Synchron Mallets I

Synchron Mallets I offers a selection of our Synchron Percussion I Collection, including xylophone, glockenspiel, and celesta.

The xylophone, an Adams Artist Alpha, has resonator tubes for each bar and a range of four octaves. In orchestral arrangements, the instrument commonly emphasizes certain parts of a melodic line in forte or fortissimo. We’ve recorded single notes in eight variants and eight velocities as well as various tremolos and glissandos. The instrument was played with hard and soft mallets and with a double bass bow.

The glockenspiel (Yamaha 2500) is very popular and frequently used in majestic brass fanfares. The sound is piercing and can be heard clearly even through a full orchestra playing in “tutti”. We’ve recorded single notes as well as tremolos and glissandos at various speeds, with plastic and metal mallets. We also captured the eerie effect of the steel bars played with a bass bow.

Being a “keyboard glockenspiel” the celesta has a range of five octaves with an interesting dual character. The way its sound is produced makes it a percussion instrument, but it is usually played by a pianist. Its sound is soft and “heavenly” (in French: “céleste”). Sychron Stage’s very own instrument (by the renowned manufacturer Kolberg) was played using a sampling robot, which captured the nuances of its heavenly sound at 36 velocity levels.

3 Instruments – 12 Microphones

Every instrument was recorded using 12 microphones. You may select from four microphone positions (Standard Library) or seven different microphone positions (Full Library) and mix them to your liking, directly in the Vienna Synchron Player. Use the included and perfectly fine-tuned presets as a starting point for your own sonic creations. The performances in Stage A were captured in stereo using a Decca tree, and additional microphone arrays were utilized for 5.1 surround and Auro 3D 9.1.

Outstanding Acoustics

The instruments were recorded at Stage A of our Synchron Stage Vienna. This 540 m² (5,813 sq.ft.) hall has proven to be a remarkable space, not only for film music recordings, but also for sampling sessions. It is characterized by a lush and warm sound and a perfect localization of the instruments, with a reverb time of 1.6 to 1.8 seconds, and with no masking effect in the low frequencies, as often happens with large halls. The colossal room-in-room construction, built upon a massive concrete foundation, combined with sound insulation and a specially designed air conditioning system, results in a ridiculously low noise-floor of 16 dBA, even with the air conditioner running!

Perfect Climatic Conditions

Synchron Stage Vienna is equipped with a sophisticated system for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) that provides absolutely consistent air quality (humidity and temperature) between the large Stage A and the percussion storage room. So every instrument is in pristine condition for performance, day and night, session after session.

3D Sound

Auro 3D is an immersive audio technology that allows for three-dimensional sound perception. The Belgian company Auro Technologies developed this technology based on a special speaker configuration, adding four additional speakers to a 5.1 surround configuration. These speakers (so-called “Heights”) are situated above the front and surround speakers and generate acoustic reflections that are perceived naturally due to the fact that sounds originate from around as well as from above the listener. Thanks to the comprehensive selection of discrete audio channels of Synchron Mallets I (Full Library) you may mix your instruments in Auro 3D as well as in Dolby Atmos.

Flexible Timbral Control

The natural volume envelopes and the sonic character of the instruments remained untouched during recording and editing. You may shape your individual sound and ambience within the Vienna Synchron Player. The included presets provide perfectly fine-tuned source material.