Elementary Sounds Tish v1.0 VST3 AU
This unique instrument spent decades filling the grand halls of a European opera house with its voice. Now captured in our studio by a remarkable musician, it speaks quietly and introspectively—retaining its history while offering an intimate, expressive tone.
The Making of Tone
The instrument features 5 custom presets, each with an X-slider blending four sound layers. These layers combine the original vibraphone tone with rare synths, oscillators, and vintage test equipment. Every note was recorded softly with 8 microphones (mostly ribbon and tube), offering up to 5 velocity layers and 8 round robins.
Sustains
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Recorded with soft mallets and wooden sticks.
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Loud dynamics are still incredibly soft, captured using high-gain tube preamps to retain nuance.
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X-slider layers include randomly played octaves, particularly effective in chords.
Mutes
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Short muted notes in two versions: soft mallets and wooden sticks.
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Sound design layers include a tube oscillator modulated by the vibraphone and cassette-recorded mutes slowed down for unique character.
Bowed
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Played with a cello bow, featuring two velocity layers: short/wavy (soft) and long/intense (loud).
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X-slider layers emulate bowed tones using oscillators, LFOs, and function generators—some fast enough to produce musical tones sampled for this patch.
Tape Sustains
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Sustains recorded on Studer, Telefunken, and Uher reel-to-reel tape machines.
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Type I: Half-speed recording with tube compression and EQ.
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Type II: Double-half speed for lo-fi, degraded character.
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X-slider layers include vibraphone multiphonics played with a bow and variable-speed tremolo on each note.
Prepared Vibraphone
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Objects such as coins, paper, foil, and wood placed on the notes.
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Each of the 8 round robins uses a different object for unpredictable results.
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X-slider layers include fast tremolo and processed sounds run through tape delays, loopers, and pitch shifters.
Inside the Instrument
Source:
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Four sliders control the volume of each mic type, each with its own panning.
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5 patches, each with four additional layers blended via X-slider.
FX:
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Vibrato – subtle pitch modulation
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Warm – nonlinear distortion for grit and edge
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Tremolo – amplitude modulation for motion
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Echo & Reverb – create ethereal, spacious textures
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Master Section – filter and shelving EQ for precise sculpting
Movement:
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12-step customizable sequencer
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Two LFO modules that can modulate any key element
Master Panel:
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Two vintage octave filters (10 and 16 bands)
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Three-band shelving EQ with adjustable crossovers
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Controls for pitch, noise, and output
Features
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5 expressive variations of the main sound
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Custom tape-designed and Eurorack-style patches
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Up to 5 velocity layers per note, 8 round robins
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VST3/AU plugin for macOS 10.11+ and Windows
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Not compatible with Pro Tools or DAWs that do not support VST3/AU formats
