and the MXL is very bright and sounds great on very soft sounds like the HAPI drum.

I used a Dual Valve TL Audio Preamp and directly to my 12 years old Fireface 400. For the non-open layers, I muted the tongues using tape. I invested an hour recording and 2 days editing this instrument. The original has 8 notes, I hand picked 4 recordings for each note (round-robin) and the 3 velocity layers are:

  1. Accent: Strong stroke with half of the drum muted and half resonating with the note
  2. Muted: All tongues muted, but the one that is being hit
  3. Open: The notes as they are, without taping

The original drum notes are: F2, G2, G#2, C3, D3, F3, G3, G#3 which makes it a F… dorian? I pitched it to chromatic which sounds good for the most part.

HAPI Drum Recordings

Future Features (Maybe?)

  1. Velocity control for every layer
  2. Routing balance knob for the two mic sources
  3. Additional sounds with every hit (such as the drum frame and mallet sounds)
  4. Nice UI and buttons
  5. Sequencer or an advanced rhythm Arpeggiator
  6. Nice builtin effects and controls

Please write to me, even if it’s just a simple “thank you!”. Would love to hear your feedback in a comment or my anonymous contact form.

Much love

Elad Gariany